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Chu stands there momentarily and looks to Azami when she approaches but his eyebrows arch upwards at her mention of the Emperor. Why wasn't he surprised he remembered Kyras speaking of a duty entrusted to him to carry the Magnifying Glass and never heard from who. It was far from confirming his suspicions but it made him a little more comfortable. "I can't move the glass, it may require your hand but most likely it requires... his." Chu felt like he was going to be sick, a rare occurrence but with what had just happened it was well warranted.
He let loose of his connections and focused on Azami. {Normally this matter would be turned over to the police. But, since he is beyond there ability to handle, I will leave him to you instead Azami.}
@Imuri: You are not able to glean anything from Bethany's body language you didn't already know; she is acting out of duty and necessity, and is preparing for what comes.
Outside, the rain has stopped rather suddenly. High in the sky, for the first time in a very, very long time, are True Dragons; Sky Dragons, in this case. They glide and wriggle and loop through the air, chasing the clouds away. The appearance of True Dragons is the best possible portent for the empire, or so the sages say.
Anger and Fury burn for a moment on the edge of Tokine's heart, then she visibly sags. Such beauty removed from the world....
She looks down and sees Kyras cradled in the arms of what must be a real Telestari. ...How could you?... But of course she knew it was not him. Tears blur her vision, and her voice has a slight shake.
To the voice in her head, she absently pats the great furred neck she rides on. :Friend, the gaijun are envoys here to seek help form the Emperor. They are in a desperate war among an alliance of chromatic dragons and devils, who are also in the city.:
"General. Imperial friends. Kyras, the man, was under my care and also under the protective watch of the Imperial Guard. That is Azami down there, and she is his minder. But obviously, we did not know he possessed an item with such horrible intent. We were aware of his anger issues, but not that it was a sentient being that could control him. Nor wreak such havoc."
She raises her voice, "But I ask all here be they Human, Dragon or Telestari, if there is a way to purge the man of what dwells inside him...to save him. I tried to calm the man to calm his soul, but did not expect such malevolence dwelled there....if not, in order to save him the best thing might be to...." But she can't finish. The unspoken words of more drastic action hangs there in the air between them.
She turns her head back to where Na-Calanon had disappeared. Her tears falling into the fur of the Imperial Dragon she rode.
The Imperial dragon emits a low, purring sound and wraps itself protectively around Tokine. The other five Imperials close ranks around it. From the silver and copper dragons comes a mournful keen. It is picked up by the sky dragons high above. It is a heart-crushingly sad sound. An elegy for a Great One.
Kyras lays still upon the ground, staggered and waiting for the pain to subside. Kalaroth's control shredded open his soul, scouring it with his rage and hate. Exposure to the magnifying glass and its horrible, foul power nearly wrenched his soul away. Had he been able to, Kyras would have (begrudgingly) picked himself or (happily) Kalaroth, but it was not his choice. It was the dragon god's. Kalaroth. How could he have known that the ancient, deposed dragon god was inside him? Inside his sister and countless others? By the sound of it, the being that wrested control of his body was a mere shard, the smallest echoing shadow, of the dragon god.
His body slowly shifts back away from Kalaroth's form to his own. The scales recede, the claws shrink to fingers, and his eyes return to normal. To those that look upon him, he is the same as the person that just killed - destroyed - Na-Calanon, but different.
He opens his mouth to speak while the others argue about what to do with him, but he can neither speak nor move. Kalaroth is silent, but so is Kyras. For once, he has no irreverent comment or sarcastic jest to offer - simply pain and sorrow. The loss of such a great dragon is immeasurable. He doesn't know much about Izmir, except for stories from his father about their paladine (who Fhera'an always referred to in somewhat condescending terms), but he feels their loss.
Especially since he is responsible.
With all his might, he pushes himself off the ground. His body feels heavier than ever before, but he grits his teeth and holds himself up. He shakily points a finger at the magnifying glass, glimmering on the ground a few feet away. He unleashes a torrent of flame as fiery tears stream down his face and a primal scream builds in his throat. His blast scorches the ground all around the glass, as well as the artifact itself, with a heat capable of scouring flesh away from bone. His scream drops to a growl and finally fades as he sees that the magnifying glass is still there. Undamaged.
From the ground, he speaks in his own defense. "I... It wasn't me. I..." Unable to continue, he lowers his head for a long moment. When he raises his head again, he looks at Azami and only Azami. His eyes convey a sorrow and pain that she, nor any others, have not seen before. "The Dragon... Kalaroth... He's quiet now. It vanished, just like..."
She nods briefly to Chu, grateful that she wouldn't have to worry about the Adviser putting up a fight. Quietly relieved when finally the Curator speaks, she presses her lips together tightly, waiting for someone to disagree with her and make a move. Not that Azami knows what she would do from here, with Kyras on the roof.
But the sound that rises is not a disagreement, but the keening threnody of draconic voices. It seems to strip her bare of her armour and flesh, sinking into her veins in a way that stains.
She's already staring upward towards the sound when Kyras' voice cuts through; her gaze pans over to him, witnessing that haunted torment in his eyes, finishing his sentence for him.
But they are at least his eyes.
After a long moment, Azami gestures silently for him to come down.
Deilaavenaada finally speaks, its hissing, raspy voice barely audible above the timeless songs of grief sung by the dragons. Immediately after Azami gestures for Kyras to come down, the Telestari warrior grabs Kyras quite literally by the collar and hauls him to his feet. "...there issss no time...you mussst come with me nnnow!" He then turns and vaults over to the next roof. Both Lilitine and Iluminata swing their swords and seem to hit the creature, but even if they do, it pays no mind, leaping easily -- with Kyras in tow -- from roof to roof before dropping out of sight. There is the sound of stone grinding on stone, then silence.
On the street, the masterless artifact still sits, now unable to be picked up by anyone.
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The sorrowful keen made Chu shudder as he felt their cry penetrate him to the core, he barely resisted the urge to hand his head once more in sadness. His pounding head helped him to resist though his logic and reason were still battling it out and causing his skull to ache, he wasn't one to admit defeat easily. Doubt's, but not deafeat. Na-Calanon couldn't simply be gone.
There had to be a way.
Chu was glad the Curator couldn't finish her sentence as he nodded in return at Azami, a simple expression but important among the scaleless. With that Chu stepped forward, spreading his hands wide in a placating gesture. His words didn't waver as he spoke loudly and confidently. "Curator calm your mind, let us move forward and exhaust all other options first. For now Honorable Ito will resume her duties and I will personally see to it that Justice is mete out as well to those who deserve... Wait!" His shout falls on deaf ears as the Telestari quickly escapes the reach of those present and once he had faded from sight Chu stood and placed his hands in his robes. Calmly looking at the vile artifact as he gathered his thoughts as to what to do next.
Everything is too delicate, a single thread holding everything together and we don't need this to become worse then it is. San Pen goes missing, the Black westerners strike us at our heart. The five headed demon bares its fangs. Now this... When this is all sorted out I will find the Omnibus, I will peruse its pages and find a way. Marianasu was powerful indeed but no being was without a flaw in their designs... Not even the gods. And I Will be the one to find it.
@Wei: The attacker on your left deflects your first punch, but the second blow lands heavily on
his jaw, and the third punch causes a sickening crunch from deep in his spine. He spins once,
blood and bone spewing from his ruined jaw, and falls to the ground, dead.
The other attacker leaps up, not even caring that you'll get a free shot, and swings at you. Once again, though, you easily deflect his pitifully slow swing.
Meanwhile, the children continue their slow approach. "Hey you idiots!" yells the little
girl, "You gods-damned fools what are you doing wasting your time? Get the guy and let's
get out of here! Forget about the lizard!"
"Augh! Stop!" she rages, seeing the blue telestari pull Kyras away and disappear. "Where did they go?" Azami demands of those with a view of the rooftops, followed by a string of curses that likely only Chu can hear.
She doesn't even wait to hear the answer; Azami turns about and runs back towards the door in the alley they had been entering when the dragons first arrived. Her braid pulls out from where it was tucked, undulating behind her like a loose festival ribbon.
Winding through the streets, she mutters between breaths, "So tired... of... chasing...you around... this... city."
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After several moments of consideration Chu turned and started after Azami. He ran as hard as he could and discovered to his disappointment he was out of shape, but he couldn't let the woman rush off into the unknown without some type of arcane support. It would be dishonorable of him to allow that, for now he hoped the abomination would remain in place...
Khangzhi throws a light jab at the assailant as he recovers from his fall and glares at the children. "You will not have him," he states sternly just before charging in to aid Swift.
@Kyras:
The world spins and your stomach lurches horribly as Deilaavenaada picks you up and leaps over the tiny sidestreet and across two more roofs with you in tow, but your iron Warbanian constitution allows you to keep yourself together, a particularly watery and bile-tasting belch the only sign you are experiencing any internal distress at all.
There is a sudden, harsh drop to street level, a clockwork sound, then total darkness. You are dragged a short ways -- it cannot have been far -- and then leaned up against a rot-smelling wooden wall. Strange sounds reach your ears; cooks yelling in a kitchen. Moans of pleasure from a bedroom or brothel, music, from...somewhere. But closest to you is the sound of armament; the tink and swoosh and creak of weapon harnesses being put on, secret compartments being filled with blades, scabbards being checked and put on.
Equipping.
Your head is empty of The Dragon. You feel him off somewhere, but have no idea what he -- it -- is doing. Does a beast like that "lick its wounds"? You know so little about this Marianasu character, but it seems if anyone could slap The Dragon down and make him take notice, someone capable of building a thing like that magnifying glass just might be the guy.
"...kyrassss, you are called, then...you must listen...we must get you to the mountain...before the dead ones come...before the usurper rises...before..." there is a very weary-sounding sigh. "...before so many things happen...i must teach you to use the gate...it takes decades...i do not know how much time we have...why...why did you destroy the gold dragon? it made no sense...are you under a magical possession?"
@Azami and @Chu: General Vittoria shouts orders up to the dragons in their native tongue; her voice is rousing and inspirational even in so foreign a language to the human mouth. The three silvers and copper immediately lift off and start to scan the area.
"Azami! Advisor Kage! I saw them go east, then turn south two blocks over! We need him back!" The two Lesothans clamber awkwardly but quickly down from the roof and follow the two of you. "Can either of you track in the city? I can see neither hide nor hair of them!" For her part, Lilitine is down on one knee, looking for any sign of where the two may have gone.
As you search, the dragons swoop low overhead, their voices still ragged from grief, their flight uneven.
@Tokine: You have never felt so warm and safe in your entire life. Here, encased by the warm and surprisingly soft fur of the Imperial Dragon's mighty mane, his armor-hard scales and frankly comically oversized and bushy eyebrows, simultaneously regal and ridiculous, his enormous eye rolling to look at you, and with the others running interference around you. The newly-awakened dragon speaks telepathically again.
::Madame Tokine. I believe we have discovered our first purpose here; the Telestari has his work to do, and we have ours. If what Na-Calanon said before he died is true, then we must seek this Stonegard and ask after Kalaroth. We must go to the mountains. I know we have only just met, but I fear we must take our leave. We can get there faster than anyone, and even a mighty, red dragon will have to listen to use, regardless of her power.:: The great one unfurls from around you, and flies close to the street so you can dismount. He looks at you again with one of those gigantic eyes.
::I am sorry our flight was so short. I promise you my siblings and I will return, and you and I shall fly together again, higher and longer, and I will take you to the P'eng river where you can tell me of your father. Until then; farewell.::
Without another word, the Imperial and Sky dragons soar off into the air, like so many elegant and proud banners, winding their way north, to the enormous mountains that ring the bitter and blasted steppes of old Enhathlad.
@Wei: Your attempt to bullrush one of Swift's opponents fails, but neither this warrior nor the clumsy oaf you left outside are able to lay a finger on you, so great is your speed and so quick your blocking technique. The one you tried to bullrush attacks again, but again you are far too fast for him.
Then, from behind, you hear a gruff voice say "Alright! Stop fighting! Give us Swift or the old man dies!" Turning around, you see that your "friend" from outside has Lifen's husband in a chokehold, and seems prepared to break his neck.
Kyras stands and holds his head, feeling stronger and more in control. He stands to his full height and looks at the bizarre blue man with his strange mask. "Possession? No. Until now, I didn't know what it was. It's never taken control of me like that before, and it won't ever happen again. I saw into its mind while it controlled my body. It's not Kalaroth, whoever or whatever that is, but rather just a fragmented piece of it. I heard hundreds, maybe thousands, of similar shards linked to it." He walks back and forth, shaking the life and feeling back into his body. "I'm the Gate of Destruction. I get it. The name seems pretty appropriate to me right now. I'm willing to learn. I've been told that by mastering the Gate and the Dragon, I'll be able to stop the Hounds from attacking and even control them. Is this true, and can you help me control both?"
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Chu paused for a moment, his serpentine tongue darting in and out as he tasted the air and followed what little trail Kyras had left behind. When he heard the General's comment he responded simply. "Yes." With that out of the way he focused on the trail before him, following the perspiration that Kyras had left behind. That was until he arrived at a dead end...
Chu searched quickly, Kyras had to be found and whereever they had gone had to lie in a wall or somewhere at their feet. But where...?
Also noting the trail, Azami narrows her eyes at the dead end. She takes a closer look at the wall there for some hidden door or passage.
Her hands press against the wall, wondering if she will be forced by some magic she cannot overcome to wait for Kyras to find her for once.
If she can find nothing, perhaps they should try the front door? She scoffs at how difficult magic makes things in this world.
As Tokine places her feet back on solid ground, she gives the furred body a squeeze as big as her arms would allow. "Thank you my friends. I will look forward to your return." As they start to gain in elevation she calls out.
She then focuses on the matter at hand. That stone grinding sound....another gateway!
She sets off in the direction off all the attention from Imperial Guard Azami, Adviser Chujitsuna and all the dragons and their riders.
Finding the pair standing in front of a wall, she knows this to be the spot. "The trail ends here does it not? I have some recent experience with these...unfortunately not in how they open....but I do know someone who does. I don't know how to summon him, but he might be along soon anyway."
She looks side to side along the wall. With a slightly silly grin, she leans close to the wall. In a sweet voice she calls to the stones in the wall, Envoy-Six? Can you here me? It is Curator Nagano...Tokine. There is a new portal that needs your immediate attention. Will you please come and assist me?" She turns to Azami and Chu and shrugs. "We can see what that does. Even if he can't hear me, he might be along shortly...It's his duty. If not, Envoy-Six did tell me how to enter the catacombs. I was going to use it to seek out Rho's abductors...finding Kyras and the Telistari would be an equal use...but navigation to this spot might be difficult and dangerous. I have Rho's companions as guides for his rescue...finding Kyras would be a whole other problem." Come on friend, please come.
@Kyras: Deilaavenaada steps out of the shadows and puts its face within inches of yours and speaks quietly. In the musty dark you can almost glimpse its features - a flash of perfectly white skin, the gleam of reflective eyes indicating it likely possesses darkvision...
"...hah hah, yes; the hounds are a fraction of the power available to you, but they are the first ones to find the Gate of the West...I can teach you control..." There is a pause. The Telestari pulls back out of your personal space. "...but this 'dragon', this is a problem...I do not know if you can control it of if it must be destroyed...rest assured, if it is the latter...you are the one to do it...you may be the only one to do it...now come, we journey through the Shifted City...can you see in the dark?"
You are about to answer when you hear a familiar voice just a very short distance away; Tokine.
@Chu and @Azami: Working together, you are able to locate what appears to be a trigger of some sort. Sure enough, the ancient stone wall slides partway open, just barely enough for a humanoid of size to squeeze in. Inside it is very dark and smells musty.
The general and her lieutenant look dubiously at the opening. "Surely you don't think they went in there?!" asks Captain Citanu. "The Warbanian wouldn't fit, much less the Telestari!"
She does seem to have a point.
All around you, the metallic dragons are perched on rooftops, watching your every move, looking for ways they can help.
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CHu peers into the darkness, his draconic and reptilian blood allowing him to see better then the humans around him and piercing the dark hallway easily. "A difficult fit but not impossible. We'll enter sideways, it'll be slow but what choice do we have? I know of no other gateways." He stole the last word from the Curator as she knew something he obviously did not. Seeing as he suggested it he went in first.
Unlike the strange Gaijan or the others, his magical wards were still protecting him and if some trap lay ahead he was more likely to survive it then most...
The Tranquil peaks will have to wait a little longer... Once more into the breach. Calmly Chu descended into the the passageway and started making his way through the cramped space.
"I don't want to control the Dragon that's within me. I want to kill Kalaroth. I want to destroy every one of the shards that he has in others, and then I want to destroy him." He thinks for a moment before summoning a magical light to allow him more sight. For one, he might not want to see what the Telestari looks like. "I'm ready to go, but I'd like Azami to go with me. She's probably not far. She wouldn't let me get away without huffing and puffing and talking about her responsibility. But if I'm going to do this, she's the only one that I trust to do what's necessary in case Kalaroth grabs control of me again."
He stops for a moment as he hears Tokine. "There are others as well, who would be able to help. I think that at least one of them, Tokine, is nearby - I can hear her. Is there any way to pick and choose who might come as well? Na-Calanon's retainers probably want my head, and I don't blame them. I'm going to get justice for him, but I'm going to do it my own way and I can't do that if I get executed." Kyras lets a small smile color his darkened and morose features. "At least if they get a hold of me, I can die a decent death rather than write a haiku, drink some tea, and off myself."
Tokine arrives and starts to coo at the wall; Azami's brow shoots up in spite of her stoic nature, then shrugs and continues looking for something to open the wall while the Curator babbles about some Envoy-Six and how it will help them in their search for Rhon Tai.
Oh yes. Him. They were supposed to go below the city tonight, weren't they? In the face of all that had just happened, she wasn't certain they would make it to the Palace again let alone perform a rescue mission.
At finding the passageway, Azami frowns. "I must agree with the Captain." She's rather certain she wouldn't fit in there either, and she can't imagine the Telestari stuffing Kyras into there. As Chu slips in, she glances between the others. "There has to be a different way."
Azami sticks her head into the hole, as though trying to will herself to be able to see through the darkness. "What is this about an envoy-six, honored Curator?" The whole thing is terribly confusing, and as awe-inspiring has having General Vittoria, the Captain,and massive silver dragons overhead, it was also unnerving to have them hovering there, watching them flail for some answer.
Not to mention, probably drawing quite a lot of attention to their presence. Azami peers closer at the opening as though to try and find some proof that someone - besides Chu - has passed this way recently.
Not seeing anything, Azami looks back down at the tracks that end at the wall. "If Kyras is this gate thing and the Telestari an ancient magical ...being...couldn't they be anywhere?"
"Envoy-Six is a servant of the city. He maps passages like these as they open. He suffers from a compulsion to do this, so he will be along, I just don't know how long it might take. I hoped coaxing might help speed him along. The compulsion is cruel, as he is seemingly a slave. It gives him a poor disposition on....everything. But I thought I might be getting through to him." Tokine gives Azami a smile as she thinks back on the earlier encounter. Its the kind of smile that Azami knows men would do anything for.
Tokine walks over to small opening. Peering into the darkness where the Adviser had disappeared into. "But again, he might only come if this were a new passage. The one I saw earlier was much larger and....well, nicer. As if the Great City took pride in its form. I do not get that sense here."
Khangzhi stiffens as he sees Lifen's husband taken hostage and glares grimly at the assassin. "I feel an obligation to protect you, Swift-san, but I cannot allow my friends husband to die. If you have any tricks up your sleeve, I suggest you use them promptly." The monk tenses as he mentally prepares himself, knowing he may be forced into an all or nothing attack.
@DMDownrightamazed:
@Wei:
@Kyras;
You hear the rustling of cloth and creaking of leather as the Telestari listens to the voices, which sound much closer. Suddenly footsteps can be heard approaching. "...none may come with, Gate of the West...only you...come with me, quickly, they are approaching!"
Sure enough, you hear footsteps, careful and sure, coming your way. Deilaavenaada beckons.
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Suddenly, up ahead; voices. They are not far. But why is no one else following?
@Azami and @Tokine:
Before either of you can say anything further, Illuminata strides forth and follows Chu. "I don't care, I'm not letting him get away. Ancient killing machine or not, a Telestari has no right to interfere in this matter!" Lilitine is right behind her. It is almost comical watching them squeeze in, but they make it.
From around the corner at the end of the alley you hear many footsteps approaching.
"You dare? YOU DARE?" Khangzhi roars at the man holding his friend by the throat, just before charging across the room and delivering a devastating pressure point strike to his neck.
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Chu was lost in old memories for a short time, forgotten times... His clan... His mother.
With a hiss he marshaled his thoughts, he had little time for such musings and lack of focus. The dust in the air moved around him as his magic continued to protect him, even in this deep place. When he heard the voices he felt sure that he was on the right path but when he heard no one following behind him...
He turned to look back and see what was taking the others so long to follow.
Kyras takes a step back from the Telestari and chops at the air with his hand to punctuate his words. "Look, you might be more than capable of just knocking me out and making me come with you, but it's still my choice whether or not I want to work with you. If I'm coming, Azami's coming too. That's not something that I'm gonna negotiate on. You need me, or else you wouldn't have come this far to get me. Well, I need her. Take it or leave it, Big Blue."
Azami gives a shrug, uncertain that she will manage to get through now that the other warriors that could have pushed her have gone ahead. Nevertheless, she climbs in as best she can.
Not to be left behind, Tokine allows Azami to proceed a bit before dipping her glaive into the crevice and following. It has been too long, she mutters in Dwarven as her eyes adjust to the darkness, a prayer of return her Dwarven friends made after returning from the bright surface.
Tokine waits for Azami to get a short ways into the crack before dipping the blade of her glaive into the crevice and following after. As her eyes take in the darkness before her, she mutters, "То је предуго", a small Dwarven prayer she learned while among the Dwarves, a prayer of thanks of returning home after long periods above ground.
@Kyras: The moment hangs heavy in the air. Dust swirls and moves in gentle arcs and eddys, its paths illuminated briefly and dimly by the slivers of light from between the slats of the wall. A breeze to your right as someone walks by, utterly oblivious to your presence. There is the distinctive smell of broth...you are behind a restaurant? Perhaps? The dance of the dust brings to mind the complex interplay of the mists that never leave the cobbles in this city. Something there, a pattern of some sort. You can al. most. make. it. out...
"...very well, Gate of the West..." comes Deilaavenaada's voice. "...finish what you must in this city, clear your name, do whatever you need to do...and when you are ready to begin...come to the roots of the Tranquil Peak...in the north...i will be there...but if you tarry here too long...if you arrive too late..." The Telestari leaves the threat unspoken. You feel its gloved touch, which is oddly comorting, and it drops something into your hand, a small metal disc. "...use this, mortal, so you can arrive at my side quickly..." it says. There is a rustle of cloth and a creak of leather, and the large alien vanishes into the shadows with surprising quickness, leaving you alone in whatever cramped cubby hole it dragged you into. You hear footsteps approaching, the clank of armor and Illuminata's clarion voice; "Warbanian! Are you here?! I promise you fair treatment; you're far safer with us than with the Telestari! Show yourself!"
The air changes in the room, and a bulky shape enters, clearly ducking down to fit; Advisor Kage, The Loyal Shadow, you've no doubt.
@Chu: You are first on the scene. You step quietly into a small chamber, no more than 10'x10'. You see Kyras leaning up against one wall, but there is no sign of Deilaavenaada.
@Wei:
Your opponent's eyes widen in the face of your ferocious attack, and he is powerless to stop it, crumpling to the floor in an unconscious and paralyzed heap from the force of your mighty punch. Lifen's husband looks up at you gratefully and begins reciting relieved prayers of thanks, curling up in a ball at your feet and prostrating himself.
The two opponents you left behind don't even care that you left to help your friend, so focused are they on Swift. The injured warrior is very skilled, to be sure, but he is outnumbered and still not fully recovered, and you watch him go down as one of the attackers strikes him with a ki-punch in a nerve cluster. They gather him up, and start to head out the back.
Just as they do, the two children enter the hut. Seeing that Swift is being carried off, they nod in satisfaction. Their eyes narrow as they look at you, though. The girl growls and the boy begins moving his hands through the air in spellcasting motions, causing arcane characters to leap to fiery life and dance about his hands and wrists.
@Tokine and @Azami: As the last two to enter the strange portal that leads into the side of this building, you are held up by the bottleneck of others in front of you, giving you a bit of extra time to look around. You both notice that this claustrophobic tunnel wanders off a very short distance in the other direction, terminating in what looks like a dead end, but with a faint reddish light coming up from the floor. You also notice a series of levers, visible only in silhouette, sticking out of the wall.
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Seeing Deilaavenaada was gone and hearing the rapid approach of the gaijan from the west, Chu merely stands there watching Kyras warily in the dark. After a few moments he sighs and speaks quietly while casting aside all notions of proper etiquette. "You can still escape. Tell me where to send Azami and I shall see it done. Decide quickly though, we have little time..."
He waited then quietly watching Kyras. It was against his better judgement but how would the Imperial courts view the destruction of a visiting gaijan, especially by another gaijan? They would judge too quickly and it would not end well. Justice would be without mercy and the decision would be made to rashly, to save face. It would be disgraceful to the meaning of justice and Chu couldn't allow that.