Jaiye's page

Jaiye shakes her head and deliberately unclenches her hands from where she had been twisting the fabric of her skirt in an attempt to keep her cool. She took a deep breath. "Don't take this the wrong way, Fei, but you don't speak for me. And this conversation is not remotely over."

She turned her attention back to the High Seer, expression determined. "First of all, I call b$~$*~~%. Hey, I get it, I'd love to have something to smash too. But that doesn't make for smart decisions. Ephebe was pretty upset about the whole machine thing, but you know what she wasn't freaking out about? The Empire. You know when you know you actually have to worry about the Empire showing up? When the Sunwakes start panicking. She's not, ergo I'm pretty freaking sure we have a hot minute before that problem is actually urgent, so yeah, you can take a g~$%*!n hour to cry. You're owed that much, at the very least. And you're not going to be able to make wise decisions while you're so emotionally constipated you've gone numb," she said, crossing her arms and glaring in the universal signal for 'and I will tackle you if I have to to make this happen'. "Second, 'fight smart not hard'. How many times did you say that to me over the last week? Seriously, I lost count. You're a Seer, Faelwen. Act like it. Gather actual information before you go haring off to save the world. Wise use of resources and all that crap." Jaiye grimaced and straightened her shoulders even further. "Third thing has nothing to do with saving the universe or the world, which means it's important. The small things are always the ones that actually matter. When I go back to Avalon, I'm taking the demon baby with me. Ugh, okay, we really can't keep calling her that. Errr.....Selene. After the goddess of the hunt. Only deity both our people worship. Seems appropriate. So, okay, kid's got a name. That's a start. And no, I'm not taking her away from you. You're her grandmother and you should spend time with her. Regularly. But you're in the middle of a civil war, like it or not, and you have no idea who you can trust, and they've all had plenty of time to play musical pins. Taking care of a baby is a 24/7 kinda thing, and right now I wouldn't trust your staff to make breakfast, let alone take care of an infant. And that's before we get into the whole bigotry problem, which let's face it, is a huge deal and is a problem that's only going to snowball as Selene gets older. She doesn't need that crap. Seriously, these folks can barely tolerate each other. They're not gonna be nice to a baby succubus. At least not when you're not directly supervising them every bloody minute. And don't give me any crap about what Ehos would have wanted, because he didn't have clue one how he wanted to handle this. Changed his mind like five times a day, minimum. He's not here," she said, her voice cracking at that although her eyes remained stubbornly dry and her chest ached with a dull pain that had settled in for permanent residence. "I am. I can't change that. But this is something I can do. I can make sure Selene has as normal of a life as is possible given what she is. I can move forward with my plans as discussed. Don't worry, not taking the baby into battle. I'll make sure to schedule challenges during your turn for babysitting. Lycans have a longstanding tradition of adoption, so I crack enough heads and nobody questions who she belongs to. Of course, I break enough heads, and who the hell cares about tradition," she added with a shrug. "The point being, it's a lot easier to make a place for her with my people than it is with yours."

Jaiye held herself very straight and very still. She felt....nothing. That would come later, she supposed. For now she was numb. She was happy to let Fei take the lead talking to the High Seer. She spotted the chancellor's spoiled children out of the corner of her eye, under guard near the edge of the group, and her expression softened a little. They were awful of course, but she understood what it was like to be betrayed by the ones who were supposed to protect you, and she recognized what they were going through right now. She considered speaking to them and discarded the idea. She was the last person they would be willing to receive advice from right now. So she waited.

The conversation is briefly interrupted by an unceremonious 'thud' as Fei steps over to the succubus with purpose and knocks her out cold before she can even think of fleeing or causing further trouble after Jaiye unshackles her. Sparing a few more nanites to help keep the demon unconscious, he turns briefly back to Ephebe.

"While I have questions I would like answered, now is not the time for this discussion."

He kneels down next to Jaiye, facing her. The young monk knows he cannot just exclude her from what must come next, but it pains him to have to ask it of her nonetheless.

"I will go to the High Seer and...tell her what has happened. Do you wish to come with me, or return to Avalon and be with Tyrrin?"

She looked up when he spoke to her, not having reacted at all when he subdued the succubus. She didn't have any attention left to spare for that creature now. Her expression settled into one of determination. "I will go with you. Tyrrin has Ghalen with her. She'll be alright for now."

Jaiye felt like she had had the wind knocked out of her. She couldn't breathe. It wasn't fair....but life never was. She reached up to her wrist. It was almost easy to forget the succubus was even still there since Fei had gagged her. She snapped the manacle open, letting her hand fall back into her lap, not even looking at the demon. "I guess we both lose this time," she said dully.

Jaiye is still kneeling on the floor, shell-shocked as she tried to process what just happened. Tyrrin was back. She was alive. She was going to be okay. But Ehos....she couldn't even process it yet. Just numbness. She didn't move at all until Tyrrin was gone and then she turned to Ephebe. "Can you bring him back?" she asked, hardly daring to hope, but not able not to at the same time. But those hopes were dashed when she saw the look of pity and regret cross Ephebe's face.

Jaiye looks panicked, glancing back and forth between Tyrrin and Ehos as comprehension dawned. She rushed forward, intending to stop this, but stopped when Ehos shook his head, tears running down his face. She fell to her knees, unable to stop herself from interfering any other way.

The guard hesitated, unsure if he should obey the chancellor or not, but he never had a chance to make a decision as his knife arm was yanked away from Tyrrin's throat with a sickening crack. He dropped with a scream as Jaiye grabbed his knife away from him and pressed it to his throat instead. "Do it, Ace," she said in a hard voice. "I know this song," she said, nodding towards where Ehos was strapped into the machine, his beautiful singing voice filling the cavern. "It's a farewell. We don't have time to do this the nice way."

narrator wrote:

Jaiye follows closely behind when Fei heads into the hallway, dragging the demon behind her.

The nanites are able to tell him that the forcefield is a sphere around the entire chamber. It appears to be solely magical in nature.

"The barrier is a magical sphere surrounding the chamber, Casilkasheyith," the young monk replies in a text on his datapad. "I will be able to take it down, but I think you and the others should get into the chamber before I do, as I will be very obvious when I do so. Standby."

Fei stops about ten feet before they come into direct view of the chamber, silently motioning for Jaiye to stop a few steps before he does. Some of the nanites on the succubus quickly flow over her mouth, creating a 'mask' of sorts over her lower face, effectively gagging the demon and preventing any appreciable vocalizations from her.

"Jaiye - do those manacles prevent both of you from being teleported?" He whispers quietly.

Readies an (obvious to both) action to give the succubus a Boot to the Head if she even thinks about making a sound right now. (^-^)

Jaiye nods and shrugs apologetically.

While not able to render herself invisible, Stealth was her best class, so she was able to sneak along the edge of the hallway towards the chamber without making a sound. Although there was some question as to whether the forcefield would prevent those inside from hearing outside as well as it prevented those outside from hearing what was happening inside.

Jaiye wrote:

"Less...*pant, pant*....talking, more....*pant, pant*....rescuing," Jaiye said, a little out of breath thanks to the general uncooperativeness of the demon she's still dragging around. They briefly glare at each other.

Some of the nanites break off from 'door duty' to embed themselves in the succubus' garments (though not the manacles binding her to Jaiye). They then sync with the nanites in Jaiye's outfit.

Going forward, the nanites on the succubus will read Jaiye's movements and use some of their excess energy to compensate for the demon's mass, making it approximately 50% easier for Jaiye to maneuver and fight with her attached prisoner.

** spoiler omitted **

o.O........>:)

Jaiye blinks a little as the drag on her arm lessens. "Uh....thanks," she said, surprised.

She turned her attention to the door as Fei's nanites finish dissolving the hinges and it falls to the floor with a crash revealing a narrow hallway that curves away, blocking their view of where it leads.

Ooh! What does he look like 'fully engaged'?? I can't recall a description of that

"Good on you buddy. What's our next move? I'm guessing you've convinced your new friends to disclose the Chancellor's location?"

"Less...*pant, pant*....talking, more....*pant, pant*....rescuing," Jaiye said, a little out of breath thanks to the general uncooperativeness of the demon she's still dragging around. They briefly glare at each other.

Ace signs audibly, "This is utter nonsense. If she ends up getting in the way once fighting begins, you're gonna need to figure something out."

Are we all at the tree mansion of the Chancellor? Or are Jai and I still en-route?

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Jaiye said, hurtling over a tree root and not really pausing when the demon thunked into it, unleashing a stream of creative cursing, but only slowing Jaiye down for a couple seconds before she'd yanked the demon to her feet again.

The compound was right ahead of them, a dragon circling overhead and gates closed. "Please tell me you've got a plan to deal with the doors?"

Ace shakes his head. "Jai, if we can't rescue Ehos, we may not need leverage, period. She's slowing you down, and there's no way you're at anything even close to peak fighting while shackled to her."

He pauses, thinking. "Want me to bind her more tightly? Maybe even with a Magic Circle spell? Or I could draw some blood from her in order to track her down later, should she escape."

Jaiye shook her head. "She's slippery. She'd find some way to stop us tracking her."

"Jaiye, Casilkasheyith - I am sending the building location to your datapad now. Contact Ghalen telepathically and have him meet you there without compromising your position."

"I am about to draw their attention to the east wall of the compound - get there as quickly as you can and try to enter unobserved from the west or rear while I keep them occupied."

"Less arguing, more getting in position," she said, taking off again, dragging the annoyed demon behind her.

"Oh, come on," the succubus groused, "even hell doesn't spend this much time on physical fitness. This is getting into cruel and unusual punishment territory, and I'm saying that as a demon."

"Jai, wait for me, I'll be there shortly." Ace says, shifting form once again to that of a wolf, and racing towards his Lycan friend.

Upon arriving, he resumes his normal form. "Ya know, we need to do something with mistress hot pants here. If there ends up being a fight, you're gonna need both hands free"

She barked a laugh. "Like I need my hands! I can't let her go before she lets Ehos free of her mental control. This is the only leverage I've got."

The demon rolled her eyes. "You look like an intelligent boy," she purred. "Talk some sense into her. Too much fighty, not enough thinky," she added sarcastically.

"Yep, coming in fine. Jai, north side of the city is where they took Ehos. Where are you currently? Fei, can you ask the High Seer if there's anything important over there?"

"I'm nearing that area already, just point me in the right direction!"

As soon as they are in position, he tests the secured connection.

"Casilkasheyith, Ghalen, Jaiye - can you hear me?"

"Loud and clear," Jaiye said, a little out of breath.

"On that note, I'm going to assist in tracking down your son. I have a way I am hoping can trace his assailants. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go meet up with Jaiye. She's around the spot he was taken from."

Once he is given leave, he'll contact Jai "Hey, I need some sort of location of where you are. Not sure I'll be able to teleport to you, but I'm sure I can reach you soon, regardless"

The High Seer nods a dismissal before turning away to deal with the matters at hand.

Jaiye responded to his message sounding a little out of breath. "I'm on my way to the north side of the city. You can't miss the spot where they took Ehos. There's signs of a struggle and a dead body. It's about twenty feet away from that. I left a marker on the spot. One of my earrings. Should be easy enough to find."

Fei's nanites identify half a dozen badly wounded in need of immediate healing.

Meanwhile, Jaiye tries to follow her nose, but comes to a dead end.
"Guys, I've hit a wall here. They teleported or dimension doored or something. Whatever they did the scent ends here. I'm heading towards the north since that's where Fei says the chancellor is. Ghalen, meet up with me? Or do you have another angle to pursue?" she said over the comm channel. "Also, somebody needs to tell the High Seer what's going on. She doesn't know yet, does she? She might be able to help scry for them or something."

Jaiye wrote:

She hadn't got very far before she found something concerning. About halfway between the pavilion and the city she found a guard with a knife in his back and Ehos's data pad on the ground beside him, screen cracked.

She swore, and whipped around so fast that the weight of the demon she was dragging around nearly pulled her over. She stumbled and then picked up the semi-broken data pad.

"Guys? I've got a problem here," she says, using the communication app and hoping the others pick it up. "A dead guard and Ehos's data pad in less than pristine condition. He wouldn't have left this behind if he had a choice. I can try tracking him by scent, but I'm dragging around a little extra weight right now. I can't shift, so that's going to hamper my efforts. I'll let you know what I find."

As Fei replies to Jaiye, he opens the encrypted comm channel so Ghalen can also speak with them.

"Ghalen and Tyrrin were just ambushed as well. Tyrrin was taken with teleportation magic by the turncoat guardsmen. And the Laerenites may have adopted some form of jamming technology - there is something at the city's border that is blocking my nanites from communicating with me while I was trying to track the Chancellor's location. I suspect his hand in this matter now."

"I am trying to find Tyrrin in a....different manner now. Hold your position for a moment and I will try to locate Ehos as well."

The Champion of Courage broadens his 'search' to now include Ehos' unique courage signature, as well as those of the Chancellor and the High Seer. While Tyrrin will still be the easiest for him to locate, he realizes now that he needs to cast a wider net to find his friends before something worse happens...

Jaiye made a face and then said a long string of curses, not over the comm channel. The demon smiled at her. "I could arrange all of that, you know," she purred and then laughed as Jaiye glared at her.

She hadn't got very far before she found something concerning. About halfway between the pavilion and the city she found a guard with a knife in his back and Ehos's data pad on the ground beside him, screen cracked.

She swore, and whipped around so fast that the weight of the demon she was dragging around nearly pulled her over. She stumbled and then picked up the semi-broken data pad.

"Guys? I've got a problem here," she says, using the communication app and hoping the others pick it up. "A dead guard and Ehos's data pad in less than pristine condition. He wouldn't have left this behind if he had a choice. I can try tracking him by scent, but I'm dragging around a little extra weight right now. I can't shift, so that's going to hamper my efforts. I'll let you know what I find."

Jaiye wrote:

"I think that they were evacuated too. Ghalen went with Tyrrin so she should be safe. But it was all pretty chaotic."

Fei lowers his head in thought briefly.

"If you wish one of us to go with you, we will do so. Otherwise, the nanites I added to your outfit will let you communicate with me - just touch the lapel pin to do so," as some of said nanites form a floral 'button' on her dress near the neckline that matches the floral barette in her hair.

"Ace" wrote:

Ace shifts back to his normal form. "Fei, should we take our prisoners elsewhere for questioning? Or is here fine?"

The young monk turns back to Casilkasheyith.

"I think it will take too much time to relocate now. Let us do the questioning here, and I will make sure we have no further... interruptions."

Jaiye nods and rushes off, demon in tow, heading towards the city to look for Ehos.

The drow are looking at Fei and Ace resentfully, but as they are currently unable to move they can't actually do anything about it.

Jaiye wrote:

Jaiye nodded. "Okay. I'm going to let you guys take care of that, then. I think you have enough volunteers to beat them up if need be without me. I'm gonna take this troublemaker," she said, raising her manacled wrist slightly, "and see if I can find where Ehos got evacuated to. The sooner that she releases her hold on him, the sooner I can release her and hopefully never see her again," she added with a meaningful glare at the demon, who simply shrugged as if she was unbothered, but couldn't totally hide her annoyance.

"As you wish" Fei replies, with a nod.

"Are Tyrrin and Ghalen still here? Will they be accompanying you?"

"I think that they were evacuated too. Ghalen went with Tyrrin so she should be safe. But it was all pretty chaotic."

Jaiye wrote:

"Oh, puh-lease," the demon said, rolling her eyes. "If I have to be subjected to these indignities, at least don't also insult my intelligence and planning skills while you're at it. Ow!" she cried out, glaring at Jaiye for the backhand she'd just been dealt. "You are so going to pay for that later," she growled.

Jaiye rolled her eyes. "Yeah, so I don't trust her at all, but the demon has a point. This is not her style. It's not convoluted enough. And relying on drow for help? What was she going to do, blackmail them with threats about revealing their good deeds if they didn't cooperate? She already had a scheme in motion, and I am quite certain she was surprised by our trap, or she wouldn't still be stuck in it."

Other than his eyes tracking slowly between the succubus and Jaiye as the lycan strikes her captive, Fei does not make any other move during that interchange to show his concern over this behavior.

"As I said...I did not consider it likely," he replies in his usual, measured tone.

"Ace" wrote:

Motioning with a paw to the commander under him, Ace asks "Anybody got some manacles for this guy? Maybe he has some answers for us?"

** spoiler omitted **

The young monk then gestures to Casilkasheyith's prisoner.

"That is one of the commanders of the drow units that attacked. I have his fellow commanders restrained with the...

Jaiye nodded. "Okay. I'm going to let you guys take care of that, then. I think you have enough volunteers to beat them up if need be without me. I'm gonna take this troublemaker," she said, raising her manacled wrist slightly, "and see if I can find where Ehos got evacuated to. The sooner that she releases her hold on him, the sooner I can release her and hopefully never see her again," she added with a meaningful glare at the demon, who simply shrugged as if she was unbothered, but couldn't totally hide her annoyance.

Jaiye wrote:

Jaiye, demon in tow, makes her way through the battlefield full of now pacified troops towards Fei. "Any idea what exactly is going on here?" she asked, deliberately ignoring the very pissed off and annoyed succubus chained to her arm.

Fei bows approvingly to Jaiye and her evident success in restraining the succubus as she approaches.

"We...are not yet sure if this attack is connected to your prisoner," the young monk replies. "I do know that many of the guardsman were complicit in it, and abandoned their posts as soon as the drow appeared."

"While it seems quite plausible for a demon to orchestrate a coup, these events may just be a series of unfortunate coincidences. Admittedly, though, I do not know the full reason why the succubus is here in the first place, so my observations could be dangerously misinformed..."

"Oh, puh-lease," the demon said, rolling her eyes. "If I have to be subjected to these indignities, at least don't also insult my intelligence and planning skills while you're at it. Ow!" she cried out, glaring at Jaiye for the backhand she'd just been dealt. "You are so going to pay for that later," she growled.

Jaiye rolled her eyes. "Yeah, so I don't trust her at all, but the demon has a point. This is not her style. It's not convoluted enough. And relying on drow for help? What was she going to do, blackmail them with threats about revealing their good deeds if they didn't cooperate? She already had a scheme in motion, and I am quite certain she was surprised by our trap, or she wouldn't still be stuck in it."

"Ace" wrote:

Ace sits his considerable bulk (800lbs) on the commander. He shifts his vocal cords around and calls out to Fei. "Got one of the commanders. What should I do with him?"

Assuming the rest of the rank and file troops are in full retreat, Fei sends some the nanite swarm harassing them back to the remaining dropped piles of armor, where they quickly assimilate the material and then assemble into an intricate restraint harness around the pinned commander.

"Perhaps it would be best to isolate him and the other leaders we have captured from the rest of the troops," the young monk offers.

Jaiye, demon in tow, makes her way through the battlefield full of now pacified troops towards Fei. "Any idea what exactly is going on here?" she asked, deliberately ignoring the very pissed off and annoyed succubus chained to her arm.

Jaiye stops, the demon temporarily in an arm lock, not that the succubus was fighting much right now. She looked at the demon in distaste. "We need to to call a truce. Temporarily. And no, killing me or causing me to get killed won't help you. Check the spells on the manacles. If I die before the manacles are released, you get a one way ticket to Heaven."
The succubus made a face. "B!!$%," she growled.
"Yep," Jaiye agreed. "And we can resume our argument later. But right now you don't have a lot of choices except cooperation."

Fei, of the Sun Soul wrote:

Jaiye wrote:

Jaiye's ears flatten and twitch as the ultrasonic pulses are going, but she doesn't say anything or move from her seat as the mice skitter out of the box, climbing all over each other and anything or anyone else in their way to get away from the dreaded noise.

The moment the mice have cleared the box and fled for good, Fei stops the ultrasonic pulses and gives Jaiye'e beleaguered ears some respite.

Jaiye wrote:

The rest of the ceremony crawls by without incident as Lira and Liren sit in subdued silence, throwing occasional wary glares at the 'guests'. There is a great deal of pageantry and several performances, which are no doubt of great cultural significance. Also, really, really dreadfully dull. A small child near the box has fallen asleep leaning against the side of the box. They are drooling and snoring a little and their increasingly embarrassed sibling keeps throwing things at them in the hopes that they will wake up.

The young monk smiles almost imperceptibly at the young child's 'plight' of boredom, but otherwise returns (most of) his attention to the rest of the ceremony. He spares the twins only the occasional, brief glance to ensure they are done with their mischief-making.

Ghalen remains alert, looking for problems, not just in the box they are watching the ceremony from.

As the ceremony draws to a close, the High Seer and her children are all at center stage for the closing blessing. In the crowd he sees a young woman making her way towards the stage, clutching something to her chest.

Jaiye's ears swivel forward and she leans almost out of the box, surreptitiously sliding her shoes off of her feet.

Fei looks down at the swarm of mice now infesting the seating area.

His disappointed gaze very briefly passes over the two elven twins before returning to the ceremony.

The young monk accesses the prodigious databases in his neural lace to find a way to surreptitiously shoo the mice away without harming them. The only thing he can attempt right now is to use his nanites to broadcast on an ultrasonic frequency that they can hear, but that will not affect the sensitive hearing of the others present.

Nanites flow out along the ground and, using ultrasonic pulses focused in the 70-100 kHz range, start to 'herd' the mice away from the viewing box. He will adjust the frequency immediately if he notes any effect on either Jaiye or the other elves.

Fei does leave two places within the ultrasonic 'barrier' that are noise-free for the mice to retreat to (other than just fleeing the box), and those are the areas immediately around Lira and Liren.

** spoiler omitted **

Jaiye's ears flatten and twitch as the ultrasonic pulses are going, but she doesn't say anything or move from her seat as the mice skitter out of the box, climbing all over each other and anything or anyone else in their way to get away from the dreaded noise.

The rest of the ceremony crawls by without incident as Lira and Liren sit in subdued silence, throwing occasional wary glares at the 'guests'. There is a great deal of pageantry and several performances, which are no doubt of great cultural significance. Also, really, really dreadfully dull. A small child near the box has fallen asleep leaning against the side of the box. They are drooling and snoring a little and their increasingly embarrassed sibling keeps throwing things at them in the hopes that they will wake up.

Ghalen does not react, feeling that mice would be hard pressed to bite through his armor. He does, however shoot a look to Liren, and rests his hand on the pommel of his sword.

Intimidate 1d20+37

Liren paled. "So sorry," he whispered in a strangled sounding voice. "How clumsy of me."

Which did nothing to help with the rodent problem in the box. Jaiye impaled one with the pointy heel of her shoe. Huh. Impractical shoes had at least one use. But there were so very many of them.

::Anybody else feel like they're in class?:: Jaiye asked telepathically. She was restraining any outward signs of boredom so far, but her mental voice was full of impatience.

narrator wrote:

Between Fei's friendliness, and Ghalen's glowers, they were successfully able to prevent trouble approaching from outside the boxes.

Inside the box, Liren was pointing out different points of interest on the grounds while Lira was handing out programs made from actual autumn leaves. She dropped an entire basket worth of leaves on top of Jaiye 'accidentally' as she was leaning over to hand her a program.

Ace responds quickly, picking up the programs and putting them into a neat pile to hand back to Lira "You seemed to have dropped these. They're very pretty, I don't believe I've seen pamphlets made out of actual leaves before." As he says this, he places a calming hand on Jai's knee, hoping to keep her from getting riled up.

Jaiye's ears flattened and her tail twitched, but otherwise she maintained outward calm. "Yes," she said through slightly clenched teeth. "Are they treated with something to keep them from becoming crumbly?"

Lira pouted just a little bit.
"Er, yes, they are. I'm afraid that I don't know much about how it's done though," Liren interjected with a little fake laugh.

Inwardly Jaiye imagined punching him in his smug nose, and then doing the same to his smug sister. Outwardly she sat stiff and straight, with nothing but her twitching tail to indicate her agitation.

Ace 'overhears' a few snippets from Jai's mind Detect Thoughts and sits next to her. He takes out his datapad and writes up a quick message which he shows to his lycan friend. It reads I know enough, I'll help as best I can.

Ace will then spend the next ten minutes focusing his mind and abilities to best suit any potential trouble. Switching Aptitude Focus to Arcane and Divine, and adding +6 to my Wis(34 total).

** spoiler omitted **

Jaiye nods quickly, moving to hide the message from the others before anyone else became suspicious. She was very much on edge, which was only to be expected while sitting in the middle of a large crowd of her ancestral enemies.

Ghalen Kiln wrote:

"We shouldn't miss out, unless there are anymore...distractions?" Ghalen says cooly, staying in character.

Liren doesn't hide his annoyance well at this, but looking around there doesn't seem to be anyone else approaching. This plan to let them cause trouble seems to be failing due to the group being on such good behavior. Liren sulkily leads the way to the viewing box, trading occasional glares with his sister.

The box contains a set of raised wooden bleachers so that the group can have a clear view of the stage in spite of being quite far back from it. While seats are provided for them, the elves gathered here are mostly standing, though a few have brought their own chairs or picnic blankets for the occasion.

Jaiye climbed the stairs to the bleachers first, ignoring the irritation of their guides as she took the seat on the far end of the first bench, leaving plenty of room for the others to sit. She wasn't happy that the box was so far back. This wasn't what they had discussed. It might cause problems. There were definitely too many people who could cause her problems between here and the stage. If she made a dash for it in her hyena form though, she could probably make it. The extra second it would take to determine that she wasn't a pet could be just the thing. Once again she considered clueing in her companions about their plans, but she couldn't risk the demon getting word of it and slipping away again, so she just sat there pretending to be calm.

As they are walking, Ace will try and subtly get his companions attention, though his main 'target' is Jai.

Once he does, he passes a message via rapid hand signals 1d20+33 Bluff to pass a secret message, DC 20 for a complex one. Auto succeed, rolling to make sure they probably can't intercept.

Message: Took us this way, hoping we would cause trouble.

Jaiye gave him a 'thanks, captain obvious' smirk, but he could tell that she was tense. "So good of you to take us the long way so we really get to see the festival grounds," she said sweetly. She knew how to play that game too. Tyrrin was a good teacher.

"Ace" wrote:

Ace chuckles "Pretty sure I can take care of any wardrobe malfunctions, Fei."

Ghalen Kiln wrote:

nods...

"My clothing is glammered, but I also can cast prestidigitation to clean my clothes, or anyone else's, if necessary."

"Good," the young monk says as he opens his hands and sends a small group of nanites from his suit over to Jaiye. "Now Jaiye will have a...similar protection. If you accept it, of course," he quickly adds before they start bonding with her dress.

Jaiye looks surprised and then grins. "Yeah, thanks Fei. That's really good thinking. I definitely can't do any of the magic stuff so that really helps. Now I don't have to be quite as paranoid. Not saying I'm gonna let up on the constant vigilance or anything, but nice to know that I won't have to spend the evening looking like an idiot."

"Ace" wrote:

"I agree, I don't think they can do too much to harm us long term, and if we push back to hard, we could really screw up things here, especially for our friends. So, we'll play hard to get, as it were. This isn't my first taste of courtly intrigue, just new to this particular flavor" the young man says with a grin.

nods

"Jaiye? What do you think?"

Jaiye bit her lip nervously. "I knew coming here wasn't going to be easy. I've been getting etiquette lessons from Tyrrin to make sure that I don't screw up too bad, but I'm definitely going to need some help from the rest of you. I'm really trying not to cause an incident, but we're talking about a really long history of conflict here. There's pretty much bound to be some...awkwardness." Ehos squeezed her arm and she gave him an attempt at a smile. "I'm more used to the straightforward kind of fighting, and I'm good at that. But I will do my best to fight with manners this time. Even if I am at a disadvantage there."

Ace, having never been to an elven festival like this before, is excited to take in all the sights, sounds, and tastes. When Ty suggests a snack, he helps himself to a decent sized plate, sampling a little of everything, or as close as possible.

Aside from that, he keeps an eye on Jaiye, making sure nobody tries to start any trouble with her.

Lyn, I just realized, Ace was originally helping with the whole demon problem, and had set up telepathic communication with Jai and others before in order to keep things from Ehos. It would make sense that he would have done so prior to their leaving, if that's cool with you."

Jaiye kinda went off the reservation with the planning while Ace was dealing with the aftermath of the attack on Ginni. So he's just as much in the dark as anyone else as to what she has planned. She decided that it was the only way to be sure she wasn't accidentally telling her plans to the demon, if nobody but her actually knew what they were. Telepathic communication is possible. Like most lycans Jaiye is naturally telepathic. But there is definitely no special link set up, and that's just how she wants it. She would basically be like "It's okay, I got this" if asked.

Jaiye nibbles on a little bit of food, but she doesn't have much of an appetite, on high alert the whole time. Also terrified of spilling anything on her dress. Ehos stays close to her, keeping an arm around her and making it as clear as possible that she's here with him.

About fifteen minutes after they all arrived, an attractive young pair of elves, one male and one female enter the pavilion. They are dressed in matching livery.
"Greetings, Lady Tyrrin and Lord Ehos. Greetings, honored guests," they say in unison, bowing to the group. "I am Lira," the girl said, "and I am Liren," the boy finished. "We have been assigned to be your guides for this evening's entertainment, since Lady Tyrrin and Lord Ehos will have to join their mother for the ceremony itself. If there is anything at all that we can help you with, or any questions that we can answer, we are happy to be of assistance."

The elf takes one of the tokens as he looks to the other gathered students.

"It does look like we're going to the same place."
He steps up to the teleport pad, waiting for the one seemingly in charge to give the word.

Ehos grabbed a token each from the basket for himself and Jaiye.

Jaiye gave a weak, nervous smile. "Yeah, looks like," she said in response to Lim-Mor's comment. "This is a spectacularly bad idea," she said, taking a deep breath to steady herself. "Let's get it over with."

At this point a clicking sound can be heard in the hallway and a glance outside reveals Ehos and Jaiye heading towards them down the hallway, Jaiye clinging to Ehos's arm and muttering curses against the sadist that invented the high heeled shoe.

"You're late," Tyrrin snapped.

Ehos rolled his eyes and held up his data pad with the free arm. It read: Shoe trouble.

She twisted and turned in front of the mirror. No matter how she looked at it, she felt like she was looking at a stranger. The dress Ehos had picked out for her made her look sophisticated and elegant. Not usually the adjectives that came to mind where she was concerned. And thanks to Tyrrin's help her hair was pinned up into a feminine style with an enameled floral barrette and several tiny sparkly pins made to look like flowers. There had been a bit of a battle with those because Tyrrin kept pinching her ears, and she needed to keep range of motion there or she'd feel even more insecure. She took a deep breath and smoothed the dress. The side slits were high, so she'd had to abandon her plans to hide her weapons under her skirt. She'd have to rely on her unarmed combat skills if things went wrong. She adjusted the annoyingly heavy bracelet on her left wrist. This was the item that she'd asked the High Seer for. Hopefully Ehos wouldn't be too suspicious of it. She didn't want to lie to him. But she couldn't tell him everything either with that demon still having access to his mind. She was as prepared as she was going to be. With reluctance she put on the impractical shoes. They sparkled. And they had heels, which felt beyond awkward. The only thing in their favor was how quickly they could be kicked off.

She felt a puff of air as the door opened, although it was completely silent. She turned, smiling, to see Ehos standing there. She felt herself blush a little. He looked so handsome in his formal clothes. Well, he always looked handsome. That was sometimes the problem. Like last night. They were supposed to be cooling things off a little physically, to work on their relationship. But truth be told, neither of them was particularly good at abstinence. Ehos grinned at her in a way that made her blush even more. He held up his data pad. 'You look beautiful.'

She cautiously closed the distance between them, trying to not fall over from her shoes. "I'm really nervous," she admitted.
He felt a little bit of guilt for asking her to do this, but he set that aside. They'd agreed on this together after all. He pulled her close and nuzzled her neck, holding up the pad so she could see his words, 'You'll be great. You faced down my mom. The rest of them should be a piece of cake,' he joked, trying to put her at ease.
Jaiye laughed and shook her head. "I really do love you, you know. Enough to walk into a large gathering of my ancestral enemies unarmed and wearing heels no less," she joked back and felt the familiar butterflies in her stomach feeling when his eyes crinkled with laughter. "Come on," she said, reluctantly pulling away, grabbing his hand to pull him after her. "We'd better get going before Tyrrin sends a search party after us."

Silinrul shrugs as well "I guess there's no help for it then. Do you want me to take over watching her for awhile? Unsure if you have plans for the rest of the evening"

"If you wouldn't mind, that would be great. I have an errand to run that I don't want Ehos to know about. Some plans that I've been working on to get him free from the influence of that demon. Since she has access to his mind, I can't exactly maintain the element of surprise if he knows what I'm working on. His mom has been helping me track down the items I need. There's a better than average chance I think that the demon will show up during the festival tomorrow, so I need to be prepared."

Sil nods in agreement with the girls "I do believe a day care for little ones would be appropriate. While physically she is probably too old, we have all just said she is far too young mentally to be on her own. Were this someplace other than Avalon, I would think there might be an issue convincing those in charge to accept Cho. However, that is not the case, and I am confident they will not only allow her to join, but likely be able to assist her growth far more than we. After all, we are all still learning and growing ourselves."

"I'm sure they will. But if there's one thing that you'll learn after being here a while is that Avalon is always operating on a staff shortage. So until they've got the people to staff a program like that, it's left to volunteers. Like us," Jaiye said with a shrug.

Silinrul wrote:

Jaiye wrote:

Yeah, I have the info to continue the story with Cho, so we can keep moving forward with this.

"Well, I'm pretty sure Phaezeriel does. And probably Nala too," she added wrinkling her nose a little. "It's possible that she was just born with brain damage. Or didn't develop properly in infancy. They might have made her this way, but they might have just picked her because she was simple and that made it easier to use her for their prophecy. It's possible that she'll always be like this. Given that the infirmary staff has found no trace of damage or any particular tampering, I'm inclined to think that she was born like this," Jaiye said with a shrug. "Which does beg the question of how we're supposed to arrange long-term care for her."

Sorry it took me awhile to respond to this, unsure how Sil would react

The young shaman takes a few moments to think, before responding. "Hmm. I too am at a loss. I'm going to guess she has no family, and I do not think she should leave the school. At least not any time remotely soon. Is there any sort of special day care we could put her in? Those of us who have watched over her this week can't continue to do so regularly." His tone is practical, as they all have lives, and classes to attend to, and clearly they can not keep babysitting Cho.

"They're setting up a daycare, but they don't actually have one yet," Morrivan said. "At least that's what I've picked up. Raelle's sister mentioned something like that. But I think it was intended for really little kids. This girl isn't so little."

"Not outwardly, no," Jaiye agreed. "But it's a fair point. She needs to have regular minders. The rest of us need to go to classes and do homework and all of that stuff. To be honest, I don't think Jeran expected this to go on for so long when he agreed to be her guardian. But there hasn't been a single attack or kidnapping attempt for days."

Jaiye wrote:

Jaiye rolled her eyes. "Boring. As usual. I've explained how blocks work like five times since we got here. She still chews on them instead of building with them. An actual toddler would learn faster. I'm starting to wonder if she's got some kind of medical condition that prevents her from retaining memories, but the infirmary staff swear she's fine."

Her brother closes his eyes for a few moments and suddenly 5 small puppies appear and go over and play with Cho(I think we were using that as her name, right? Short for Chosen?).

He thinks for a few moments "Would the infirmary staff know anything about dangers or damage specifically to the mind? Especially if such effects were magickal in nature?"

Lyn, unsure if you have info from Dami on how this is supposed to proceed, or if we should let this drop while he is on his hiatus. But wanted to at least have some reply to Jai

Yeah, I have the info to continue the story with Cho, so we can keep moving forward with this.

"Well, I'm pretty sure Phaezeriel does. And probably Nala too," she added wrinkling her nose a little. "It's possible that she was just born with brain damage. Or didn't develop properly in infancy. They might have made her this way, but they might have just picked her because she was simple and that made it easier to use her for their prophecy. It's possible that she'll always be like this. Given that the infirmary staff has found no trace of damage or any particular tampering, I'm inclined to think that she was born like this," Jaiye said with a shrug. "Which does beg the question of how we're supposed to arrange long-term care for her."

Morrivan wrote:

Morrivan laughed. "Oh, you're new, then. You get used to it. This is my second year here, and I don't even think about it anymore unless someone points it out to me."

The arrows lead to a room in a remote corner of the building that's been fitted out as a playroom of sorts. Jaiye is watching Cho with a look of utter boredom.

Sil nods "Aye, new, arrived just this past Sunday. I'm also a shaman, so tech is odd to me in general."

He smiles when he sees Jai "Hiya sis! How goes the babysitting?"

Jaiye rolled her eyes. "Boring. As usual. I've explained how blocks work like five times since we got here. She still chews on them instead of building with them. An actual toddler would learn faster. I'm starting to wonder if she's got some kind of medical condition that prevents her from retaining memories, but the infirmary staff swear she's fine."

Jaiye wrote:

She laughed and sat down on his lap. "Well, then, how did you want to spend your recovery time?" she asked, leaning her head on his shoulder and cuddling close. "If you're not taking suggestions," she teased.

Ehos grinned, letting his free hand wander a bit as Jaiye snuggles close. He plants a soft kiss on top of her head, between the ear. "You're making a pretty good case for some tongue excercise right now, sitting in my lap and being all sexy..." reads his tablet, and there's the slightest hint of mischief in his eyes if Jaiye looks up, one hand slowly tracing up and down her back.

"But..." the ominous word is probably missed as Ehos nibbles on the tip of an ear, sending tingles down her spine.

"Tickle time!!!" big letters flash across the screen as Ehos begins relentlessly tickling Jaiye, tablet falling to the wayside as he dedicates both hands to the endeavour.

Jaiye wriggled in his lap, giggling and squirming as he tickled her. And somewhere in the squirming she pushed him down on the bed and sat on his chest, catching his arms with hers. "Well, if that's the game you want to play," she said with a wicked grin, "then I guess I'll just have to oblige." Her soft, fuzzy tail brushed back and forth across his belly where his shirt had ridden up during their wrestling. "That what you had in mind?"

Jaiye wrote:

She laughed. "Well, that sounds like a challenge if ever I heard one. But no, I think you've had enough for today. You have to give yourself some recovery time or you'll just get more tired, not better. Although I can definitely think of some better things to do with that tongue," she shot back playfully, gathering her books and papers to get them off the bed. "I have some time before I'm on the roster to go and babysit the 'Chosen One'."

"Nothing but work work work with you." He says with an overly exasperated expression, finishing with a wink. "I thought I was on recovery time?"

She laughed and sat down on his lap. "Well, then, how did you want to spend your recovery time?" she asked, leaning her head on his shoulder and cuddling close. "If you're not taking suggestions," she teased.

Jaiye wrote:

"I'm making progress. It'd be easier if I'd started on it oh, say, a year ago, when I ought to have done all of it. Definitely not as much fun as you've been having," she said with a raised eyebrow and an amused smirk. "Relax, Ehos, I'm not mad. You don't smell like anyone but yourself and you're not known for being indiscreet, so I'm guessing dreams again?"

"Yeah." he says, pulling on a fresh pair of pants on and squeezing onto the bed, finding a space to sit in all the madness. "It's like I'm seventy again. It's annoying and embarrassing." he says with a huff.

"Are we gonna train when you're done? I need to mentally prepare myself." he continues, sticking his tongue out slightly, obviously not overly shaken up by his dreams.

She laughed. "Well, that sounds like a challenge if ever I heard one. But no, I think you've had enough for today. You have to give yourself some recovery time or you'll just get more tired, not better. Although I can definitely think of some better things to do with that tongue," she shot back playfully, gathering her books and papers to get them off the bed. "I have some time before I'm on the roster to go and babysit the 'Chosen One'."

Jaiye wrote:

When he gets to his room, Jaiye is sitting on the bed surrounded by textbooks, biting her lip as she worked hard on her homework.

Sleight of Hand: 1d20+20

She quickly shoves some of the books under the others when the door opens, but does so in a smooth motion so it isn't immediately obvious that she was doing anything besides moving papers.

Ehos tenses for just a moment, a trickle of guilt worming it's way into his thoughts. So caught up in himself that he fails to notice whatever Jaiye tried to hidE. He wasn't going to hide his shame for long from Jaiye's nose so might as well out with it. He relaxes and sets his leafy screen aside.

"Hey," he starts, dropping his pants immediately and making for his dresser. He's trying to play it casual, though he's blushing a little. "How's the homework?"

"I'm making progress. It'd be easier if I'd started on it oh, say, a year ago, when I ought to have done all of it. Definitely not as much fun as you've been having," she said with a raised eyebrow and an amused smirk. "Relax, Ehos, I'm not mad. You don't smell like anyone but yourself and you're not known for being indiscreet, so I'm guessing dreams again?"

Ehos' late afternoon meditation in the gardens has slowly become late afternoon nap time instead, as Ehos found himself drifting off to a troubled sleep - a common occurrence, and likely the cause of the nap in the first place.

In his dream, there is a vague form... the nude form of Jaiye... or was it Kara? Or both? The dream is filled with a warm pleasure, underlying a pervasive feeling of guilt.

Despite the relative warmth of the grove in which he found himself napping, Ehos awakens in a cold sweat. And in need of a change of trousers.

Awkwardly, Ehos tries to nonchalantly keep his crotch covered with a leafy frond as he makes his way to his room...

When he gets to his room, Jaiye is sitting on the bed surrounded by textbooks, biting her lip as she worked hard on her homework.

Sleight of Hand: 1d20 + 20 ⇒ (17) + 20 = 37

She quickly shoves some of the books under the others when the door opens, but does so in a smooth motion so it isn't immediately obvious that she was doing anything besides moving papers.

Quote:

"Geez," she said, running her hands through her hair. "Okay, first things first. Has anyone cast any kind of magic to keep the girl from being taken off of this plane? If not, that needs to be the first priority. Second, we need more than just you and me if we end up having to fight off demons or angels....aargh. Okay, so most of the people I would ask are either involved in rescuing that Sam guy or are trying to track down the murderer....

"I do not know if such a spell has been cast, it is definitely not something I am capable of. As for sending a message to Sadie, I can have Hunnin carry it."

Once they reach a location that Jaiye feels is close enough within the wards, but still amongst the tress, Sil concentrates and creates a small shelter out of the nearby trees, along with a small spring of fresh water. Casting Grove of Respite.

"Already taking care of it, bro," she said, her fingers moving quickly over the screen of the device, typing a message for Sadie. "This will find her a lot quicker than your raven. It only works in a limited range....not much past school grounds anyways, but it's been catching on with the students as a quick way to pass messages."

"Ooh, she's headed for the....water," she added with a sigh. "And please bring some dry clothes," she added to the message she was typing.