Dawn of the Third Age/IC Logs/Session 04
Session Start (Anshu:#celestialdeliberative): Sun Sep 12 10:21:52 2010 -0600
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[10:21] <~Anshu> there we go
[10:22] *** Anshu is now known as Taurus_II
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[10:58] *** RandBrittain is now known as Inkwell
[11:10] *** Myllinnia is now known as Shadow_Phoenix_Ruby
[11:12] *** Hattori is now known as Noldarr
[11:15] *** dakkareth is now known as Nomoe_Hideaki
[11:19] * Noldarr takes off his postman's uniform and hangs it on a chair. Regarding the Fire Aspect across the table, he grimaces, then turns on the spindly Essence lamp hanging from the ceiling. His face, cut into harsh, angular shadows, looms into view of the Dragon-Blooded.
[11:24] * Brazen_Sand stands against a wall, staring at the Dragon-bloods, his very presence exuding an aura of fear.
[11:32] <Brazen_Sand> "Are they awake yet?"
[11:32] * Nomoe_Hideaki arrives a few minutes later, now clad in his usual style again, all elegance and dignity.
[11:33] <Noldarr> "I expect the Fire-Aspect to awaken shortly. Before we do that, though, we should come up with a plan of attack."
[11:33] * Shadow_Phoenix_Ruby patrols the dungeon's exits with a peaceful serene look upon her face, her grand beamklaive hilt sitting comfortably in her hands.
[11:34] <Brazen_Sand> "What's to plan? We terrorize them into telling us what they know, and then kill them."
[11:35] <Noldarr> "It is better to gain an ally than to destroy an enemy. Their willing cooperation would be infinitely more valuable than temporal data."
[11:37] <Brazen_Sand> "They are traitors. The penalty for treason is death."
[11:37] <Nomoe_Hideaki> Two servants follow Nomoe Hideaki carrying white silk banners, each inscribed with a few large symbols: "Highest Justice", and "Mandate of Heaven" on the other, both in breathtakingly magnificent calligraphy. They take up positions on both sides of the door so that the prisoner will see the banners.
[11:41] <Noldarr> "They are enemy combatants."
[11:41] <Nomoe_Hideaki> Before the servants unroll the banners Nomoe Hideaki mentions: "Fellow Deliberators, ambassadors, you might want to avoid looking to closely at these banners once unfurled. They carry powerful Charms."
[11:42] <Nomoe_Hideaki> *too closely
[11:43] * Shadow_Phoenix_Ruby nods as she watches the group. It would show her what methods and how the Deliberative dealt with its enemies in regards to gaining important information.
[11:45] <Nomoe_Hideaki> To the points brought up by Noldarr and Brazen Sand he adds: "I agree. Ideally we should show them the errors of their ways. Merely gaining their cooperation would also be more than acceptable. But at any cost we must extract the information we need regarding the Infernal in this city."
[11:45] <~Taurus_II> A guard comes over. "The prisoners are awake. Which would you like to see first?"
[11:45] * Inkwell examines the banners carefully, activating subprime logic handling routines to protect himself from their magic.
[11:45] <Inkwell> "Isn't it a bit gauche to fill these prisoners with love for you personally?"
[11:45] <Noldarr> "I would speak to the Fire Aspect."
[11:48] <~Taurus_II> "I will fetch her, then."
[11:48] <Nomoe_Hideaki> "It's expedient. Either they gain the proper perspective toward one of their betters, or they exhaust their strength resisting."
[11:48] <Nomoe_Hideaki> "Both helps us."
[11:49] <~Taurus_II> The guard goes and returns with the Fire Aspect under heavy guard, her hands and feet bound in chains of jade.
[11:49] <Brazen_Sand> "It doesn't matter to me, as long as we get the information we need."
[11:50] <Inkwell> "I see I am going to be overruled."
[11:50] * Nomoe_Hideaki snaps his fan closed to mark the end of the discussion as the prisoner arrives. It wouldn't do to warn her.
[11:51] <Noldarr> "Release her bindings."
[11:51] <Brazen_Sand> "I don't think so."
[11:51] * Brazen_Sand shakes his head. "Keep her chained up. She's a prisoner."
[11:52] * Noldarr raises an eyebrow.
[11:53] * Nomoe_Hideaki opens his fan again and fans himself slightly. "Unchaining her will make her no less a prisoner." His demeanor is distant.
[11:53] <Brazen_Sand> "Nevertheless, she is to remain vulnerable. Unchaining her will make her feel less so. She is not among friends, and she should know that."
[11:53] <~Taurus_II> She is seated across the table from you, and the guard who spoke earlier looks up. "The bindings prevent her from activating her anima, Princes."
[11:54] * Noldarr nods at the guard.
[11:54] <Noldarr> "They are appreciated, but unnecessary. Thank you."
[11:55] * Nomoe_Hideaki gives the lightest of shrugs at Brazen's continued resistance to Noldarr's direction. He doesn't care anyway.
[11:56] <Nomoe_Hideaki> *either way.
[11:56] <Inkwell> "Would you like some tea?" wonders Inkwell, placidly. A cup gently levitates from his table to bob before the prisoner's lips.
[11:56] <~Taurus_II> The guard looks quite unhappy, and unlocks her chains before backing away quickly, letting them fall to the floor with a clatter.
[11:56] * Brazen_Sand rolls his eyes. "What is with you? An hour ago you attacked them while we were speaking to them?"
[11:57] * Noldarr gives the guard an appreciative nod.
[11:57] <Inkwell> "That was then, and this is now."
[11:57] <~Taurus_II> The Fire Aspect turns her head away from the hovering teacup.
[11:57] * Inkwell returns the cup to its saucer.
[11:58] * Brazen_Sand leans threateningly across the table and stares at her with his rock-hard compassionless eyes. "Tell us what you know and who you work for, NOW!" He shouts, pounding the table hard enough to create cracks in it for emphasis
[12:03] <~Taurus_II> The Fire Aspect leans away from Brazen Sand, defiant hatred smoldering in her eyes.
[12:08] * Nomoe_Hideaki sighs. "You should ask more specific questions. And we already know that she serves the Yozis and works for one of the Infernals of the Reclamation."
[12:09] <Noldarr> Acting as if nothing had happened, Noldarr regards her neutrally. His tone, however, is strange, slightly amused. "If my recollections of Immaculate Doctrine are correct, you must believe us to be demons."
[12:09] * Brazen_Sand only looked even more angry and furious from Nomoe's response, his fury baking off of him almost palpably
[12:11] * Shadow_Phoenix_Ruby shakes her head and continues doing her rounds.
[12:12] <Nomoe_Hideaki> * ... we already know that she works for one of the Ebon Dragon's Infernals and thereby serves the Yozis."
[12:12] <Nomoe_Hideaki> The Caste Mark of the Eclipse shimmers on his brow.
[12:14] <Brazen_Sand> "SHE doesn't know that." Brazen muttered to Nomoe
[12:14] <~Taurus_II> She glares at Nomoe. "I would never serve the Yozis, or any of their demons," she spits, and nods in response to Noldarr's comment. She's being honest.
[12:14] * Brazen_Sand nods. "See?"
[12:15] <Inkwell> "Whom WOULD you serve, then?" asks Inkwell. His curiosity is a sucking void, compelling her to fill in the blanks.
[12:18] <Brazen_Sand> "Then why do you defy the rule of the Deliberative? There is only one word for such a thing. TREASON!" Brazen demands
[12:20] * Nomoe_Hideaki tilts his head slightly. "That's hard to believe. A powerful and learned Immaculate working with one of the Ebon Dragon's Fiends - the one who produces the abominable Charms twisting the minds of all mortals to read your tracts - and she doesn't even know it?"
[12:22] <Noldarr> Noldarr meets her eyes levelly. "Your circle appears to have the identities of the demons and the undefiled upside-down." He does not continue, allowing her to fill in the blanks.
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[12:36] <~Taurus_II> "I serve the Dragons, the true Order, and the Empress," the Fire Aspect proclaims, glaring. "The only treason is the gutless way the Realm and the Order have bowed down to you and your kind in the Empress's absence. And we would never work with the Ebon Dragon. The writer of the pamphlets is an Air Aspect! She..." The Fire Aspect chokes herself off and glares some more, but her honesty burns like a flame to those with eyes to see it.
[12:37] <Shadow_Phoenix_Ruby> (Cut off at 'those with')
[12:37] <~Taurus_II> The Fire Aspect chokes herself off and glares some more, but her honesty burns like a flame to those with eyes to see it.
[12:38] <Brazen_Sand> "Then you've been tricked."
[12:43] <Noldarr> "Consider an inhabitant of a society ruled by Anathema. The use of well-thought-out natural persuasion and mental magic allow the rulers of this society to irrevocably brand their enemies as demons. They inoculate their populace against arguments to the contrary by stating that these 'demons' use mental magic to convince others of their innocuous intentions."
[12:43] <Noldarr> "In such a hypothetical case, the morality or efficacy of these rulers has nothing to do with the power of their indoctrination."
[12:44] <Noldarr> "That is to say, it would be impossible, if your assumptions are correct, to distinguish between a generally just society that maintained power through such means and a wholly depraved society that did the same, especially for those in positions of privilege."
[13:00] <~Taurus_II> The Fire Aspect remains silent, but she seems to waver a bit as she listens to Noldarr's speech.
[13:01] <Nomoe_Hideaki> "Have you observed the effects of the Charms that so-called Air Aspect lays on the tracts? They create an unnatural addiction, wielding shame and arousal as weapons, then insidiously rewrite a mortal's memories to change the basis for their opinions. No Dragonblooded Charms I know of do such a thing. The essence patterns indicate a Fiend of the Ebon Dragon, charged with weakening Creation by sowing ch
[13:02] <Nomoe_Hideaki> "Fiends excel at such insidious deception, at disguising themselves and insinuating themselves into honorable organisations to wield them for their own purposes."
[13:02] <Nomoe_Hideaki> ... charged with weakening Creation by sowing chaos and undermining its strongest defenders." Nomoe's tone is matter of fact.
[13:03] * Brazen_Sand nods. "They deal in betrayal and deceit, hurting those who are weaker then them and warping them for their own use."
[13:05] <Brazen_Sand> "Did you never think that those pamphlets were base and dishonorable? Below the dignity of the Immaculate Order?" Brazen asks.
[13:14] * Shadow_Phoenix_Ruby approaches the room where the others are and stands just at the threshold of the door, so far no one has tried to escape or enter, well as far as she knew anyway.
[13:16] <~Taurus_II> "She is not an infernalist! She learned her techniques from the Empress herself!" the Fire Aspect snaps. "And any weapon we can use must be used if we are to triumph!"
[13:16] <~Taurus_II> She believes what she's saying, but her resolve is beginning to waver.
[13:16] <Noldarr> Noldarr's expression turns grave.
[13:17] * Nomoe_Hideaki fans himself slightly. "The Empress herself? Have you seen her then since her disappearance fifteen years ago?"
[13:18] <Brazen_Sand> "Is that what she told you?"
[13:18] <~Taurus_II> The Fire Aspect shuts up, realizing she's said too much, and looks down at the table.
[13:19] <Nomoe_Hideaki> "More specifically have you seen her yourself, with your own eyes?"
[13:23] <~Taurus_II> She remains silent.
[13:23] <Noldarr> "Correct me if I am wrong, Deliberator Nomoe. We hear, from our agents in Malfeas of the Empress having become the Ebon Dragon's bride. We investigate supernaturally-charged pamphlets enhanced with Charms known only to the Fiend Caste. We hear from an Immaculate that the writer of these pamphlets has been instructed by the Empress herself."
[13:23] <Noldarr> "Is my memory correct?"
[13:24] * Nomoe_Hideaki nods once. "Correct."
[13:30] <~Taurus_II> The Fire Aspect looks up sharply at their conversation, then looks down, glaring at the table.
[13:30] <Nomoe_Hideaki> "It seems quite conclusive." His expression is briefly touched by a hint of sadness. "But to be truly certain whether she has submitted to the Yozis ... or whether this is some sort of Infernal plot to discredit her ... we need to find that so-called Air Aspect, Deliberator Noldarr."
[13:31] <Noldarr> "Indeed."
[13:35] <~Taurus_II> She looks up again, hardly daring to believe what they are suggesting...
[13:35] <Brazen_Sand> "Perhaps she was tricked..."
[13:38] <~Taurus_II> The Fire Aspect watches and listens.
[13:39] <Noldarr> "She most definitely has, Brazen. Not only by the Fiends themselves, but by her own society, her own culture. In labeling members of the Eclipse Caste the Deceivers, she blinded herself to the nature of those who are the true masters of deceit."
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[13:39] *** RandBrittain is now known as Inkwell
[13:40] <Brazen_Sand> "The compassionate thing to do would be to save her."
[13:40] * Noldarr looks at the Fire Aspect.
[13:40] * Nomoe_Hideaki turns back to the Fire Aspect. "This Air Aspect who composed the tracts. Will you tell us how to find her?"
[13:41] <Noldarr> "It's time to do what must be done."
[13:43] <Nomoe_Hideaki> "This is the only way to determine the truth here. And in the end that is what we all want, is it not?"
[13:44] <~Taurus_II> The Fire Aspect hesitates, and her eyes lock on Noldarr's. "Yes... I'll even lead you there, if you wish. But what about my brotherhood? What will become of them?"
[13:44] <Nomoe_Hideaki> His eyes rest on the Dragonblooded, distant and observing. Laying the responsibility on her shoulders. She is the only one who can help prove this matter one way or another.
[13:45] <Nomoe_Hideaki> "Let us find the truth of this matter first."
[13:45] * Shadow_Phoenix_Ruby again looks to those who hold the power awaiting their decision on those whom they had captured.
[13:45] <Brazen_Sand> "That depends on their actions."
[13:45] <Noldarr> "No harm will come to those who can heed reason."
[13:50] <~Taurus_II> "And if they cannot?"
[13:50] <Brazen_Sand> "Then what are we to do with them? just allow them to attack us?"
[13:51] <Noldarr> "Unless one of them turns out to be akuma, we will not do more than imprison them until this matter is settled."
[13:55] <~Taurus_II> She nods.
[13:55] <Brazen_Sand> "Acceptable."
[14:03] * Nomoe_Hideaki snaps his fan shut. "Good. The faster we move the better."
[14:05] <~Taurus_II> "I don't suppose you will return my daiklaves to me for this," the Fire Aspect asks, standing up from her chair.
[14:06] <Noldarr> If the guard's still here, Noldarr will motion for him to retrieve her daiklaves
[14:07] <~Taurus_II> He looks dubious about the wisdom of this idea, but he bows and goes to retrieve them from where they were put in storage.
[14:10] <Brazen_Sand> "Tell us where she is...please."
[14:10] * Brazen_Sand hesitates to use the last word.
[14:13] <Noldarr> "Lead the way." Noldarr nods at the Fire Aspect.
[14:13] <~Taurus_II> "She lives in a small house out in the fields," she answers, and begins to lead the way.
[14:14] * Shadow_Phoenix_Ruby follows her silently.
[14:17] <Nomoe_Hideaki> A black cloak similar to the one he'd worn for the attack on the tea house earlier shimmers into being around Nomoe Hideaki's shouldern. "Thank you." He gestures for the Fire Aspect to show the way.
[14:22] <~Taurus_II> The Fire Aspect leads you out to the farmland surrounding the Lap and through the extensive fields toward a moderately large structure - a barn or storehouse, with a small outbuilding.
[14:24] <~Taurus_II> "That is where she works," she says, pointing. "There is usually another brotherhood there to protect her."
[14:24] <Brazen_Sand> "That is a barn." Brazen says in a deadpan tone
[14:24] * Shadow_Phoenix_Ruby frowns softly at the building before turning to Brazen Sand.
[14:24] <Shadow_Phoenix_Ruby> "You were expecting something that would stick out?"
[14:25] * Brazen_Sand scratches the back of his head. "Yeah, I suppose I was, actually."
[14:25] <Noldarr> "Can you tell us about the other brotherhood?"
[14:25] <Nomoe_Hideaki> "Where is she more likely to be, the main building or the outbuilding? How many others, apart from the brotherhood?"
[14:29] <~Taurus_II> "Much the same as mine," she shrugs. "No others to my knowledge. And she's probably in the outbuilding."
[14:29] <~Taurus_II> "It's an office to keep track of what goes in and out of the barn."
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[14:31] * Nomoe_Hideaki looks over the barn and outbuilding with essence sight
[14:32] <Shadow_Phoenix_Ruby> "Do we wish that I wander in there unseen to them and find out how to best approach the office building."
[14:32] <Noldarr> "Please do."
[14:32] <Brazen_Sand> "Do it."
[14:36] * Shadow_Phoenix_Ruby looks to the others for comfirmation.
[14:36] * Nomoe_Hideaki nods. "I can't tell with a 100% certainty whether she is 'home', but this is definitely the right place."
[14:38] <Nomoe_Hideaki> "Scouting would seem wise."
[14:39] <Shadow_Phoenix_Ruby> "Where shall I Prioritize my search?" She ask but suspects the answer all the same.
[14:41] <Nomoe_Hideaki> "There is the imprint of Ebon Dragon essence around the outbuilding. But where possible to prioritize non-detection would be my suggestion."
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[14:46] * Shadow_Phoenix_Ruby nods and activates her Optical Shroud and starts her silent and invisible journey to the Outbuilding.
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[14:55] <~Taurus_II> The Fire Aspect starts, as you disappear, and you slowly work your way toward the outbuilding.
