RttToFC/Session12

Beyond the Tomb of Five Corners - Session 12

Kuros: OK, we'll say Thelaos is off working hard to save that Dragon-Blood from his injuries.

Johan: Johan will return after a while to borrow one of the agatae, then go out again to return some time in the early morning.

Alyssa: Alyssa will be scouting out what direction the Bull of the North's men left in

SonoftheMetalFlame: Son will be investigating what was taken from his library and will also prepare to summon a demon.

Alyssa prowls back and forth until just about midnight, looking fruitlessly for signs of the dragonblooded.

SonoftheMetalFlame: (So... after my anima dies down, I head to the hot springs)

Kuros: OK, it is now morning, and Johan can return.

Kuros: What do you guys do with the DB Thelaos isn't working on?

Alyssa: (I believe he was tied up in a cellar)

SonoftheMetalFlame: (I'll have the Blood Ape standing guard over the DB as well)

Johan: Johan returns shortly before Dawn. Having instructed the agata to retrieve the bodies for a funeral he retires to the academy's hot springs.

Silk: He has abandoned the 'Johan' disguise and - for the first time in weeks - appears as he really is, a man of wiry build with the tanned skin and dark eyes of the south. Short black hair and a finely trimmed beard frame the agelessly youthful face of an Exalt, but his eyes are are old, hard and tired.

Alyssa: (has anyone seen Silk's face before?)

Silk: (yes, you have. Only when interacting with the merchants of Northeast Spoke he was in disguise and then after the Wyld Hunt showed up he started being someone else full-time)

Silk: (but before that he was himself most of the time)

Alyssa: "I haven't seen that face for a while. Are you lowering your guard a little?"

Silk sighs. "So it seems. My teachers would have something to say about that, but I left them behind long ago and right now I don't much care."

Alyssa: "How many did you kill out there?"

Silk: "Too many. And not enough."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "We will need to deal with the bodies. So much violence could lead to the formation of a Shadowland, and I should like to keep the area around my university free of such inconveniences."

Alyssa: "Ah, but not enough for what?"

Alyssa: "Proper burial should minimise the chances of that."

SonoftheMetalFlame nods. "Indeed. We will have to make arrangements for the burials."

Silk: "By my count there must have been some that eluded me. So the possibility of witnesses remains." He shrugs, tired. "And then there is the village, Thelaos anima would have been visible there."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I do not think it will be difficult to convince the village that it was my sorcery that caused that."

Silk: "I have instructed the agata you let me borrow to gather the bodies so they can be buried."

Alyssa: "Yes. Silk, this probably isn't the time, but we should talk about this. Killing everyone who sees our anima sounds fine in theory, but if we keep treating everyone as a treat then sooner or later we'll be right."

Alyssa: "And we're being everything the Immaculates claim."

Silk: "Not the time? Perhaps. Or perhaps it is the best time for it." He sighs. "I'm tired of the killing. That is why I am here with you, that is why tonight I have taken on this burden."

Silk: "Without this, what would have happened? A confirmed sighting of Anathema from over two hundred witnesses? The Wyld Hunt would have been here within days. And they would have brought not hundreds, but thousands of mortal soldiers."

Alyssa: "Alright, let's talk about it." Alyssa sits down and gestures for him to do likewise. "In the scenario you describe, would we then have killed those thousands?"

Silk: "Then we would have to either compromise, delay our plans and put off bringing peace to this world - or there would have been more death. I can see neither of them as acceptable."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "No point in dealing with hypotheticals. What's done is done. We simply must make sure it does not happen again."

Silk: "What happened was the counter-fire that prevented the firestorm."

Silk: "Because make no mistake, this land, this direction, this Creation *needs* someone to change the rules, someone who can end all the wars and suffering. And we, this Circle, are the best chance I can see to accomplish that."

SonoftheMetalFlame: (What general time is it in game?)

Kuros: (mid morning)

Alyssa: "The cure is getting worse than the disease. I'm not condemning you, but sooner or later we must trust mortals to understand that the Immaculate Order is wrong. And massacring them won't accomplish that. You said yourself, you didn't get them all. So those you killed... what did it accomplish."

SonoftheMetalFlame sighs and rises from his spot, getting out of the hot spring. Without a word, he walks away.

Silk: "Less witnesses, more opportunity for a different story. We have a chance to avoid the firestorm now."

Silk: "But you are of course right. It IS nothing more than a stop-gap."

Alyssa: "This time. But Silk - if every sighting of a Solar is a bloody massacre, then we accomplish nothing. Let them remember good deeds, associate it with our help... and the lies about us will crumble away. And if it calls in the Wyld Hunt then that might be a chance we have to take at times."

Silk: "Are we ready to show ourselves to the world?"

Alyssa: "Can we afford not to?"

Alyssa: "Doing so around Son of Metal Flame's home, perhaps not."

Silk: "Sooner or later we must show ourselves. But is this the time?"

Silk: "Is this the way?"

Alyssa: "I don't know. But I do know that someone has to stand for something. And that someone is us. Why else were we Chosen after so many centuries?"

Silk: "I honestly cannot say why I was Chosen. I'm not sure I would have in Sol's place."

Silk: "But I do like to think that we are here to change things for the better."

Silk: "Maybe it is my education, but my instinct is to wait until we are in a position of strength. To do our work undetected until the time comes when we're unassailable and can reveal ourselves without danger to our cause."

Alyssa: "I'm ill-equipped to be anyone's conscience. But I'm sure that we'll never be unassailable - our predecessors certainly weren't, no matter what they thought."

Alyssa: "The only security we'll ever have is honest support for our cause. And we'll never have that if we never leave the shadows."

Alyssa: "I'm hardly saying we shouldn't look to our security, but if we're doing something we can be proud of, then let's be proud of it. Openly, even if we have to mask our faces."

Silk: "Make it a relative measure then. When the benefits to our cause outweigh the risks, when we gain more from showing ourselves then we gain by hiding."

Silk: "That is what we did in Lanterntown, though we had the good fortune that our nature was not openly declared."

Alyssa: "Next time we do something like that, perhaps we should be less discreet. When it comes to defending our circle's homes and families though... that, I assure you, is where I prize discretion."

Silk: "If it had not been for the academy, I would have advocated a retreat."

Silk: "But since they attacked us where we would not, could not yield ground ..."

Silk: "And once we began we were committed to the fight. You do not stop once you are committed. Once Thelaos's Anima was displayed, we were committed to that."

Alyssa: "Yes. Still, perhaps we can learn something from our prisoners that will let us redirect attention away from the academy."

Silk: "Let us hope so."

Alyssa: "Yes. We likely would have been defeated without it, but it was unfortunate in some ways. Still, House Tepet is not in a strong position. They may not be able to do much about us."

Silk: "House Tepet ... strange that the very same house that was so gravely wounded by the Bull would attack here."

Alyssa: "it may not be a coincidence, we shall have to find out."

Silk: "If I was paranoid, which I am, I would consider the possibility that this was planned to force exactly this outcome: Us revealing ourselves as Solars, to the world and to the Bull's agents."

Silk: "He may be trying to force us to join him in order to secure the position of strength we seek."

Alyssa: "I'd have thought he'd know better than anyone that antagonising Solars isn't a wise course of action."

Silk: (note that Silk doesn't know about the theft yet)

Silk shrugs wearily. "There are layers and layers to such ploys. No doubt he will have some sort of convincing explanation if he is indeed behind it."

Alyssa: "Perhaps our prisoners will shed some light on the situation."

Silk: "I will require some rest before I can return to duty, so to speak."

Alyssa: "Get some rest. I think we can hold things together for a few hours without you."

Kuros: Son returns to the hot springs.

Silk: "I would hope so." The barest shadow of a grin lets his mouth twitch.

Alyssa: "How bad was the theft, Metal Flame?"

Silk gathers his things and a towel and heads for his room.

SonoftheMetalFlame walks back up, dressed in some of his finer silks. "The theft? Nothing that I needed, though what they took certainly tells us a lot."

Alyssa: "Oh?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "They seem very interested in an area fairly far to the North."

Silk: (note that Johan/Silk reported his observations to the others)

Silk: ("They are focusing almost exclusively on local history, geography, flood records, and harvest records.")

Alyssa: "Is there anything special about that area that you know of?"

Silk: ("they are focusing on an area several hundred miles to the north.")

Silk: ("They do seem to have an interest in folklore, and spent some time on some stories from that area concerning monsters that would kidnap children and drown them in local lakes.")

Silk: (that would be what he reported about the DBs activities)

SonoftheMetalFlame: (Looks like Silk already discussed all of this with us, haha)

Silk: (it was overshadowed by the fight last session or I'd have told you then, sorry :s)

SonoftheMetalFlame: (In that case, let's assume I just mention the theft was on books involving what they had been studying)

SonoftheMetalFlame: "But I did not go to check on the library any further. I went to go speak with the people of the town. I am fairly certain that they think the anima they saw was my sorcery, and I tried to persuade them that they are in no danger."

Alyssa: "We'd probably better see what we can find out from our captives about what other forces House Tepet has in the area - and what they're doing here in the first place - but we may have to travel north then."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Then let us go and visit with the men of Tepet."

Alyssa nods. "Let's hope that they're in condition to talk. And inclined to."

SonoftheMetalFlame heads inside the university and down into the basement.

Alyssa follows.

Kuros: (Does Son have facilities for holding prisoners?)

SonoftheMetalFlame: (Nothing specifically for that, but there is a network of rooms)

SonoftheMetalFlame: (One could easily be made to effectively hold someone captive.)

Kuros: You find Thelaos and the two prisoners in a room. The prisoners are sleep on the ground, bandaged bu tin chains.

Thelaos is off to the side of the room where he and Sibu had taken them, wiping his hands on a cloth when they enter. His arms are stained in blood up to his elbows, and it is spattered here and there all over his body.

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Have you been working this whole time?"

Thelaos nods, "any sign of your guests?"

SonoftheMetalFlame sighs. "No, they have long since left with the material they were interested in studying. We are still deciding what to do about this situation." He folds his arms over his chest and looks at the dragon-blooded. "How are they doing?"

Thelaos: "They will be completely recovered within a matter of days."

Thelaos: "For now, they are stable. I haven't interrogated them yet."

Alyssa raises an eyebrow. "I'm impressed. The fellow who got cut up looked like he wasn't going to live."

Thelaos: gives Alyssa a dark smile, "The anathema are not all butchers."

Silk: (zing! too bad Silk isn't there :p)

SonoftheMetalFlame: (Hahaha)

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Well, I think it is time to wake one of them. We need some answers."

Alyssa: "Have either of them regained conciousness at all?"

Thelaos: "You may wake them. It will slow their recovery, but that's acceptable."

Alyssa: "Have either of them woken since they got here?"

Thelaos shakes his head, "they have been resting. That's all."

Alyssa: "In that case, perhaps it would be best for us to disguise ourselves. They may speak more freely if they do not realise that they are our prisoners."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I think they will realize that they are our prisoners once they try to leave - and we don't let them."

Alyssa: "Yes, but at least briefly we can post medical grounds for them not leaving. Any answers we get before they realise may be more useful than we would get otherwise."

SonoftheMetalFlame nods. "That is valid."

Thelaos: "As you wish. I can not disguise myself the way that you or Johan do."

Alyssa: "I suggest you tell me what questions you would like answered and I will disguise myself and try to get answers."

Thelaos ponders this for a moment and shakes his head, "I don't care what you ask. I'll be outside. We will discuss what to do with these prisoners later.. but until then, you will answer to me for any harm you inflict on either one."

Thelaos drops the cloth - his hands still stained in blood - and steps out the door.

Alyssa: "I'd rather deceive them than torture them, Thelaos."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I want to know why they tried to invade my land, what and who they were after, and everything they know about those individuals that were here if that is at all related."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I cannot think of anything else, though. Best of luck, Alyssa."

Alyssa: "Thank you."

SonoftheMetalFlame walks out the door, closing it quietly behind him.

Thelaos turns to Son as he steps outside, "So, how many did Johan kill?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: (The blood ape is down here near the door guarding, by the by.)

Alyssa uses her Mask to disguise herself as an attractive young woman."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "He did not tell me how many. We will know in the coming days, as we will be giving them a proper burial as they arrive."

Thelaos sighs, "I should not have allowed him to leave. I won't repeat that mistake."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Numerous mistakes were made. The first is that we allowed them to see our true nature. The second was how we dealt with the remaining soldiers."

Thelaos: "Really? It seems to me that the first was refusing the Terrestrials access to your manse.. if you truly wanted to stay hidden. As I recall, I left *that* one up to you, Son of the Metal Flame."

Thelaos: "Anything - absolutely anything - we did after that point would have resulted in far more attention from the Realm."

SonoftheMetalFlame steps closer to Thelaos, the tone in his voice becoming hot with anger. The walls nearby begin to glow like recently forged metal. "They did not want access, Thelaos. They wanted the manse itself, and I shall NEVER allow anyone to take my manse by force."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I do not blame you for what happened in the least. If the battle had lasted much longer, my anima would have been brighter than yours by orders of magnitude."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "It is the three bastards of the Bull that I am truly angry with. I should never have trusted them, and I shall make them pay quite dearly for what they have done."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "For now, all we can do is try to minimize the harm caused to innocent parties."

SonoftheMetalFlame: The walls nearby lose their glow rapidly. "I would like to apologize to you specifically for what has happened to the soldiers. In my desire to protect myself, I have allowed many to be slaughtered. It will not happen again." Son extends his hand.

Thelaos: "Too late for that. Like I said.. the second you refused the Tepets entry, secrecy was impossible. *I* am okay with that. If you were not, you should've acted differently. I know this massacre will not be repeated, because next time you will not face two surprised terrestrials, but my sword."

SonoftheMetalFlame looks hard at Thelaos. The walls quickly gain their glow again, becoming bright enough to light the halls. "Do not presume to threaten me in my own home. You will leave. Now."

Thelaos: shakes his head, "No. This may be your home, but those two are under my care. I will not leave them in your hands - or Johan's."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Then they are to leave as well. You have an hour to evacuate the premises." Son turns and promptly walks down the hall, heading toward the main level of the manse.

Thelaos waits outside the room for Alyssa to finish.

Kuros: (It is noon.)

Kuros: Alyssa emerges from the room, and finds only Thelaos standing there

Alyssa: Alyssa steps out of the room, letting disappointment cross her face once the door closes.

Silk: Upon waking Silk will eat breakfast and then look for his Circlemates.

Thelaos: "What did you find?"

Silk: Eventually he finds Alyssa and Thelaos standing before the room with the prisoners.

Alyssa: "Nothing much. He doesn't remember much of the fight. I'm pretty sure he believes I'm going to help him so I might be able to get more in a little while."

Silk nods in greeting to both as he arrives

Thelaos: "Unfortunately you have less than one hour, Alyssa."

Alyssa: "What? What happened?"

Thelaos: "Son and I had a disagreement. I am leaving, and they are coming with me."

Alyssa: "Oh for pity's sake!"

Alyssa: "What did you fall out over?"

Silk frowns. "And if I may ask, why are the prisoners leaving, too?"

Thelaos nods to Silk as he approaches, a little confused at the newcomer. Recognition dawns on his expression when Silk asks the question.

Thelaos: "We 'fell out' over the events of last night.. and as for the prisoners, they are coming with me because of you."

Silk raises an eyebrow. "Is that so?"

Thelaos: "It is."

Thelaos: "I can not make your ambition and the steps you're clearly willing to take in its persuit a priority."

Silk: "You lack the strength to do what is necessary to achieve a great and noble goal, is that what you're saying? How does that concern the prisoners?"

Thelaos: "What is necessary?

Thelaos: "Would you have sent two hundred mortals back to their masters with a story of two powerful dragonblooded warriors being tossed around like children?"

Alyssa: Alyssa grimaces. "Silk. I think this is the same issue we talked about earlier."

Silk: "It is no shame to be without that conviction, that is the reason I have taken this burden upon myself."

Silk: "I judged it necessary, Son agreed with me. None objected."

Thelaos: "I think you would have killed those men no matter what happened last night. There is nothing great or noble about you. You are a butcher."

Silk: "Am I? You are the reason these men are dead."

Silk: "You killed them with the touch of your Anima as surely as if you had thrown the rock to start the avalanche that buried them."

Alyssa: "Would you two mind discussing this without throwing accusations. Please?"

Thelaos: "Your work would've been 'necessary' no matter what I did. And it was for nothing if there are any alive."

Thelaos: "This would not be the first time I've seen a man kill with such hollow rationlization, though."

Silk shrugs dispassionately. "No accusations, as you wish."

Thelaos turns to Alyssa, "you should have time to speak with them again before we leave. Otherwise, I'm going now."

Silk: "It is obvious, that you seem to be of a different opinion regarding what I see as self-evident necessity. However you will realize that there was no time to discuss it in depth."

Alyssa: "I'm going to ask Son for more time. And please, at least give us a chance to talk this through. If we can't agree then well and good, but it is possible that we do not fully understand each other. Please, will you at least hear us all out. Each of us has our own views."

Silk: "Now as to the matter itself - would you rather have a Wyld Hunt here with ten thousand mortal soldiers? Make a choice between ten thousand deaths and losing the chance to create a better world, resulting in uncountable losses over time?"

Alyssa heads towards the stairs.

Thelaos watches Alyssa go and turns back to Silk, "Son chose the wyld hunt when refused the Tepets entry. I assumed that he - and you - had thought that far ahead before attacking them. It would only have been a matter of time."

Silk looks at his hands. "I regret the necessity of it. I am tired of the endless wars plaguing this world, tired of the endless killing. That is why I am here with the Circle - I believe that together we can reorder the world in a better way. And I cannot let that chance be endangered by our enemies. Thus while I regret it I will not shy away from necessity."

Alyssa: Alyssa looks for Son

Kuros: You find Son communing with the memory crystal...unfortunately, he is pale and sweating, and the crystal is pulsing ominously.

Alyssa: "Son!"

Thelaos: "Don't talk to me about regret, Silk - those words are empty. If you wanted a different world, you wouldn't be so ready to kill everything in your path."

Alyssa: Alyss tries to shake Son to get his attention.

Kuros: He doesn't respond

Thelaos: "We are far greater than those mortals, and even the dragonblooded lords of the Realm. Doing what is right, *especially* when it is dangerous, is our responsibility."

Alyssa: She slaps him across the face.

Silk: "You call me a butcher and though you mean insult you find a kernel of truth: A butcher does not kill because he likes the act of killing, he kills so that his family may live. He is not wasteful. He does not cause undue suffering in his work."

Kuros: He still doesn't respond.

SonoftheMetalFlame: (Oh, and the floor around me is glowing so brightly that it looks like the furniture will burst into flames at any moment)

Alyssa: Try to pry the memory crystal away from him.

SonoftheMetalFlame: (In fact, the whole room is - yay for manse cosmetic displays)

Kuros: The crystal is burning hot to touch, and getting hotter. If you keep holding on to it, it will start to do damage. And there is no chang ein Son's condition.

Silk: "Do you mean to say you can accomplish a new world order without killing a single man? If so, teach me that great secret of yours that in the whole history of Creation none have known before you. If you do possess such wisdom, why keep it for yourself?"

Alyssa: Shriek "HELP!" at the top of my voice and throw the memory crystal away from me (not trying to break it).

Kuros: It bounces to the ground, glowing brighter and brighter

Thelaos: "Keep your sarcasm, Johan. I am saying that the world is the sum of our actions - not our ambitions, and -"

Thelaos: "and that a 'new world order' will be nothing different if its built on the backs of thousands of slain innocents. It doesn't matter how glorious your success is."

Silk: "I do not believe there is such a way. I believe in efficiency and strategy, in calculated losses on the way to victory. A day may come when no more deaths are required and on that day I shall be happy, for my greatest wish will have come true. But the way to that day will require sacrifices, there is no way around that."

Silk: "If the deaths of thousands will save hundreds of thousands, I will gladly accept it. If Millions must die so that all future generations may have peace, then that is a small price."

Thelaos: "Our existence is a struggle, Johan. You will never save Creation from itself. And if you attempt to murder your way to an unattainable goal, you may have to go through me."

Silk: "I accept that my judgement is not perfect, that I am neither all-knowing nor possessed of all wisdom in the world. So if you or someone else can show me a path that requires less sacrifices, I will gladly accept it. If there are ways and means that are closed to me, I will gladly accept help. That is why I do not work alone, apart from the matter of raw power."

Kuros: The crystal suddenly explodes in a shower of golden light, sending small fragments hurtling around the room and opening a tiny cut on Alyssa's face. Son collapses forward onto the table, breathing heavily

Alyssa: "Dammit!"

Alyssa: "Son? Can you hear me? Are you alright?"

Silk: "But I *will* have peace, one way or another."

SonoftheMetalFlame breathes heavily, putting his hands on the table to help him push himself to his feet. "Yes. I can hear you."

Thelaos regards Silk silently for a few long moments. "I understand. Consider, however, that if you want to bring about the change you're speaking of, you will face far worse than the wyld hunt, and your success will be meaningless if you become what you're fighting. You will be the Bull."

Alyssa: "Are you hurt?"

Silk: "If the Incarna do nothing to save Creation from itself, then someone else must do it. And I won't give up, merely because it is difficult."

SonoftheMetalFlame suddenly snaps up, rage in his eyes. He picks up the table and throws it as hard as he can across the room.

Kuros: The table slams into the wall and shatters.

Silk: "Yes. However the difference is in chosing the time and the place. I - we - are not ready now to face the Wyld Hunt in its entirety. But one day we will be. There are other enemies, but their time too will come."

Alyssa grabs hold of Son and tries to restrain him. "Stop that! Breaking up furniture won't help anything!"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I cannot believe I allowed myself to be duped by these... these ants!"

Thelaos nods. "In the future.. I suggest that you think about that before you fight - not after. Even without the visual display of raw power, we are not subtle. Killing those two in the blink of an eye is not something that any mortal or even dragonblood could do as we did."

Alyssa: "I take it that it isn't what you were promised?"

SonoftheMetalFlame does not struggle as Alyssa grabs hold of him. "No. No, it most certainly is not."

Silk: "Your argument is accepted, it may well be that from an outside perspective I will one day look no different than the Bull. It is not inevitable though, I believe. Though even if it is ... better that I am the monster that brings peace than that I am the wise man who closes his eyes to the war raging before his house."

Alyssa: "Listen, you have to calm down. And what in the world has you and Thelaos at each other's throats to the point that you're throwing him out?"

Thelaos smiles slightly, "I never said anything about closing your eyes, Johan. I carry this sword for a reason."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Apparently those worms who stole my books are working with a Twilight who I swear shall pay for this."

Silk: "Silk, please. I am not in disguise."

Thelaos blinks, "Silk, then? My apologies. Good to meet you."

SonoftheMetalFlame closes his eyes, breathing deeply to restore his calm. With each breath, the room's glow reduces until it is just barely alight. "He threatened me in my own home, though I suppose rightfully so. Perhaps I allowed my anger at the bastards who took advantage of me to overcome my judgement."

Silk nods. "We have not discussed it before, so it was unfair of me to accuse you. But we have long ago decided that the time to reveal ourself has not yet come. This morning, Alyssa and I have taken up the subject again and we shall all of us discuss it again. But while the protocol is to hide our nature from the world, witnesses are something we cannot afford."

Alyssa: "I think we all need to calm down. He and Silk are bickering down stairs. Can you leave off kicking him out. We all need to talk about where we're going. I don't think we all have the same ideas about what we want and what we're willing to do."

Silk: "Displays of power are one thing. This is an academy of sorcerers after all and my theatrics were specifically designed to scare. Confirmation of our nature however is something else entirely."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Yes. It is much more important that we work together right now than allow our emotions to separate us."

Thelaos2: "Very well. In the future, we will pick our battles more carefully."

Silk sighs. "Though ... it was never before necessary to contain this information on such a scale."

Alyssa: "Then let's invite him up here, apologise to each other and sort this out. If we can't work together after that, let us at least not part ways with him our enemy."

Silk: "And be more circumspect about anima displays?"

Thelaos: "As you wish."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Please invite them up. I need to go and speak with Sibu briefly, and I will also get lunch started. I think it might be best to talk over a meal."

Alyssa: "Now that's a good idea."

Silk: "Maybe I hold you to too high a standard. I understand suppressing the divine light does not come as easy to those of other Castes. But as long as we have not after considered discussion decided to do so and it is avoidable ..."

Alyssa heads downstairs. "Silk? Thelaos. Have you killed each other... no? Oh good."

Silk: "No, and it seems we may yet hold off on it for a while."

Thelaos smiles a bit at this.

Thelaos: "Yes.. we're both alive for now."

Alyssa: "I'm glad to hear it. Please come upstairs. Son has calmed down and wants us all to dine together so we can sort out our differences peacefully."

Thelaos: "Very well."

Silk bows slightly and follows the Alyssa and Thelaos upstairs

Thelaos looks at the demon silently guarding the room and follows Alyssa up the stairs.

Alyssa takes the other two to the dining room, the same room as the aborted dinner of the previous evening.

Silk bows politely to Son as he enters the dining room

SonoftheMetalFlame bows in return. "Hello. Lunch will be served shortly."

Thelaos made a quick stop on the way to the dining room in order to change out of his bloody clothes, and joins the rest of the circle immediately.

Alyssa sighes and takes a seat. "Shall we talk before we eat?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Certainly."

Silk nods

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Well then. Where do we begin?"

Thelaos:	has a seat at the table and looks across to Son of the Metal Flame, "before anything else, let me apologize. What I said down there was not the wisest way to address the situation."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Then we shall trade apologies. I should not have reacted in such a way to someone who helped me defend my home not more than a day previous. You have proven to be a friend thus far and I should not have treated you as anything but."

Thelaos: "Thank you."

Alyssa: "As I see it there are two things we need to settle. What we are trying to do and what measures we will - and will not - take towards those goals."

Alyssa: "With the latter resting on the deaths yesterday."

Alyssa: "In fairness, I didn't object at the time. But I think I should have."

SonoftheMetalFlame: nods at Thelaos, and then turns to Alyssa. "And I should not have actively encouraged it."

Silk: "Would you have had a more efficient alternative?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I am not arguing what was efficient or what wasn't, and I don't intend to. Instead, I would like to think that we can do our best to ensure that we do not end up in circumstances which require such action again."

Silk: "I agree completely. But circumstances are not always within our control."

Alyssa: "Silk, I think the point is that when things go that far - animas blazing in front of a crowd of hundreds - it's already too late to prevent word getting out."

Thelaos: "Circumstances yesterday were within our control."

Alyssa: "Now what you did might buy time. That's true and well worth it. But it also makes us exactly what they expect: Anathema, not Lawgivers."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "These circumstances were quite preventable, really. I should have never let my guard down - my lust for knowledge clouded my mind, ironically."

Thelaos: "Allowing them access to the manse was the only way to prevent the Realm's suspicion. They wouldn't have stayed long.. the Realm has no power here in the Scavenger Lands. They would likely have searched for what the Bull's emmisaries wanted, made a show of their importance and left this place."

Silk: "And we could have prevented the flare of animas. However the situation, a talon of soldiers led by Dragonblooded intent on occupying this land - that was outside our immediate control. Perhaps it could have been prevented, but not once we were at that point."

Alyssa: "From what they said, they implied they intended to stay. Now that could be wrong. Hopefully I can find out more from them."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "No, Alyssa, that is not wrong. They outright declared that they were taking control of my manse."

Silk: "Yes, occupation and continued control were the content of their orders, as far the commander discussed them in my presence."

Thelaos: "Very well. But that is an unrealistic prospect for them.. especially House Tepet."

Silk: "I suspect manipulation. With the destruction of two legions secret material might have fallen into the hands of the Bull that could allow him to fake such orders."

Alyssa: "Silk, Son. I think we have to accept that we can't always keep our presence a secret. And Thelaos, there are going to be times when it is both practical and prudent to kill to ensure that our presence is a secret. It's dividing those two circumstances that is the problem."

Silk: "Say that we are once more in the same situation, our backs against the wall and faced with strong opponents and a multitude of witnesses. What then do we do?"

Thelaos: "At that time, we accept the consequences and dangers of what we're doing. If we're not ready to accept that risk, we're not ready to persue these goals."

Kuros: The students begin filing into the dining area, and others begin bringing out plates of food

Alyssa: "If we have a lot of witnesses, and we're seriously threatened, my own opinion is that we do what we need to survive the fight or escape. But I can't support massacres."

Alyssa has lowered her voice as the students arrived.

Silk looks uncomfortable in the presence of the students. "Can we discuss this here?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Every student here knows what happened last night and knows about myself, though I have not disclosed anything about any of you. If you wish, we can go to my quarters to continue this."

Silk continues in a lower voice. "If you trust them, then I will accept that for now."

Thelaos nods in agreement with Silk.

Silk: He continues to speak in a low voice, though.

Kuros: One of the students comes bearing several plates of food, and sits them in front of you.

Alyssa: "Thank you," Alyssa says with a smile.

SonoftheMetalFlame nods. "Thank you, Samine."

Kuros: She blushes and scurries away

Silk: "The question then is, as Alyssa and I discussed this morning, where is the point at which the risks and consequences to ourselves and our goals posed by revealing ourselves are outweighed by the advantages or the cost of containing that information?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I wish I could answer that."

Thelaos: "The life of a mortal is a high cost, Silk."

Silk: "That high price stands on both sides of the equation."

Alyssa: "I think we need to operate on two principles: firstly, are those we would kill already our enemies, and is it practical to conceal ourselves by killing them."

SonoftheMetalFlame nods. "Perhaps more than a mortal, an innocent. There are many mortals that I would see die for crimes they commit, but certainly mindless soldiers are not those mortals."

Alyssa: "In this case, since it was not possible to silence all of the soldiers, the latter measure was not met. On the other hand, as soldiers of the Dynasty, they arguably were already our enemies."

Silk: "If as consequence of letting information about our nature spread uncontrolled mortals, innocents will die either in direct sequence or because we are prevented or delayed from achieving our goals, that too must be calculated."

Thelaos seems lost in thought for a moment, and comes out of it at Silk's statement.

Silk: "I would argue now as I did yesterday that this cost outweighed the lives of the finite number of enemy soldiers."

Thelaos: "I will not weigh theoretical costs as heavily as those that we face clearly."

Alyssa: "I don't believe that it did in that case."

Alyssa: "And if we murder innocents, whatever the justification, then we are not making Creation better. We're becoming monsters."

Alyssa: "I'm not calling those soldiers innocent, but if it had not been soldiers, but onlookers from the village, what would you have done?"

Thelaos: "For all our power, we are not omniscient. We can not know what costs may eventually be payed for our actions - not with so much at stake and so many other actors in play. We can only do what is right in the circumstances we face."

Silk: "I will grant you a measuring factor based on the distance in time, space and actions, but you cannot discount them. How many lives were saved by our actions in Lanterntown? How many more would have been lost, had we been prevented from doing as we did by a Wyld Hunt? These are very real people we are talking about, even if we do not know them by name."

Thelaos: "And real as they are, your questions can not be answered."

SonoftheMetalFlame: (By the by, if anyone's wondering, the food is steamed vegetables over a bed of white rice with a spicy sauce made from local herbs and spices.

Silk only picks at his food, more focused on the discussion

SonoftheMetalFlame slowly eats away at his food, remaining mostly silent.

Alyssa: "Yes. But what harm would have been done by them knowing Solars had been there and then left?"

Alyssa: "We are, in fairness, quite difficult to trace."

Silk: "Had they been onlookers from the village ... it depends. Those who remained could have been convinced to keep quiet, I'm sure you would be capable of impressing that on them, Alyssa. Those who ran - I would have argued and acted the same. Depending on the number, it might have been feasible to hold them as prisoners until the risk they posed could be determined."

SonoftheMetalFlame shakes his head. "No, people who have caused us no direct harm and have no intention to do so shall never be a warranted casualty."

Silk: "All courses of action not possible with such a large number of fleeing, indoctrinated enemy soldiers."

Silk: "By that reasoning you would have us refrain from killing such as the Order of the Silver Chair had they not attacked Caran?"

Alyssa: "By doing as you suggest, we would simply become tyrants imposing injustices upon those around is. Is that the better world that you want, Silk?"

Silk: "As long as they only murder other people, they shall never be a warranted casualty?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Oh my, no. I am referring to innocent people. Murderers should be swiftly disposed of."

Alyssa: "Innocent is not the same as saying 'not having attacked us'."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "And trust me, the irony of me saying that does not escape me."

Silk: "Indeed, how do you define that innocence?"

Thelaos: "A good question. Soldiers are not innocent.. but they are rarely as convinced of their own righteousness as their commanders."

Alyssa: "Well I do NOT define guilt as possibly in some nebulous future being a potential source of information."

Thelaos: "Those men may have been mercenaries. They may have been criminals or worse. They may have been conscripts or slaves of the terrestrials' influence."

Alyssa: "I've never met anyone without sin, Silk, but if someone can live at peace with their neighbours then they are more innocent than I."

Silk: "I had not expected an easy definition that would have cut our discussion short."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Well, as much as discussing morality is both interesting and necessary, I think we need to focus for the moment one what we will do next. Now that we at least have a general idea about how we will handle future situations."

Silk: "But I disagree in principle over the matter of intelligence. Some information is too powerful to take the risk. In comparison the information of 'Solar Exalted are allied with Son of the Metal Flame's academy' is a LOT more dangerous than 'Solar Exalted appeared in our village and left again, who, where from and where to we do not know'.

Thelaos nods, "I feel that Son of the Metal Flame is correct.. it may take more than one meal to decide this."

Silk: "Though I would agree with the spirit of your words as I perceive it, namely that such risks must be carefully weighed and if small enough sometimes accepted."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "The duplicitous dogs who stole from my library are likely making their way North as we speak, and House Tepet will quite likely be mobilizing a greater force to investigate what happened here."

Alyssa: "True. Unfortunately, in this case, I think we had no choice to reveal that to survive... and no way of preventing word getting out."

Alyssa: "Hopefully House Tepet won't have the resources to send a larger force."

Thelaos looks at Alyssa, "You said those two remember nothing of the battle?"

Silk: "There's also a difference between 'word getting out' and reliable intelligence. But enough of that."

Silk: "We do agree that the time to openly reveal ourselves has not yet come, right? And that such measures shall not be taken without reasoned discussion or the greatest of necessities?"

Thelaos: "Agreed."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I can agree to that."

Alyssa: "Can we agree though, that there will be no killing of those who are not already our enemies - by their choice or ours - to conceal our presence?"

SonoftheMetalFlame simply nods.

Silk looks pained. "I cannot agree to a statement as all-encompassing as that."

Alyssa: "Alright. What circumstances do you envisage where that would pose a problem?" Alyssa asks, in a reasonable tone.

Silk: "Though I will agree that such should not be done without vital reasons and if possible discussion of those."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I think that this will be sufficient. I cannot imagine that circumstances like these will come up again within the week, and during that time, we will have more than plenty of time to iron out the details."

Alyssa: "Alright."

Silk: "In order to see why I cannot agree you must merely accept the possibility of a scenario where it might be necessary. If I give my word I take that seriously."

Alyssa: "Very well, Silk. I accept that."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "So. First, I would like to ask everyone a question."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Does the name Shebeth sound in any way familiar?"

Alyssa: "A city I think. Or perhaps an area. Quite an old name, First Age perhaps?"

Silk leans back and eats some of his rice.

Thelaos: "That's about all I know as well."

SonoftheMetalFlame nods. "Indeed, that is also what I know. I intend to study it further in my library. I ask, because... well, did Alyssa mention what happened with the crystal?"

Silk frowns. "No, she did not."

Alyssa: "I hadn't the chance."

Alyssa: "It exploded."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Oh, it did more than explode."

Thelaos raises an eyebrow, "what happened?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I had been researching sorcery in the library that it contained in the weeks previous. I accessed it just after that... argument. It turns out that it was a trap. I found a woman in there who displayed the caste mark of a Twilight. We engaged in combat, and after a moment, she disappeared. But not before saying that I couldn't have Shebeth."

Silk: "Not ... that demon-impostor?"

Thelaos frowns. "I wonder if the Bull - or this woman - realize what they've done."

Alyssa: "That suggests that the area they were interested in was Shebeth."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "No, she said that she was elated to have found another Twilight nearby. I trust that she is actually a Solar exalt. She acted as such."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "And I do not know whether to think that they are interested in Shebeth, or if they are just setting another trap."

Thelaos: "So much for finding allies in our fellow 'lawgivers.'"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Indeed, I fear that we have more enemies than friends at this point."

Alyssa: "Well, we will have to decide between ignoring them or acting upon this. Hopefully I can find out what the situation is about the Tepet before we have to decide."

Silk: "That is troubling. We will need to win Solar Exalted as allies or at least make sure they are sympathetic to our goals."

Silk: "You have not gotten far in interrogating our prisoners, Alyssa?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Well, I do not believe that these ones will ever be sympathetic. Or more to the point, I shall never be sympathetic to them."

Thelaos nods in agreement with Son. "If we can find powerful allies.. all the better. But the solar exalted are no different from the rest of the world. We remain all too human, as we've learned ourselves."

Alyssa: "I haven't spoken to them again. I don't think they're going to be very forthcoming but it's worth trying again, before attempting anything more confrontational."

SonoftheMetalFlame sets down his chopsticks. "How are we detaining these men, again?"

Silk nods. "We should find out as much as we can as basis for our decisions."

Thelaos: "They are secured below your manse, under guard of your demon."

Alyssa: "I posed as a servant with Immaculate sympathies."

Silk: "That should be our first priority then."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "I wonder if chains will be enough to hold two Dragonblooded."

Thelaos: "Agreed. In any event, the Bull's emissaries have a day's lead on us, so we must decide quickly what we will do."

Thelaos: "In their current state, it will be plenty."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "With my agatae, we will gain very, very quickly."

Thelaos: "They are recovering very quickly under my care, but it will take days for them to be at their full strength."

Alyssa: "Which raises the question of what to do in the longer term. Can't keep them as prisoners forever."

Silk: "Your interrogation should include the matter of their doctrinal adherence."

Silk: "Perhaps they can be disabused of their prejudices."

Thelaos nods deliberately, "and if not.."

Thelaos: "I will personally give them an option."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "What option?"

Alyssa: "The one I spoke to stated his intention of crushing the 'anathema blight'."

Silk: "They are dangerous enemies. We cannot let them go."

Thelaos: "Submit or fight their way through me."

Thelaos sits back, clearly conflicted, and muses to himself, "I probably should not have saved them both."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Perhaps. Perhaps there will be a way to release them and yet not fear retribution."

Silk: "How?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "There is a demon that can eat passionate memories. I trust that being killed by the anathema counts as a passionate memory."

Alyssa: "One alternative would be to strip them and send them back with a warning not to return. It would have risks, but if would be a powerful message of confidence: most of their soldiers not coming back and their Exalted leaders returned, humiliated."

SonoftheMetalFlame: "It may not work perfectly, but it is possible that I could simply take away all of their memory of the battle."

Silk: "And is that beyond the capabilities of Exalted healers to undo?"

SonoftheMetalFlame: "Very good question. I will have to return to my tomes and see if they mention anything about that."

Thelaos: "Right now, our best bet of containing this situation is sending those two back with a story that conflicts with the soldiers'."

Silk: "That would be optimal. If we could alter their memories ..."

Thelaos: "But again.. time is of the essence. If we do anything, it should be done now. I propose that we go back downstairs and talk to them again while Son of the Metal Flame investigates the use of this demon."

Silk: "In the short term imprisonment should be our first option. Counter-indoctrination and demonology both take more time than we have right now."

Kuros: 7xp