"Kage, how about you go next?" Lilith suggests, taking Jon's comment into account along with the blade's rejection seeming of him and Alenaya. "If there's anyone who can wield these sabres, it's you."
Kage's weird crimson eyes glittered as he gave the blade his unblinking regard. The lines of the sword where perhaps the second most exquisite thing he'd seen today. So fine was the crafting that no evidence of any hammer marks or any blemish for that matter was visible even, inside the devilishly hard to forge serrations. Even the lacquered box was a thing of beauty. Part of him wanted nothing more than to snatch it up and tests it's balance in the dance like Shadow Cata number three. Still such impulses where frowned on and he managed to keep his decorum.
He watched impassively as at first Jon-Wyn and then Alayna took it up only to replace it with a far away look in their eyes. Most strange, what was that all about? Only one way to find out, Nodding at Lilith's words he strode forwards and reverently grasped it with his right hand.
Upon closer inspection, you note the reddish metal of the blade is actually not metal at all, but seemingly chitin.
Grasping it in your hand, you feel a pulse of power surge through you. It feels both impossibly heavy and incredibly light, as though nothing could stop you if you and the blade shared a single goal, but doomed to failure if you were at odds.
A voice rings in your head, clear and calm, forceful but controlled. ::It has been a long time since a Tith'Kali has wielded me::
The energy of the blade numbs your muscles in your arm. ::Would you wish to unlock the power of your birthright? Would you taste blood with me? My sister languishes in the cold. She yearns for hot blood upon her edge. Will you find her? Those who took the head of the Crown of Fangs will learn the way to Mantis' claw. Is it you?::
Kage trembles as though the blade weighs a great amount, but he remains steady.
A small trickle of sweat beaded on Kage's forehead, this was a fearsome blade indeed! He'd heard of intelligent weapons before of course, but never dreamt he might actually wield one. This wasn't a small decision, you might carry such a thing for a while but one could never say who was the master, the man or the blade...
Still this explained their mission, Mantis' claw had been lost or stolen, their job - their holy quest was to find it. A slow smile creeps across Kage's features, he would do it. Answering in his mind Kage replied simply ::YES::
Realizing the Vernai where staring at him, Kage bowed deeply and told them without blinking, "Mantis Blade wishes to be reunited with it's sister, Mantis' claw. It says she languishes in the cold."
"We are aware that the Mantis Blade has a mate. After its discovery in the Mwangi Expanse, our loremasters and sages have worked to learn of the Mantis' Claw," Empusae says.
Acantha folds her arms triumphantly. "I believe our path is clear."
Láng's masked countenance turns to regard Acantha severely. "Is it? You overreach. How many Mantises did you lose while serving the Crown of Fangs? I forget. Was it ten? Twenty? Thirty?"
Acantha's teeth grinding was almost audible beneath her mask. "Twenty-two. It was at great cost, yes, but we gained much. Our continued presence in Varisia is assured. Our coffers are enriched. The head of a false monarch rests in the Faynas, and our vaults house a powerful relic." She steps next to Kage and rests her hand on his, which is still holding the Mantis Blade. "And now we have our first clues to the whereabouts of the Mantis' Claw."
"You succeeded despite yourself, Acantha," Tarach says.
The Achaekek cleric moves swiftly to stand in from of him, seething. Empusae rests a hand upon hers with a smooth, sultry motion. "This should be resolved without an audience," she coos. Then turning to the assembled non-Vernai, she says in a tone that Brookes no dispute, "leave us. You will be summoned again shortly."
Eris flashes a relaxed smile at Empusae. "Of course, we will excuse ourselves from this discussion. Thank you, for granting us an audience" she finishes quietly as she turns and slinks out of the room.
"Of course." Jon bows and leaves.
"As you wish," agrees Lilith as she too departs.
Kage almost frowned, this argument was well above his pay grade. Using the breathing exercises he had been taught by Master Brinn, he kept his heart steady before bowing respectfully and leaving. As he did so he caught Eris's eye, she wished to be Vernai perhaps such discussions wouldn't be beyond them forever. Once outside, Kage whispered softly, "I notice they haven't asked for this back, I wonder what it can do..."
The blade was telepathic, did that mean he could talk to it just by thinking? This he would have to try!
::We plan to travel to Irrisen to find your sister. Will you sense her proximity if we draw close?::
::No. Not until I am close enough to observe her. But are you so certain you will be the ones to search for her?::
::She tested her will to wield me. She hungers, true. But I need one who hungers more for the kill than for personal glory.::
::As am I. Perhaps we can work together::
The antechamber has several lushly upholstered pieces of furniture arrayed so those who wait upon the decisions of the Vernai may do so in comfort. Small candles barely illuminate the room, and the walls are an inky blackness that swallows the pitiful light.
As the assassins move into the seating area, they see one of the large chairs already occupied. Sitting with legs crossed and her fingers steepled, Vespid greets you all with a smile.
"It is always a pleasure to wait upon the Vernai as they squabble," she says with a light laugh. She rises smoothly to give Eris a hug, then Jon-Wyn, then Sa'Kage. Turning to Lilith and Alenaya, she holds out her hand. "I don't believe we've met. I'm known as Vespid." She is human, lithe of figure and with long black hair featuring streaks of yellow.
"I'm so pleased that Acantha did not lose you to that meat grinder she fell into. I'm especially impressed you got a traditionalist like her to actually go after a monarch, illegitimate or not."
"Acantha just needs to visit Sivlamlik a little more often if you get my drift" Eris remarks in an amused tone, referring to how tightly wound up the cleric could be.
The sorceress steps foward, and returns the embrace with Vespid, tighly pressing against her for a moment before pulling away. "It is good to see you again Mistress, your training was invaluable against the task Acantha set us, and we managed to...endure where others faltered".
Jon is slow in returning Vespid's embrace. "I think that she would not have had it any other way. And it did make our time their memorable."
"I don't believe so, darling. Name's Alenaya," she says, putting her left hand on her hip and shooting her right thumb toward her friend, "and this is Lilith."
"It's good to see you too Ma'am." Kage was surprised but pleased to see Vespid, he had wondered what happened to her. Indicating Lilith and Alenaya he told her, "They're part of the team now, Ma'am. They more than proved themselves on last mission." Turning to the pair he then added, "Our little family was founded by Vespid, she brought the original members together. Perhaps if we are lucky she will direct us one again to the greater glory of Lord Achaekek." That was a much as question to Vespid as an aspiration. Obviously Kage would obey any of the Vernai without question, but he wouldn't be human if he didn't have his favorites.
"It's so nice to meet you," Vespid says, tilting her head in Alenaya's and Lilith's direction. "I do love to meet Achaekek's wayward children. Those who follow different paths than the traditional backstabbers that Acantha favors."
She turns back to Kage and eyes the blade in his hand. "Although," she says with a light smile, "there can be some benefits to following tradition. Impressive weapon, Kage. I wonder if the Vernai will let you wield him?"
She plants her hands on her hips and looks in the direction of the Vernai's chambers. "No doubt, they're maneuvering for position. Who gets the credit -- or the blame. How many Mantises should they risk in this endeavor, and whether it's worth their time at all. I've seen this sort of debate before. When I suggested my little project." A note of bitterness touches her face as she speaks.
"Uhh I'm still holding it... I'd like to think they will, but well we shall see." Kage was slightly embarrassed about walking into the Vernai's presence with naked blade. Very carefully he put Mantis Blade back in the box, although perhaps being somewhat presumptions, he didn't put the box down. 'No doubt I shall soon be corrected' he thought.
Kage of course noted the edge to her voice, and was forced to bite his tongue. It simply wasn't his place to offer comment on the other Vernai.
Vespid's eyes dance with a deadly sort of hunger as she looks at Kage. "Why put it back? You clearly want it, why not claim it for your own? The Mantis Blade deserves to be in the world, slaying those named to die upon our serrated blades. The fact that it was lost for centuries should not make us timid, should it?"
She turns her head and narrows her gaze at the closed entrance to the Vernai's chambers. "I wonder if they feel the same way? Or will they say it should remain here, to collect dust rather than blood?"
Still reverently holding the box containing Mantis Blade, Kage replied, "Ma'am I don't think anyone can truly claim such a sword for their own, they merely have the honour of carrying it for a time. It's true I desire that, but the order has not been given. Besides it won't fit my scabbard, and wandering around the Odalis with a naked blade could be misunderstood..."
She turns her head and narrows her gaze at the closed entrance to the Vernai's chambers. "I wonder if they feel the same way? Or will they say it should remain here, to collect dust rather than blood?"
Quietly Kage told her, "In truth leaving it here would be safer, but the sword doesn't want that. It wants blood." The thought of that was exhilarating...
Vespid continues to look inscrutable as the waiting drags on.
As it begins to become obvious that it was going to take some time, Vespid's demeanor turns more lighthearted. She smiles at Alenaya and Lilith. "So tell me about yourselves. How do you serve Achaekek?"
"A pleasure to meet you, Vespid," adds Lilith when Alenaya first introduces her.
Vespid gets a polite and professional handshake.
"I'm a priestess. I think. 'Druid' is probably a more apt description. I prefer huntress. Along with Kage's excellent speech, that's probably how we got Acantha to agree with our plans; despite everything, Lord Achaekek didn't revoke my spell privileges. That's a pretty solid stamp of approval," explains Lilith with a smirk.
"I've been with our organization for decades, but most of my field experience is from my time with Alenaya. We've been working together for a few years, and we've got good synergy; Ileosa learned that the hard way."
"Oh darling!" Alenaya says excitedly before going into a long discussion about her work with poisons and other interesting alchemical wonders.
To her credit, Vespid manages to maintain interest for a large percentage of Alenaya's excited discourse on poisons and other alchemical reagents. She clearly absorbs a measure of information about the chymist, and then -- at long last -- the doors open and the assassins are invited back in to appear before the Vernai.
The three stand in their regular spots, darkness shrouding everything in the room but them, the pedestal where the Mantis Blade rested, and the other Mantises in the room. Vernai Acantha stands just to the side of the entrants. Vespid lurks just behind the team, feigning disinterest.
Vernai Tarach points to Kage, then to the pedestal. "The Blade shall be returned to rest now. We have decided to submit this to Blood Mistress Jakalyn. She speaks the true will of Achaekek."
Vespid's eye arches severely, and Acantha's seething anger radiates off of her as smoke of a fire.
"And how long before we receive an answer, would you say?" Vespid inquires from the back.
Láng glares at her through her Minkaian-styled mask. "We would never presume to pressure the will of Achaekek to conform to our timetables. Now leave us. All of you."
Like he was carved of stone Kage didn't move a muscle, it was as Vespid feared. The craven fools! A single beat of sweat trickled down his temple and his heart pounded so as chest as truculent thoughts of passed through his mind. Of course this wasn't to be, Kage of all people couldn't disobey a direct order from the Vernai, the very thought of it made him positively ill.
With a great deal of mental effort he forced himself to place the blade back on the pedestal but he was unable to stop himself muttering through his teeth, "The blade wishes to be used rather than gathering dust in some vault!"
Of course being summarily dismissed there was no option to argue the toss, he simply left in an uncharacteristically foul mood.
The delights of the Sivlamlik lose a bit of their luster in the hours after being dismissed from the council of Vernai. Acantha strode out in tight control of her emotions, barely sparing a glance at Vespid. The former Calistrian made a pointed glance at Kage, then slipped out herself.
Time passes, which is either made shorter using mind-altering drugs and spices or made excruciatingly long by waiting anxiously for word from the Blood Mistress or the Vernai.
Eventually, word reaches each of the Mantises from Vespid for a meeting. In a small room near the Chambers of Discipline, the branch of the Sivlamlik where rebellious slaves are made compliant, the yellow-and-black haired woman gathers everyone. Using the nearby screams to cover her voice, she leans in to speak with you.
"You have a choice in front of you, my dears," she says with a serious expression. "There are unfortunate politics involved that are delaying things, and perhaps may steal this holy mission from you outright. Acantha is aggressively trying to parlay her time in Korvosa for advantage, which is being resisted by Tarach and Empusae. Eremia -- my Vernai -- was sent to Sargava three months ago, shortly after she approved my experiment. My own hopes to rise to the level of Vernai are in danger."
She draws a rolled up piece of parchment from her sleeve. "You can continue to wait, and hope that some of you will be given the chance to be a part of this mission. I've no doubt that one or two of you will be allowed to accompany the team -- to pay a token tribute to the ones who actually received the vision."
She passes the scroll to Eris. "Or you can use this to get a head start on the very mission that was given to you by He Who Walks in Blood. This is a scroll of teleport. There's a safehouse in Daggermark that is linked to a room here in the Citadel. You should have little risk of going astray if you use that room."
She looks each of you in the eye. "I can only succeed in giving you official sanction if you succeed. I am taking a huge risk here, but no greater risk if I do nothing. The scroll is a gift to you, Eris. I'll let you decide what to do with it."
With that, she slips out of the chamber, leaving you alone with the screams coming from the nearby rooms.
Alenaya lets Vespid speak before replying ”To the Hells with all this nonsense. We had the visions, we’ll take the contract! Let them sort out the religious gobbledygook later!”
Looking utterly stricken Kage found he needed to sit down, murmuring softly, "I think I'm going to be ill..." Massaging his temples he whispers, "Láng told us to leave. Using that scroll could be seen as taking her words literally." Of course Kage didn't really believe that and if they did go, it would be their death unless by some miracle they succeeded.
Eris reflects for a moment, considering the offer and options still on the table.
I'd like to go, if only because I believe Vespid when she says that not all of us will go if we delay. This troubles me, what if there be some detail missed in our visions that reveals itself on the mission. I think we need everyone for this, and so I will go. I find it difficult to see otherwise when He Who Walks In Blood chose us personally,"
Alenaya points back towards the room holding the Vernai. ”Because those hacks claiming that they are acting in his will are actually only behaving at the basest of animalistic instincts: to advance their own position in the food chain. They can wrap it in whatever pretty religious pretense they want, but they couldn’t give more of a damn about you, me, or the Mantis God, unless it would improve their own station!” she hisses in a hushed tone so that only the others in the group could here.
She sighs and adds as she punches the bridge of her nose between her finger and thumb, ”Look. I am sure y’all are more than aware that I don’t have any real spiritual ties to this organization. They let me do my work, fund it, and let me play with my toys in ways no one else will. That is it. That’s the extent of my loyalty. But...” she clearly looks a bit shook up, ”I had never experienced anything like that vision before. Ever. So it seems to me that we all have a higher calling in this little ‘mission.’ Either we all do it, or we don’t. But it would seem we need that blade to do it. So...what we are about to do...it’s gonna put us on our own people’s hit list most likely. I’m up for it, but only if everyone else is too. That includes that talkin’ sword.”
Kage glances at Alenaya as he continues to massage his temple, "It's always been a spiritual thing for me, but believe me I've never experienced anything like that before either! The will of Achaekek seems clear to me, although I doubt our betters share my conviction."
"Now before we go defy our superiors and cut ourselves off from all support besides Vespid's little 'I can totally cover for you if you defy all the odds and 100% succeed!', are we certain that Eris can even use that scroll on all present company and do so without the risk of a terrible misfire that would kill us all and thus render this entire debate completely pointless?" Lilith inquires. "Alenaya, dear, I understand where you're coming from, yet... when you've lived as long as I have, you get to see plenty of crazy kids who think they know better, and you also get to see reality promptly remind them that they don't."
Lilith looks at the skies and sighs.
"I'm probably committing some form of heresy or blasphemy or whatever when I say this, but before I go throw myself off a cliff into the unknown, I'd like something a little more... official than a drug induced dream and a little nudge, nudge, wink, wink from someone I just met. I don't mean to defy Lord Achaekek's intentions, but dying a pointless death doesn't seem like a particularly great way of serving his wishes either. If we get all defiant here, then that sets a precedent for other Mantises; 'There's no need to listen to the Vernai because of x, y, or z. I'm right because of a, b, and c.'
"While I can definitely see the problems with blindly trusting your superiors and never using your own judgment, I feel like... we'd be acting on a scale that would undermine the legitimacy of this entire order. Yes, I am aware of our previous mission and its murky circumstances, but last time, we at least took care to dot all our i's and cross all our t's."
"I am not here to serve the Vernai. I am here to serve Mighty Achaechek. He chose us, so we go." Jon goes toward the door. "The only question in my mind is how long before they realize we took the sword too?"
"Well, if you crazy kids insist on pursuing this mission without the usual approvals, then we might as well go all in and take the fancy Mantis Blade with us. The first thing I ever learned in my career was to stack the deck in your favor in every way possible," muses Lilith with a dark chuckle.
"Actually, I'd prefer that we didn't take the blade." Eris remarks in a quiet voice. "Taking the blade requires we officially break an order from a high ranking Vernai. Up until now, we can get away with being a little hazy, but taking the blade puts us well beyond that. Furthermore, we don't know where the blade is located, what defenses it has, or even if it would approve of us going against the order of a Vernai. It also happens to be the most obvious move available to us, and its something you can bet the Vernai would expect.
Personally, I'd rather we leave immediately. I full expect there will be a chase team of Mantis, and I fully expect such a team would wish to "stack the deck" in every way as well. Therefore, I'd prefer to get a risk free head start, and then steal the Mantis Blade back when whatever chase team follows us - without the issues of having to disobey a direct order, or having to bypass its security. Still, I'll agree to the majority decision, so long as everyone is aware of the risks."
With a heavy sigh Kage agrees, "Mantis Blade has been denied to us. Showing initiative by going AWOL to find its sister is one thing, but stealing it even in the furtherance of holy Achekek's will is quite another. I can't imagine a world where we would get away with that..." The regret in his voice was palpable, but what could they do? The Vernai had spoken.
"Its probably still in the meeting room and we its not stealing. The sword chose Sa'Kage, we'd be uniting the blade with its chosen welder. Also, you think they'll be any less angry if we leave it? You think we'd be any less hunted?"
Lilith thinks over Eris' proposal.
"When you put it that way, leaving now certainly sounds smarter. As for breaking an 'offical' order from the Vernai, well, unless we do nothing, we're going to be doing that not matter what; I'm probably missing something, but I don't think Vespid has the authority to override the rest of the council. Plus any engagement we have with this chase team is going to be... messy. Still, Lord Achaekek - our ultimate authority - has decreed we go, so we should trust him to help us sort out the details. Hmm... Alright, let's get going before I have second thoughts."
Still massaging his sore head, Kage interjected, "You know all of this is presupposing we can trust Vespid's judgement. She is not exactly impartial... The real rub is we don't know what the Vernai will decide..."
Unblinking his crimson eyes catch the other's as he grinds out "I would hate for them to choose us only to find we've vanished!" In a more conciliatory tone he adds, "Still the consequences for that probably aren't so bad, as long as we ultimately comply when they find us, which they will. As for Mantis Blade we're just going to have to do without, unless it somehow finds its own way."