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Sees-Death Batmans and/or Darkwing Ducks at the army. She's following routs of information back to points of leadership and exchanging dirty rags for other equally dirty rags to skirt the attention of hostile forces. This is either really cool and badass or adorable and slightly slapstick depending on your taste.
Sees takes a deep breath, pushing down the mounting frustration. It was a secondary objective in any case. Every humanoid obstacle she overcame should be considered a triumph. Still, she wanted to track down that sorcerer, and if this area was a diversion, she needed to find out where they really were. As the foul pigskin hisses and gurgles their last, Sees-Death lets out her breath slowly. It probably didn't know anyway. "Keep an eye out the window. Look for the rest of the ambush so we can clear them out, but mostly just let me know if anyone approaches the building." Using the borrowed knife, the dirge begins stripping down and searching the body for valuables, especially written orders.
Sees-Death dives forward, scooping the dagger off the floor and coming to Tallest-Silver's aid.
The dirge catches the sniper's wrist and drives the human back against the wall below the window. She takes the blade in the shoulder, but presses her own against the human's neck as Tanard pokes her head out from the rags she is wearing. When she's sure she has the human's attention, she points up, squeezes some rainwater from her rags, and asks, "where?" in her best undercommon.
Psst, guys! Do you think Mooshy will notice if I re-post my action and hope for better rolls? In all seriousness, Mooshy, I posted a minute before your previous post, and it looks like it's been overlooked.
The cascade of water, however innocuous, sends Sees-Death into her vivid hallucinations of death.
The bard halts Silver as they approach the headquarters, signaling with one of the Kobolds' oldest and most rudimentary handsigns: ambush. Eyeing the layout of the streets, she guesses at the intended killzone as well as the nearest possible blind, the one meant to box them in from behind. When Dolph the sage had spent so many hours telling stories of battles won and lost inside and outside Moontower mountain, Scoops had mostly been interested in the stories he told. It was only now that she was beginning to apply those stories into real-world scenarios.
Rolling forward through the shadows, moving like a slave hoping to stay out of the conflict, Sees-Death scampers to a three story building--a tavern, though currently abandoned--with a window that overlooks the open stretch of street. From the look, someone had prepared the area, clearing out the street and leaving overturned carts for cover. The window, cracked open, looked like a prime spot for sniping. If not, it would serve for a location to decide on their next move. Sees-Death and Tallest Silver move in through the back door, clearing rooms carefully and making their way to the loft apartment like tiny shadows. The dirge draws Gorlaug's Wrath, but is hoping to subdue whomever might be waiting without using it. Especially with Silver's help. If not, the pitched storm outside might mask any use of the weapon.
When she opens the door to the loft room, it begins to squeak, and, thinking quickly, Sees darts in, headed for the room's coffer. She makes a show of limping and ambling forward, then throwing open the coffer and tossing out the contents in a flurry of linnens, all in the hopes that Tallest-Silver can use the distraction as cover. Assuming, of course, that they have indeed ambushed the ambush party's sniper.
From the tower, Sees plots out a route for a small force to press the rainmaker.
Tanard in tow, Sees-Death makes her way through the spreading carnage, making a beeline for the green light and the magic-user who is intent on washing the streets clean. When she reaches the front line, she notices she's not alone. Tallest Silver slips out from the rubble of a building previously toppled by the deathclaw. She's carrying a familiar dagger. The pair of them are an odd sight, little tendrils of steam curling off of Sees' dress, and tiny flakes of frost sheeting off of Silver's black leathers. "I've been afraid of you." the bard offers the admission, rather than explain her plan. Underestimating the yellowjacket now wouldn't suit either of them. "It's almost funny now. You really seem to hate the burden of court. I'm sorry for anything I might have put you through over my own insecurities. I think the two of us could really work well together." She nods to where the light was.
What are the odds of a glide-by aid for Thunk as Sees gets down from the tower with Tanard? What if there's a magnificent costume change involved with a glide-suit/reception dress? What if we have Smoog jury rig it in a flashback? What if the answer wasn't obviously no?
Sees heads up the narrow stairs to the bell tower, trying to find Tanard. The torrent of water down the stairs feels good. She has to take her time, but with the handrails, it's just a matter of patience.
As far as her plans, which are still being remade, she figures her best bet is to head for whoever is making it rain. She'll let the boys decide what they're doing and make corrections when its time to leave. They'll remember what happened the last time someone wanted to revise her orders. Maybe the rainmaker has charms. That would make her feel useful. So would blasting him into a fine mist with her horn. Her claws still itch from before. As she approaches the top, Sees calls out for Tanard.
"Smoog, take the Strix and secure the skies. I don't want anyone to notice you. Hell, give the Strix the impression that we don't know you're doing this. Don't turn your back on them. Oadir, take the muscle and raid their food stores. Retzack and I can take the main force to crush their seat of leadership. Thunk can decide which force he would like to lead and where." Sees-Death raises her voice. "For the last time, Smoog, no! We need to focus on undermining their leadership. Go help set up water barrels and get out of my face."
"We have a murder of crows to harness, darling, and in my experience, they're partial to cunning and prone to backstabbing. If we can ally them to someone they believe to be against our rule, but whose strings we can reliably, and secretly pull, we might impress them by manipulating them into doing something for us. I was only keeping this from you to improve your performance, and because I was not sure they would bite for a post-marital betrayal. As much as the others see you as a thing of shadows and secrets, I know you're partial to half-truths and informed consent. You don't exactly see a betrayal as something that might inspire loyalty like these Strix do. Greas is right, it's a long game, we just need to get it started before they start hatching plans of their own... is that rain?"
"Exactly the wisdom I was hoping for, Greas. Thank you. I'll collaborate with Smoog on the subject." Sees catches Greas by the forearm. "Seriously, we ask too much and expect everything, but it's only because you manage to pull through."
Sees finds time to take Greas to the side. "I need you to play the jealous lover for me. We have a flock of unruly Strix who I can only take hold of if I outsmart them. Recruit them for a clandestine affair, something of the usurpation variety. Take them to secure an asset, something you could potentially wield against me. Get them to think you're out to topple Retzack and I, then we will stage a revelation they will admire us for. Can I trust you to sort out the details?" -- Down below, among her people, Sees doesn't know what to think of the phenomenon. She has trouble making the connection to magic. She does make the connection between rain and water. "The empty casks, the cloth, collect the water." She uses short phrases in under-common for the mixed audience. She takes a small cask and a bit of deccor and erects a water collection device. They can test the water for potability later.
Ah, um, we seem to have a lack of dead kobolds, so which would you prefer?
Sees has found a balcony overlooking the dining hall. Looking down, she takes note of the composition of the whole. Mostly Kobolds and Goblins, now all her people through wedlock. Her claw touches her lips. They had always looked so dry and pebbly... Some other races in small numbers, but there was a flock of birdfolk who were keeping to themselves.
"Outcasts of Estir, we have established the groundwork for a home, taken a great keep, roosted our fledgling dragon, but you are right, we do not have the resources to sustain ourselves for long. We cannot revel in our hedonistic whims just yet. We must root out the pigskins from our town before they rally a counter attack. This will take coordination, and tact. Aside from our Deuregar friend, these are not qualities ale will assist us in. We must stay focused for a few hours more. Would it not be a sweeter celebration to revel in drink and enjoy each other's company, secure in the knowledge that not a single 'good' soul remains in Estir? We've cut your bonds, but we need your help to grind their faces in the dirt."
The kiss is surprisingly a lingering one. She didn't expect there to be such a difference in kisses. Then again, she had rather caught Fssst off-guard when they kissed. She's actually disappointed to see Retzack leave.
Sees stands to exchange rings with Retzack. "Of course, darling. There is no rest for the wicked. Greas and Oadir can check on the festivities downstairs. Surely we have a few private moments to get better acquianted.
Feels Jam: At the first question, the dirge nods. Her initial response comes with a sigh. "I want purpose and direction in my life. I want to feel comfortable in my own identity. I want to wake up in the morning, and know what needs to be done. As Scoops, I was nobility in a sense. Dealing directly with Gorlaug had its perks. I also shoveled shit for a living. Purpose, but no direction. As Sees-Death, I have been on this quest of revenge and redemption, but the rest of you could probably do that without my help. Only a vague purpose, and only a temporary direction. I need something more, and that is why I am trying to keep this tribe together, keep my people together, arbitrate conflict, delegate great works, venture forth unto prosperity. Purpose, and direction."
When Retzack returns with his second question, she pauses. "I don't know. I've never felt someone's loss like I felt Hegh, but I don't even know if I loved him, and that's what hurts. I never had the opportunity to explore that possibility. I didn't get over myself soon enough. For the longest time I was the only female in the group, and that made my decision important, made me an object, made the whole courting ritual a game of alegience. I ventured to falsly inflate my value in the group by trying, in vain by the way, to pit the men around me against eachother for my favor. I have a piece of parchment in my pack where I kept track of who gave me gifts. I hated myself for it because it wasn't about me. Then, Tallest-Silver came into the picture, and I hoarded the same game that disgusted me. She was competition." Sees-Death sighs again. "Two of you here have professed to loving me at one point, and deep down, my reaction is incredulity. It's not about you. I don't think I deserve love, so I sabotage myself. I try to show you that I don't deserve it. Show me I deserve love... if that's possible. If I can start to love myself, maybe then I can love others. Anyone who can do that will be God in my eyes."
Reciprocation, part 1: Sees answers the questions aimed at her in reverse order, turning her gaze slowly back to Retzack for his questions.
"Greas, I can hardly tell you the details of my burdens if you won't shed light on your own. If you want to be the one I confide in, I need a reason to trust you. Not as an assassin, not as a man to lead me by the hand, but as someone with whom I can feel safe and vulnerable at the same time. Cook with me one night on the road, and we'll get caught up. I could use someone to talk to. I can't hear Tanard most of the time." Sees glances around for a second, ashamed of offering that last statement. "Oadir, that's not what I would need you to lie for. You're the honest, earnest sort, and that's reflected in your answer. Sometimes secrets come at short notice, and I won't have time to convince you of their necessity. For these others, that is not a problem, but I can see I will have to keep you out of clandestine affairs in the future. I'm confident we... I can bring our growing clan together. I dread the day I'm convinced to tell Greas what I've done. I'm disappointed that I will have to keep you at arm's length. I dread Retzack's questions, and Thunk's reaction to our assessment of him. I'm worried that my judgement is clouded by drink. I'm worried I've been drinking too much recently to try and improve my own powers... to try to forget. I miss Hegh... I need you to take fewer risks with your power, where ever it comes from. It comes too easily for you, and you ask it for more than you need without considering the consequences. You already lost an eye! I cannot imagine how I would react to that. I wouldn't still be adventuring." Her gaze comes back to Retzack. "See? Nothing to be afraid of. Your questions, my darling husband-to-be?" Her gaze remains steady, and affectionate, as her heart thuds in her throat.
Anyone who stays for the questions: "Greas, I'll admit, I didn't see this coming." When she turns to him, her eyes are like saucers, dilated until they seem to draw in the light. "I suspect we all want to know... What do you most desire? As someone I hope to lead, I must also know What do you wish I would do? Bearing in mind, of course, that I'm soon to be wed." The dirge giggles coquettishly and glances back to Retzack.
Sees treats Greas to an understanding smile. "I'm subjecting myself to more and more questions with every volunteer. Believe me that I'll understand if you don't join us. I plan to ask you each two questions. You'll each be able to ask two in return. The questions you can ask seem to come to you as part of the glamour. They deal in motivations. I am sure Oadir will convey the experience honestly, if you need an impartial third party." Anyone who wishes to join the ceremony:
Sees leads the volunteers to a quiet room, away from prying ears She shrugs out of her pack, which thuds to the ground with its weight. She pulls some scraps of colorful cloth and drapes them around the room--waist high for Oadir, unless he offers to help. To the two outsiders, her decorative eye is eclectic, or rustic. Her people treat only in death with precision, and the arts are largely lost on them. From her makeup to her choices in pass times, she's a very un-kobold-like creature. Still, she's not imitating the style of some other race. She also pulls out an unfinished dress of intricate construction--intricate because she had a hard time finding large swaths of cloth in the right colors. She's managed to keep it from looking patchy. For Kobold work, it looks stunning in execution, but it too may seem a bit raw with its reds, blacks, and white brocade. The bride-to-be shakes out the dress's wrinkles and sighs. "Maybe for the reception?" She looks down at her worn white tunic and mended vest. "White is no color for a wedding..." When she is done fussing, the room feels warm and comfortable. A few cushions are set in a circle on the floor, and the Dragontongued seats herself in front of the door, and invites Retzack to sit across from her. When he takes a seat, she invites the vulunteer(s) to take the other cushions. "We are here to share truths. Gorlaug teaches us that truth is a vulnerability. Where light was shed, wounds have bled. We enter into this circle because we mean to forge an alliance. Anyone here who fears to become vulnerable to anyone present here should leave. There is no shame in shying away from the light. It is our way."
Anyone who stays for the questions:
First, Sees turns to Retzack. "To lead our allied peoples, we must know each other's hearts. To that end, I must know: Whom do you Serve, and What do you most desire?" As the threads of compulsion weave around Retzack, she turns to Oadir. "Oadir, kind, infernal, earnest Oadir... What do you most desire, and, should the time come, How can I get you to lie for me?"
Charming and Open: When you speak frankly with someone, you can ask their player a question from the list below. They must answer it truthfully, then they may ask you a question from the list (which you must answer truthfully).
• Whom do you serve? • What do you wish I would do? • How can I get you to ______? • What are you really feeling right now? • What do you most desire?
At no point did anyone walk up to him and say "Oh, hey, Retzack, right? Hi, I'm Dave and we're on this big quest to avenge something and we're after some bad guys and it's gonna be awesome. It's so cool that you can join us on this thing. We even got our own dragon named Tanard and she's rocks. We're gonna go whomp ass on a Time Temple. Yeah!" In Sees' defense (as self-appointed leader and welcoming party) she was hungover and hemorrhaging her essence into deathspace at the time. She did appoint you to help her guard Smoog and interrogate the yellow jackets. (I mean, she tried to kill your friend, but I mean, like, death powers, yo. That stuff has to get tested in a sterile environment. Besides, she was kind of right. He did become at least partially dead.)
For those who don't know, Fssst and I dropped a temple on Smoog because he kept failing rolls. It was awesome.
Greas: No. I'd been fiddling over the wording so long, I left a dangling bud of rhetoric. Thunk: He doesn't respond well to "swear or die." And I'm not sure you'd find the whole party on Thunk's side if he started swinging now. Sees does have a +3 to interfere rolls against him. I don't want to start all out PvP either, but Sees will not let you ruin her little kingdom because Thunk woke up saved. If you do not back off on this, you become the one driving the party apart. I play fiction first, and Sees just changed her alignment to start rebuilding bridges.
"Not before the vows, my little pudding cup. In any case, I am at the mercy of my people. A treaty such as this cannot be signed if it will not join our people to their satisfaction." She turns back to the others. "I will ask after his loyalties, and return with an estimation of his capacity as a servant of Tannard. If that is not enough, you may join the ceremony personally--as a groomsman, of course--and suffer naked under the eyes of judgement yourself. No one sees truth whose truths go unseen."
One thing I can promise as your queen. Sees-Death / Retzack the Black 2016, "I wouldn't kill you before I've killed Tallest-Silver."
"If I may... Subjecting my pudding cup to so many tests without putting every one of you through the same would be unreasonable. Carrying out those tests would also be unreasonable. With so many means of searching out his secrets, we're bound to find something reproachable in any case. Can any one of us say with confidence that we've never harbored malicious intentions toward each other?" Sees is still in her seat, lounging languorously, but she's watching Retzack. "Darling, my means of sussing out the truth leave me vulnerable to reciprocation. Would it be acceptable, not to invade your thoughts, but to exchange truths? You may think of them as vows. You seem to think of my proposal as some means to restrict you, or trick you, but truly, I've noticed our growing nation is divided, and without a point of solidarity, it's liable to tear itself apart. It may not be the most romantic reasons to join, but nobility rarely get to marry for love." She turns slowly to the others. "It would be a private exchange, unless everyone would like to expose their true selves...Surely you" Charming and Open Questions (in case you were curious): • Whom do you serve?
• What do you wish I would do? • How can I get you to ______? • What are you really feeling right now? • What do you most desire?
I had no idea cobalt was a good forging metal. I just knew it was blue. I've made the joke in a shadowrun game that government systems run COBOL (and are therefore lousy with Kobolds) before.
It occurs to me for reasons outside of this campaign that the best name for the metal orphaned Kobolds' blood turns into is cobalt.
Having a husband is just a way to keep the people Sees seduces from talking to each other. It's obviously a political marriage, and nobility is practically required to have some action on the side. Now she can properly frame the private narratives with which she'll control her underlings. "Oh, Oadir~ Retzack is so filled with wrath in private. He does terrible things you don't need any proof to believe, and shouldn't ask any invasive questions about. I wish I had someone big and strong and passionate and who won't ask too many questions to take care of him for me... Sex? Oh, no, of course not. I never had sex, not with a Goblin. That would be weird. I don't have, or desire weird sex. That's never been a characteristic of mine. You? Oh that wouldn't be weird. Do you think I'm weird?" In all honesty, though, dating within the party in an evil campaign is... inadvisable.
When the prospect of love dies like dust in one's mouth, one wields her maidenhood as a weapon of politics. Plus she's totally smashed.
Yeah, well, you haven't all had a turn alienating my fiance.
I'll wait until you guys have riled him up to try to save the day.
Sees does finger guns at Smoog, clicks her tongue, and says, "Bingo."
"We need to scale the heights and plumb the depths." Sees says with a nod. She'd seen as much, though she couldn't recall where. "Tanard knows where my loyalties lie- don't you, my sweet godling? Uhm... If we're here to talk objectives, some of you likely need an update on what's going on." The little storyteller was still clinging firmly to Retzack (what smell?) waiting for his response to her proposal, but when she gets a chance, she will recount the adventure so far: The Avengers of Gorlaug set out from the mountain after an encounter with Bolgir, a traitorous kobold with some grasp of necromancy. (The animated skeleton kind) The release of energy from the mountain set them on their mission. Smoog still caries a homing portrait of Emanuel, the dragonborn paladin of Bahamut who lead the party who slew Gorlaug, so the Avengers decided to pursue Krondor the barbarian and some nameless sorcerer not worth mentioning beyond his death and subsequent burial in the fresh ruins of a time temple. (I mean, Smoog killed him, he must not have been that great, whoever he was.) Heading further south, they encountered a roving band of orcs. The Avengers got tired of murdering them, so they burned all their supplies and released their slaves, dooming them to wander the wastes until their inevitable deaths. Now, the Avengers of Gorlaug are crushing this slave outpost because Krondor is murdering Kobolds and using their bones (petrified to durgwaed for lack of a dragon's guidance) to build a dragonslaying siege engine. They know this because some idiot left their scrying orb lying about.
The way it's been treated (the way the kobolds talk about it) dragons are a manifestation of Bahamut on the material plane (even though our dragons have been evil chromatic ones) so Tanard is kobold-Jesus.
Sees-Death eases in beside Retzack, curling her claw around one shoulder. "Retzack, why so tense, why so cynical? You know, I had a thought. We have quite a motley collection of tribes underfoot, and I was thinking on the best ways, historically, to adjoin two tribes into a nation." The bard slips the sapphire ring from her claw and holds it out to the goblin. "Would you accept this ring, and enter into a rigorous courtship ritual? I swear you won't have to fight Thunk to the death. Not unless you want to. I'm sure it would be an event to remember... I don't know that there wouldn't be some physical requirements involved, though. I don't know about such conventions in your race, but the kobolds do like to see their leaders showing some affection." ~~~flashback lines~~~
Sees-Death smooths her dress with her claws like she's rubbing off something dirty. "I don't like his methods, or trust his idea of salvation, but he's acting in what he believes is our best interest. If we get everyone together and talk about our goals, maybe air grievances, I think we can get everyone on the same page." Then she sees the box in Oadir's outstretched hand. "What's that? For me? I- I don't understand. I don't think you understand... no, never mind. Thank you."
In a moment like an eternity, Sees pontificates the roles women are given throughout the mythos, and the reflections anyone given such a role to play must suffer. Giving in to temptation. Giving in to curiosity. Yielding to every dark figure. The unopened box was her eternal torment. The locked door, her sweet fixation. Cursed items tied with cautionary tales at every step. From a pocket in her dress, she produces the wound music box. She snaps the lid off its hinges, and tosses it down to the knights below.
I've actively rolled H&S against Smoog and Greas. Our characters are shitty people.
It's my opinion that the calling-card of an evil party is constant infighting and backstabbing, especially just when any one character starts to assume too much power or comes too close to their personal goals.
Sees watches Retsack with distaste, and wraps an arm around Oadir's calf. "We've just liberated these people, and brought them to a sanctuary, I'm not sure if I'm ready to send them to their deaths. Even if their service doesn't end, their lives will."
Sees-Death looks up from the books with a sigh. Isn't this the one thing they should know to come to me for? The diminutive kobold has some trouble finding a way up the pew to the window, but when she gets there, she is ready with Gorlaug's Woe. The notes she sounds with the carved dragon's horn are a memory of the dragon's voice in life. When she speaks, she uses what she has learned from carving the horns and drunkenly watching her own faux-arcana to warp the air in front of her and amplify her voice. "Brothers, sisters, downtrodden cousins, these peoples who name themselves good and trample our backs have grown soft in their minor victories. Five men under the banner of light have been slaying our dragons. We have slain two of them in kind. One died this day, under this roof, a testament to their fleeting hold on us. We in our numbers, we in our strength, we in our cunning, are more than their milksop races will ever amount to. Years of torment only harden our hides. We need to remind them that they are but points of light in a vast field of shadows, horrors, and blood. They stand at our backs, enraged that we would take their city. Let's show them that they've only been borrowing it from us."
For the first time, at least in Sees-Death's eyes, the glamour that settles over the crowd is a visible rain of light. The fuchsia mist wraps around Tanard's blue flames and fills the sky. Not thinking, Sees reaches for a hand nearby, and find's Tallest-Silver's. She, Sees, Thunk and Tanard stand on the makeshift balcony over a crowd teeming with unnatural bloodlust.
That reminds me, we need to check to see if this time temple's detachable room is here. We might have three options for transportation. Unless the panflutekey is for the airship... I'll take that lore XP too. Unless we're going to get an update on what's in the book of copper wires.
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