Moving as silently as the breeze, Yohei moves up behind the men and retrieves his bow from the wagon. Eying the weapons of war, he really wishes he had a vat of alchemical fire or some method of destroying these supplies. As he backs away from the wagons, he eyes the area specifically looking for anything capable of the type of destruction needed to take out this level of hardware.
nods in thanks for the healing from Tokine
sinks into the soil momentarily, rises cleaned of ichor, though his robe still show filth
{b]Neverr rregret these deaths. Betterr theirr souls be frreed than they sufferr underr such a currse. Besides, theirr destrruction was at my hands.[/b]
A pause; Azami realizes what will come of this exchange, but does not sense that the guard is untrustworthy. That he would position himself to advance in her stead is of little consequence; it irks her to know that politics plays a role more important than the defense of the Palace. Seeing the blood on her armor reminds her that the Palace is a path to her true goal. She has little interest in advancement here.
Dishonor, however, is not part of that path, and if this guard will not immediately inform Takagami-sama...
She breaks off the arrows protruding from her shoulder, curling her hand tightly around the shafts as a reminder. Then, Azami proffers a curt bow, more to communicate the importance of her report rather than out of irritation or rudeness. "Takagami-sama ordered that Yohei-san and I sweep the woods to the North. While there, we followed footprints of those obviously more skilled than the ninja you encountered earlier. Nearly 50 people camped there, discussing around a campfire. We were beset from behind by Archers attempting to knock us out - mourning dove fletching - and the group about the campfire also began pursuit. We felt it was imperative to alert Takagami-sama of this as soon as possible, in order to ensure the protection of the Palace and the Emperor. Likely, if this group was waiting to act, their timeline has been hastened by our discovery of their presence.
"Takagami-sama must be alerted immediately, in order to preserve the health...and honor...of the Emperor." She adds honor in reference to the emissaries, since the Palace should be a place where they can expect safety; attacks in the presence of guests would question the Emperor's control of his subjects and land. And dishonor for the Emperor would be dishonor for the guard...
Looking around, not missing a single detail, the only thing Yohei can really see is that he needs a powerful spellcaster right about now to do the kind of damage he's thinking. Or a dragon! A dragon would be great, too. Granted there's always traditional fire, but that runs the risk of setting off a forest fire.
@Azami: The guard opens his mouth to reply but is interrupted when a door opens about 20 feet away and Captain Takagami -- who is still in full battle dress and most definitely not asleep -- steps into the hallway. "What is going on out here? We need...Oh! Azami-san! Excellent! Please, come with me into the Situation Room, I wish to hear your full report." Nodding curtly to the other guard he says "Tenro-san, thank you for bringing her here with such alacrity. This is too important to be delayed." The captain's ability to smooth things over, expedite matters, and save face for everyone involved does not go unnoticed by the guard Tenro, who looks abashed.
Takagami-san leads you into a room with maps of the city, a pair of officers you don't know are in there, along with a normal-looking woman in plain clothes, completely unremarkable in appearance. One of the men steps forward while speaking clearly in the celestial tongue, and when he touches your shoulder healing energies wash through your body, forcing the arrowheads out onto the floor as muscles and sinews knit themselves back together.
The captain speaks. "Azami, what did you see out there? Who shot at you? Many ill things are happening in the city right now and we are trying to piece together how many of them -- if any at all -- are related."
We have a trail of sorts, Imuri replies to Aki-Kirei as his vertigo subsides. Can you run?
When he feels able, Imuri leaps down to the ground and sneaks to the corner. He will either be there, the Shoto thinks, remembering Yohuro-sama's maxim, or he will not.
[ooc]Knowledge (local)
Tokine takes in her friend's words with a sad nod. "Well, at least these are saved."
She moves to the woman, "Do not be frightened, he is a friend and helped rid you of a horrible spirit possession. We need to get you back to your shop, can you show us the way?"
And then turning to the officer, "You performed admirably, and perhaps I should not have sent you after such an unworldly foe. But come, we still have need of your strength. We will take you back to the station house, where you will find matters that need immediate attention."
Letting the woman and officer start to find their way back up the alley, she whispers to San Pen, "So much blood in one day...I'm worried."
Narrowing his eyes, Yohei sneaks away from the campsite and once out of earshot, bolts into a run back to the Palace, weaving in between trees as he moves. The towering hardwoods flash past him on either side as he continues to run, his mind focused on his goal. He know must make the greatest haste to inform the others of what he has seen. His thoughts are of a single purpose as he moves, 'Must. Warn. Captain. Must. Stop. Siege.'
Upon breaking out of the forest, he hastily navigates the outskirts of the city and rushes through the city streets, nearly bowling over any passerbys unable to step out of the speeding Tengu's path. His gait is steady as he arrives at the Palace. Not even stopping when the guards greet him at the gate, Yohei bolts towards the Guard chambers and towards the Captain.
Kyras takes a look around at the ominous and mysterious darkening. The Dragon is scratching against the walls of his consciousness, desperately covetous of the evil artifact. Kyras tries to ignore his influence, but it is getting harder with the item in his possession. He lightly speaks to himself, trying to remind himself that he is still the one in charge. [smaller]"What has she gotten us into? I can't leave this here for that Fury or some other evil creature to find. Great..." He puts the statuette in his pocket and ties the magnifying glass tightly to his body with a bit of rope.
The tall Warbanian steps from the ruined storage unit, casting a rather embarrassed look backwards at the damage he caused. "I guess we should go look for this Daveth Ashvale and Rosalyn Portnoy. Maybe they can give us some answers." Looking around, he notices for the first time that it wasn't the same hour as when Vu led him in the storage unit. "How long were we out?"
Azami bows with respect to the healer; feeling the wounds seal across her skin with such speed has never ceased to amaze and humble her, even when it seems unremarkable to others.
She bows even more deeply, but stiffly, to the Captain and the others.
"First, a report on the woods to the North. Yohei-san and I followed suspicious footprints - not the footprints of the ninja - towards a camp of about 50 people, discussing around a campfire.
"Then, we were beset from behind by archers using mourning dove arrows," knowing that the Captain and officers would understand the import of the Enhathladi arrows. The large group also began pursuit. The archers are trained and efficient. We killed one in order to return to the palace and notify you immediately. Yohei-san remained back to gather...more information while I alert you. Likely, knowing that we are aware of them, whatever plans the attackers may have will be hastened."
"However, an event earlier this day plays into this. While in the forest, a winged man aided Yohei-san and I with a killing strike to the archer we battled; this same man I met earlier this day in the marketplace. He and another man - Kyras, a Warbanian" in her focus to explain the scene, it does not occur to her that Warbanian might not mean anything to them, "- were battling a Fury, one of the emmissaries to attend dinner tomorrow night. Kyras had been led to that ambush by a lame man on the direction of Xun Rui Bao.
"The Fury was calling Kyras 'Dragonborn' and attempting to recruit him, testing him by prodding burakumin and summoning devils to attack; Kyras was formidiable and ruthless in his dissent, spraying acid everywhere. He did appear to have some skin like a black Western dragon.
"Chongde-san and I aided them, but the Fury left after inviting Kyras to the palace," she pulls out the invitation. "I confiscated the invitation, intending both the winged man and Kyras to make a report at the palace regarding the behaviour of the emissaries in the city. I did not know if he was a threat to the Emperor." Then, she adds, as if an afterthought, "Both are gaijin, if they can be considered human."
Azami does not add the messages in the mists, even though they come back to her now as fresh as the moment they appeared, her gaze distant: the bloody dawn, the smell of plums and blood, the ghostly image of a crane, the outline of a constellation....
@Imuri: Sera Aki's nausea appears to be passing as quickly as yours, and she executes a light flip down to street level just after you do. "I believe I am fine now. I have never seen a ninja like that before, nor a snow-white tengu, and definitely not both in one being. I have heard rumors of such creatures living in the far, far north, but have never seen one. Who knows if that was such a bird-man, even assuming they really do exist."
You do not see any further trace of the injured ninja. Clearly, this was a warrior with some actual skill, and not like one of the buffoons you encountered in the alley earlier today. As you collect blood, the two Clan Sera Bushi come up, both look a little roughed up, one has a bad cut on his cheek, but they are otherwise sound. You notice a terrible brackish black powder, a sort of ichor-ish gunk is sprayed all over the bottoms of their gis. After speaking briefly with Sera Aki in hushed tones, the three turn to you and bow, and Aki-Kirei speaks for all three; "Imuri-san, I thank you for your escort and bravery this night, My House thanks you. Perhaps it shall come to pass we may take tea together sometime soon." The three of them then depart.
@San Pen and @Tokine: The Waitress was returning to her apartment, actually, and is glad to be on her way, though the shocked look on her face tells you it will be some time before she is completely recovered. The officer, meanwhile, does go back to the precinct house and after paying his own respects, collects other officers to investigate the scene and properly dispose of the bodies.
It has been a long day for you both.
@Yohei and @Azami: The captain and his advisors listen to Azami's report. The advisors prod for a few specific details -- street names, where in the woods things happened, that sort of thing -- and then the captain is about to speak when there is a purposeful knock at the situation door. Arching an eyebrow, the captain indicates for the plain woman to open it. She ambles lightly over and opens the door to reveal the injured and slightly out-of-breath Yohei.
"Well!" Captain Takagami says, a faint smile playing over his lips, "It would appear I chose my sweep team well. You are both here in such a timely manner. Please, come in Yohei, tell us what you found and then I have questions I would ask of you both..."
The healer steps forward and attends to Yohei as well.
@Kyras: It is late in the evening, you must have been out long enough for someone to summon the creature that attacked you, or for it to find you. Not sure which is worse. You are rather beat up and tired, sleep would be marvelous. Or healing. Or both.
@Daveth: You leave behind the two palace guards and fly north, but you see no signs of an army. There are a few merchant caravans -- a lot of merchant caravans, actually -- and some other travelers, but you don't see any signs of armor or arms.
Daveth raises an eyebrow at the number of merchant caravans, if these black dragonflight people really were surrounding the city there was a decent chance that they were the cause of this, either through causing problems for those trying to enter the village or perhaps even a few of the caravans might be where they were hiding as aside from the archers(assuming they were black dragonflight people) he'd not yet run into any of them. might as well check this out, perhaps they passed through where I need to scout. Daveth thinks to himself as he swoops in low(presumable into a treeline if possible) and begins quietly moving around where the caravans are located trying to find any conversations in the general area that he can listen in on.
DRA-sama:
Kyras finds his way to the nearest temple, a fairly small shrine to Shelyn. He knocks, hoping that the hour is not too late to see a clerical physician. Surely, if one saw the seriousness of his injuries, they would make an exception for him. He idly talks to himself as he waits. "Once we get some healing, we'll head to the apartment and get some sleep. If you leave me alone in my dreams tonight, I'll let you set fire to Xun Dui Nap or Vu." He is only half-joking about that. "We can maybe track this Daveth down tomorrow, or check at the Palace to see if they can help us with the Fury."
"So much blood in one day...I'm worried."
I am morre worrried that this will be the starrt of many bloody days.
I will accompany you back to yourr temple. With what we have seen today, we should take no rrisk.
while they walk, he tells her of the moonstone floral arrangements- do they remind her of anything?
you notice that many different floral arrangements are being set up all over the main ballroom in advance of the reception. ... one of the bouquets is a very artful arrangement of plum blossoms, with a moonstone in the middle, sitting in the soil.
...There are seven of these bouquets, arranged around the room. It is the only arrangement of which there are mulitiple identical versions around the room.
Sadly, Tokine nods. "The Inspector knew something off this matter. It is why he wished to meet tonight." She will pull out the scroll tube and show the caps at either end; A plum blossom first, then turning it around to show the crescent moon and seven stars.
"I showed this to one other tonight, the gaijin ambassador Rhon. He has seen Moon and Stars symbol before in several dangerous and deserted places. But yet a man wore the symbol tonight at the reception. Rhon meant to introduce himself at the function..." A worried look crosses her face. "We have learned just how dangerous these secret people can be...I just hope he takes this all seriously.."
She pauses thinking just what more the evening can bring till morning find us all again. "Come the morning, Rhon and the Princess are to visit my Temple. We hope later to come to the palace and visit the archives. I hope dear San Pen that you might make the needed arrangements so that Rhon might gain access. He thinks he might be able to trace the moon and star symbols."
Yohei nods his thanks as the healers attends to his wounds and lays out his telling of the nights events, "Well, Ito-san has probably already told you everything that happened up until we parted, so I'll skip over that bit, but after we split up I laid low for a bit and then managed to sneak around behind their campsite."
"I heard some conversation... something about someone's sister, something changing things at the bargaining table, a great deal of money, Old Stonegard, and a Portney woman. It didn't make much sense to me, but they did say they were planning to get into somewhere tomorrow and I got a look at the hardware they were packing; lots of heavy weapons and armor along with enough strong wood to be build some siege engines."
"My recommendation is that we move out tonight in force and take them out before they can cause us any trouble. They didn't seem too worried about retaliation when I listened in on them so I'm thinking we could catch them by surprise maybe? What do you think Cap?"
Azami stiffens at the mention of Portney, the hollow of her throat carved out of tightened cords of muscle as her eyes flick between Yohei and the Captain.
Tokine wants to get back home and hopefully not find her temple a smoldering ruin. That accomplished, yes, she looks forward to some sleep.
@Imuri: After parting ways with the Seras, you stride over to the Dancing Crane Dojo, mindful of the lateness of the hour and your very busy schedule for the following day. There is a strange energy in the city tonight; the mists are twisting and rippling and clinging to walls and ground as if magnetized. You hear the calls of many swifts as you walk, the elegant and crescent-shaped little birds are not uncommon in Lanzhu -- or anywhere else in the empire for that matter -- but they are not usually this...vocal.
The Dancing Crane dojo is a small rented storefront, depressingly shabby in appearance. The front is taken up mostly by two giant and filthy picture windows and bisected by a solid wooden door. It is a fair guess that this used to be a noodle house or similar and has now been hastily and sloppily converted into an erstwhile dojo. The interior is even sloppier-looking than the exterior, a hastily-installed bamboo floor doing a poor job of hiding the cheap tile underneath and grease stains still visible on the ceiling. The walls have at least been painted though their dull purple color is quite unbecoming. A rack of practice weapons leans crazily up against one wall and badly beat-up practice dummies line the other. A number of tatami mats are rolled up and stacked hastily in one corner. Only a single detail of the interior's decor seems to be have been done with any attention to detail -- a symbol painted high on the far wall of a slumbering crescent moon circled by seven stars.
In the middle of the room you can see a single older man, seated lotus-style on the hard wooden floor. His gi is a muted crimson color, so muted as to almost be blood-red, and a very beat-up but still quite solid-looking bokken is tucked into his sash. He appears to be deep in meditation, but as you are observing the place his eyes snap open, and they are a crystalline and startled cornflower blue, the eyes of a man decades younger than he appears to be. His face remains expressionless as he regards you, then he bows deeply while remaining seated.
"Enter, samurai, and be at peace." he calls out, and his voice is clarion and smooth.
@Azami and @Yohei: Captain Takagami takes in both of your reports, a thoughtful look on his face. When you are finished, he addresses Yohei first; "Let the gaijin outside the walls be for now. Though their presence is alarming I believe they are not the only ones, and we have...certain forces looking into the matter. If we attack this one group, we will be tipping our hand too early and possibly exposing an attack group to unnecessary risk. I prefer for them to think we are unaware or unprepared. Let them wonder how much we know. You saw one group, but I have reports that there are many dozens of such groups scattered about the city. We must bide our time. We must strike to kill, or not at all. A snake surrounds our walls, Yohei-san, and if we are to kill it before it can tighten its coils, we must first find its head. I have contracted a uniquely skilled scout to assist us."
The captain holds up a finger. "However, while I am willing to wait for the perfect target to be found, I am not willing to expose the city and the Emperor to an ounce more danger than is absolutely necessary, and it is in this interest that I will send Nissa out to this group with a sorcerer in tow to...impede their progress, shall we say, for I agree with both of you that they will be inspired to move more quickly in their plans now they've been discovered." The captain nods at the plain woman seated in the corner. She says nothing, her face an expressionless mask, and just gets up and walks calmly out the door. She is very small and wiry, and dressed in peasant's garb. Neither of you has ever seen her before, yet she looks achingly familiar.
"I have a more important matter for the two of you, based on Azami's report. Normally we would trust this to the constabulary but this is palace business so I am within my rights to engage the palace guard. I wish for both of you, early as possible tomorrow morning, to apprehend this man Kyras Erodal and bring him here to the palace. I wish for him to attend the dinner tomorrow night so we may observe how the Black Dragonflight gaijin treat him and treat with him. Yohei, I want your team to keep a close eye on the east gate, again, I have a feeling we will see another attack, similar to what happened tonight. Azami, I want you to keep an eye on this one called "Dragonborn," but do not worry about hiding or engaging in subterfuge. I do not care if he knows you watch. If he expresses concern simply tell him the truth; you have been assigned to protect him as a guest of the palace. Tell him..." The captain pauses to think for a moment, then looks Azami in the eye, his expression deadly serious.
"Tell him the brother of Bethany Erodal is an honored and welcome guest. If this agitates him, take him to see me." Takagami-san allows himself a small smile. "Now, go rest, both of you. The force in the woods will be dealt with, and without tipping our hand. Apprehend the Warbanian in the morning. Don't worry about the winged one for now, his presence and activities are...not completely a surprise to me."
Then another thought occurs to Azami, and she offers a quick bow after Yohei speaks, hoping that this addition will draw attention away from her discomfort over the previous name. "If I may add, Yohei-san mentions talk of a sister; Kyras the Dragonborn mentioned he was led to that alley in search of his sister, and the Fury we battled also mentioned this sister before disappearing. I thought I saw...a fox-person in the building."
@Tokine: The guard duty outside your temple reports no further suspicious activity, and you notice worshipers of Shelyn have left flowers, poems, sand sculpture, and other small beautiful items about the place, as a counterbalance to the great violence that happened here earlier in the day. It would appear that word in the streets travels quickly as always.
@Azami: The captain nods sagely. "I believe some of the pieces are coming together. I do not know what Xun Rui Bao would have to do with anything, but I am certain that connection can be made in time. The fox spirit would have been Bethany Erodal's assistant, she was...employed by the emperor, for a time, and as such would have been known by many people, high and low and good and evil. And that is all I have leave to say, at the moment, though I expect more information will make itself known shortly."
Kyras knocks again on the temple door. The hour may be late, but someone must hear him. He speaks hopefully through the closed door. "If anyone can hear me, I'm badly wounded and need some assistance." Inwardly, he wishes that he hadn't spoken. His voice immediately identifies him as an outsider. They likely won't help him now.
@Kyras: Two guards approach you, hands on their katana. "Please show us your hands, how did you come to be here at this late hour? The temple is closed for the day."
@Tokine: You have no sooner entered your temple and set your glaive aside with a sigh, when there is a loud pounding on the door and you hear an unfamiliar gaijin saying "If anyone can hear me, I'm badly wounded and need some assistance." It is a male and he does indeed sound weak. You hear the guards approaching him, and their response, above.
Tokine will backtrack hurriedly to the door, grabbing her glaive as she does so. As acolytes sleepily appear she orders them off for warm water, towels, and wine. "For Cleansing?" comes the quizzical response. "No, for me and our guest, it has been a long day....and I mean to see this temple remain a bastion of hospitality in these troubled times."
She swings the door open and is surprised to see the bloodied gaijin. Her face goes through a range of emotions of withheld fear, welcome relief, followed by a mask of duty. "Please one of you help this man inside, we are preparing a place. As they come through the door, she gives the guard a knowing glance that says, PLEASE STAY WITH US.
Off the reception hall a small room has been prepared with a cot and wash basin.
She indicates the man should sit. As she gets her first look at the wounds, "These are not from a weapon...but from claws? How does one acquire such wounds?
She looks him in the face, her dearest friend still walked the streets tonight, These marks could have been him defending himself from this gaijin.
Kyras sees before him a stunningly beautiful woman in her late 20s. She has some of the qualities of women of the Empire, but her skin is a delicate white and her hair is a bountiful pile of blueish hair. She is dressed in a white and gold kimono of fine quality with several slashes in it. Blood has soaked the garment around these tears. The glaive she rested against the wall jingled a little from the collection of bells that dangle from it, but what catches his eye is that the blade is covered in dried blood and some form of sticky black substance.
Kyras does what he is asked, showing them his hands. His sword is in its sheathe, safely stowed on his back rather than his waist. Hopefully he looks nonthreatening enough, though the bloody clothes and smell of burning flesh probably looks suspicious.
"Burn them, take their potions for ourselves. We are beholden to no one.' The voice of the Dragon echoes in his mind.
"I was attacked. I lived, but I was hurt badly in the fight. Do you offer healing? I have money. I do appreciate your hospitality." He offers his hand for a handshake to the beautiful woman, forgetting about Imperial customs. "Kyras Erodal. Pleased to meet you." He moves painfully, trying not to aggravate his cuts. "I have no idea what to call the thing that attacked me. It was like a dog, but not from this world. The body rests in the place that I left it, in my sister's storage unit."
@Kyras:
Seeing truth in his answer, she set to see if she can clean some of these wounds. "I am Tokine, and you are welcome in our temple. Your coin is not needed, our healing is freely given to those who know where to look, much like love and talent.
"The Mists are dark and thick tonight. These are not even the strangest wounds I have seen this evening, and yet they are more savage. I can try to close these wounds straight away, but the nature of them gives me pause. If you can bear it, these cuts should be cleaned. If we close them up too soon, who knows what might end up trapped in your body and left to fester."
The attendants assist Tokine through the procedure, occasionally exchanging shocked expressions. Each would attempt to take over for her, or dab at her wounds but she politely avoids their ministrations. "Some wine Kyras? This might go easier?"
Satisfied with the cuts. "The burns should be clean on their own. But these cuts...I will attempt a healing..but..I am not entirely convinced this will work. We will see, if not you must remain here till the morning and I can prepare to face this problem directly...as you said, there is something unworldly about these cuts."
Tokine stands and retrieves her glaive. She gives the weapon a shake that sets the bells to moving, but instead of a harsh jangle of noise the bells seem to ring out individually to a predetermined pattern. The sounds, much like wind chimes, calm and relax you and you feel a gentle warmth in the cuts where before they burned with pain.
Kyras takes the offered wine and downs it. He probably looks like a barbarian to the cultured, beautiful woman, but it helps with the pain. "Wasn't even the first time I was attacked without cause today! I've been searching for my sister, but it seems that someone doesn't want that to happen." Kyras is half-asleep, the effect of the healing. His wounds look better, though pink with the sheen of fresh healing magic. Another spell or a few days rest and he'll be fine. "D'you know how to get in touch with the Palace? Need to talk to that guard..." He slumps down, exhausted from both the combat and the healing.
"D'you know how to get in touch with the Palace? Need to talk to that guard..." He slumps down, exhausted from both the combat and the healing.
"I might be able to contact the Palace...in the morning." Tokine says. The attendants giggle behind her, but straighten up as she glances there way.
Back to Kyras, "You were attacked twice today..in the streets? Are you with one of the..a...visiting groups that are here to petition the Emperor?" More fighting in the streets...what exactly has the Emperor invited into his doorway? I have three fights by my count, and now Kyras' two..Shelyn paint away this misery.
"Your sister, will she be looking for you? When did you last see her today. Did you get separated during the fighting? ..I am sorry you have had to see our city in such a state, but in the morning we can inquire with the constabulary to see if any sightings of your sister abound."
Eyes closed, Kyras grimaces at the mention of the groups. "Pretty sure they were from one of those groups... My sister, haven't seen her in years... It's why a gaijin like me's in these parts... He slumps completely, passed out from exhaustion.
Kyras, once he's not covered in blood, is really a handsome man. Comparatively huge because of Warbanian heritage, he is a powerful figure on the tiny cot. His brown hair falls around his face, wild and unkempt. A long jagged scar runs down his neck to his chest, signs of an old wound.
Tokine catches the glass as it drops from Kyras' hand. She passes the two glasses to Rai. "Rai dear, please clean up here and then come to my rooms. Jinn, I leave you to see to the man's needs and the officer I will leave here. Awaken others to relieve you as the night proceeds. Officer, I wish you to remain within the main doors tonight. Jinn can bring you and your men tea and refreshment during your watch." She closes her eyes and feels all the stress of the day. "Rai, I will check on Izumi and then head for my bath...my feet are way too muddy.."
Imuri bows low to the old sensei, playing the part of a saddened wave man. Good evening, sensei, the refined Shoto affects a rural accent, I know the hour is late, but my family is starving and I seek a lesson.
She closes her eyes and feels all the stress of the day. "Rai, I will check on Izumi and then head for my bath...my feet are way too muddy.."
@Imuri: The man in red looks confused when you walk in the door. "Oh! But I thought...hm. Well that is very odd. But no matter." He bows again. "I am Daisuke, and I am at your service. I will help in any hour. What lesson do you wish to learn, friend, on this strange night in our glorious city, when the mists quiver and dance like a thing alive?"
Sure was yummy, though; you could feel a slight arcane charge in it that dissipated as you ate it and gave the thing a lemony-electric taste.
I come to you humbly, Great Master. I have some training, but I have failed my family, and I can no longer provide for them without a master. I hear there is opportunity within the city, here Imuri bows low, magnifying his faux desperation with a grave expression when he rises. I come to you free of inhibitions, willing to do anything to keep my beloved in rice.