Darkening Skies: An End To History

[Excession]

CHARACTERS: BY INVITATION ONLY - CHARACTER INDEX - Darkening Skies: Characters
OOC: BY INVITATION ONLY - Darkening Skies: An End To History

It is the Year of Dominion 288, and the people of Imeria live in interesting times.

The Ember Rose, airship of recently-promoted Desolator Olimak Lenore, is docked at Puddleglum Spire where progress and tradition are preparing to clash for the throne. Worse, her crew includes an exiled Stormlord noble with some of the deadliest assassins in the known world pursuing them.
Can they turn this crisis into an opportunity?

RULEBOOK

 

[Hair]

Nat

Ground Zero

A focused knot of anger pushes hard through Nat's defenses, followed quickly by a gust of air as Urral arrives at the scene, shouting and threatening the Communer. "Easy, Infernal One," he snaps, struggling to reign in his sympathetic anger. The gaping maw of his shotgun wanders around to point at Urral's knee. "The one you threaten is a Communer. Here to help, I assume. If it is foes you seek you will not find them here, though some may be along soon. As for your friends, well..." he gestures with his free hand at the carnage. As he gets his mental paws around his emotions once more he begins to dig into the sun-bright flame that is Urral's mind, seeking the nuances of her inflated emotions.

@Custodiet Teh

 

[Excession]

The market is mostly empty now, but for the dead, dying, and wounded - and the ones playing hero.

Curiously, the authorities have not converged on this spot.

Heresh can sense something unusual in the local magnetic field as she approached.

Nat is beginning to feel a painful itch in his hands and face.

Weaver can sense the same cellular damage in the wounded rat's body, but much worse. Even if you heal the obvious wounds, he may only have hours unless you can reverse the decay. Until you can figure out the cause, though, the best you can manage is delaying the inevitable.

 

[FuzzMonster]

Heresh
The Devastation

Heresh...why, Heresh is already here. She arrived at speed and began instantly locking down all electronics and mechanisms in the area, to prevent any secondary injuries. By the time she gets to attending to casualties of the blast, she begins to feel it.

Spinning a magnetic field around the outside of her armour, Heresh gathers some of the residues of the blast in front of her, with her mask carefully pulled in place.

She looks around and sees a man up to the elbows in a wounded Rat.
Ah. Communer.

"Magus! Did you bear witness to the blast? There is something awry here. I fear some secondary blast effect which may have induced cross-Pattern malignancy and irregularity."

She looks to Urral.

"Honoured-Ascendant, please do not touch debris. I think there's some kind of energy effect which has been loosed by the bomb. We need to get a Diamond Soul down here, a magus whose talent is cleansing other forms of sorcery."

 

[PixelWitch]

Colby

Ah. The little pinpricks that had been wandering like fireflies amid the fog had finally turned up...
There was more indistinct shouting of different pitches. They were discussing. Heatedly.

"Hush, little one, let the Doctor work," There is a paw at his forehead, and for the briefest of moments he is a pup again, sick in his families giant shared bed.

He fights the impression for the briefest moment to look aimlessly in his crewmates direction, "My ladies..." he croaks, "I am... sooo ssssorry, I didn't, ssssee it in... time,"

And he's out. Eyes roll, and he's slumped cold in Weavers arms.

 

[Alexandra]

Abigail Turner
The Ember Rose; Captain's office

"Yes Captain, I'm afraid it is a distinct possibility. Missions don't always go according to plan, and our Seer's predictions are subject to revision; the tapestry is never set in stone...." Abigail trails off in the uncomfortable heat.

 

[Silvertongued]

Olimak Lenore - The Ember Rose

"I... see,"

She turns her gaze to Abigail once more.

"How would that affect the plans of your organisation? Regardless of whether you continue your crusade or not, were it indeed the case that the Lord Silverlight was responsible, I would have his head,"

There's no malice in her words. It's as if she's stating a simple fact, such as "rain falls down", or "the sun will rise". Utter certainty in every syllable.

 

[Alexandra]

Abigail Turner
The Ember Rose; Captain's office

"Princess L'amnia would be our ideal candidate, but that's dependant on how quick off the mark Doctor Miles was with his magic. We've located a teenager who we believe to be the illegitimate son of Johan Silverlight; the Lord's late elder brother, but this child knows nothing of life in the spire, let alone ruling one, so the transition may be difficult."

Abigail pauses to relight her cigarillo.
"The aftermath of the explosion needs to be dealt with before anything else; after we managed to calm her down, our Seer predicted massive loss of life if the illness is left unchecked. But illness isn't even the most accurate way of describing it. I need to figure out the precise function of this device," she finishes, indicating the diagram.

 

[Silvertongued]

Olimak Lenore - The Ember Rose

The Scion frowns, her features twisting in confusion.

"Illness? You have made no mention of illness," says Lenore, looking down at the loose sheafs of paper.

"Nor would I expect such from a Conflagrant. What sickness could one such as that even conjure? I had assumed a explosive device, especially considering the earlier blast Spireward..."

 

[Alexandra]

Abigail Turner
The Ember Rose; Captain's office

Abigail makes a noise of frustration, at the current situation.
"I don't believe the device is a regular bomb, but when it comes to enchanted items like this, I'm way out of my depth. Our Seer has refused to do any more scrying on the subject; her visions are too upsetting. Amid the hysterics, we managed to puzzle out that the explosion apparently causes illness. I need a Conflagrant to take a look at the schematics here."

 

[Silvertongued]

Olimak Lenore - The Ember Rose

Lenore growls in mutual irritation.

"The works of magi are too, beyond me, and the only mind I have contact with here who could decrypt these has gone to aid her countrymen. Beyond that, any other measures I would take would be far too much in waiting to be of any real use. I..."

Trailing off, the Captain slowly entwines her fingers, closing her eyes. Her knuckles whiten, and the sound of gritting teeth follow suite.

A deep, tense breath follows, and she exhales softly, long and drawn out.

"Cassandra!" snaps Lenore, eyes flicking open, her speech slipping back into Tradestongue. "Fetch a runner or send a missive. Desolator Olimak Lenore demands access to a learned Conflagrant, immediately. Their knowledge could be key to discerning how best to remedy the current disaster that has fallen upon the Spire. Brook no argument and woe betide those who would stall. I will reward or punish as need be, whatever is deserved, whatever is within my power. Now!"

She looks to Abigail once again.

"Is there anything else you would require for this problem?" she asks, once again speaking in native Urd.

 

[Alexandra]

Abigail Turner
The Ember Rose; Captain's office

"That might be a bit, uh, wordy, Captain," Abigail begins, eyes widening a little.
"Those details might bring Puddleglum officials knocking, and I don't yet have enough evidence for you to provide them with. I could post notices for you when I leave; Desolator Olimak Lenore requires the consultation of a learned Conflagrant for a future expedition. Excellent compensation provided. Short, accurate, non-specific."

 

[Silvertongued]

Olimak Lenore - The Ember Rose

A hand rolls one of the bells in Lenore's hair between thumb and forefinger, the Captain deep in thought as she considers this.

"True, but how quickly would they be to react considering a terrorist attack has just occurred? As with any illness, I would assume time is of the essence,"

 

[Alexandra]

Abigail Turner
The Ember Rose; Captain's office

Puffing thoughtfully for a moment, Abigail seems to be weighing options.
"If I may be blunt, I'd prefer the Puddleglum authorities not get involved in your investigation right away; bureaucracy always slows things down. And if I were to be discovered it could jeopardise a decade's worth of work for my people. If my name comes up...if Silverlight's spies discover my involvement and look into my history..."

She trails off, watching smoke rise.
"I'm betting it will take but a single Communer to realise something's terribly wrong if this device does indeed cause some kind of sickness, as predicted. And given their interrogative natures I suspect they'll make it their mission to figure out what's happened."

 

[Ragoza]

Weaver
Oh sweet Eotre, friends and family.
He turns his head slightly to look at the halberd as he gently takes the rat's ruined forelimbs in his hands. These Infernal types have such fascinating biology, it's such a shame about the personalities.
"Madame, not only am I a doctor, I already have a scalpel all of my own. your speartip won't be required."
He doesn't bother waiting for a response, figuring that anyone who decides to attack a Communer channelling knows the risks. Consciousness flows down his hands and into the rat, the material world fading away as he quests along the roots of the Silver Tree.

(Rolling Intellect and Applied Magical Theory, 3 successes)

Weaver falls into the rat's cells, becoming a flash of silver flowing along the shoots and branches of Colby's nervous system. There's no saving the forearms, may not even be able to regrow them. Weaver redirect's the body's attempts to heal itself, shutting off the nerve endings in the soon to be stumps and cauterizing blood vessels. Skin is directed to seal over, bone to knit together. it's not a perfect fix, and there'll be follow-up surgeries, but the rat won't die. The brain chemistry is slowly, gently smoothed out and flooded with melatonin. Better sleep than shock. Where normally Weaver would dance from cell to cell like a squirrel up the trunk of the Silver Tree, today he is slowed by the damage to the rat's cells. He directs his attention to the damage, pouring energy in and racking his mind for a solution.

Weaver's body is silent and still, eyes glazed over, but the superficial effects of his work are already visible. The rat's blood stops flowing, and skin visibly grows over the wounds. Something very similiar to a daffodil sprouts in Weaver's beard.

 

[Custodiet Teh]

Urral

Looking helplessly past the Communer and the worried looking Heresh, Urral sputtered in frustration at the stranger.

"Fix him then!"

This was not stamping out vermin, cleansing the filthy touch of the dark, this was the purposeful slaughter of her crew mates. Family harmed by a fiend unwilling to face them fairly. Urral stomps her foot once, spinning away on her heel while the man worked to save Colby. Running a hand through her hair and tracing the outline of her ruined eye, she vainly thinks on the fact she'd forgotten her patch.

Pulling a strand of her golden locks roughly over the damaged side of her face she turns back, glaring at Heresh. She speaks in rapid fire Urd "What am I to do? Start slaying the filth that brought this pain on us? The Highfather, I, We are insulted by this attack and we cannot allow those who performed it the time to crawl back into their dens. Not wasting time on some magus that I know nothing of. Look at Colby, his damage. He is not strong like Cousin Lenore or myself..." She peaks back over at the flower sprouting in the Communers beard, scoffing again in further frustration.

 

[FuzzMonster]

Heresh

Heresh filters through the torrent of Urd from Urral, easily catching words such as 'filth', 'attack', 'insult', and 'pain', until a name springs out at her, and she frowns at Urral.

"Where is Colby, that you see him and call him out?"


Heresh quickly glances around, but the penny has already dropped.

Colby!

Heresh drops to her knees beside the Communer and the wounded Rat whom she had failed to recognise.

"Oh, Mr. Colby, no! No! Please, Communer, will he live? Colby I'm so sorry, I didn't see that it was you, we're here, we're here, please..."

 

[Excession]

On The Ember Rose

One of Cassandra's deck nodes swivels dramatically, catching the light.
"At once, Captain; allow me to just walk off the ship and- oh, oh no, I'm trapped here. However shall I do this thing for you? If only someone would loosen the restrictions on my access..."

However, a rat in a guard's uniform is approaching the dock, accompanied by a clanking knight.

At The Market

A shimmering field of sorcerous energy flashes into life around the marketplace - it must be a good twelve metres to the nearest edge. Beyond, Puddleglum guards, knights, and a rat in the traditional silly hat of Master Enchanter are establishing a perimeter.

Weaver has stabilized Colby for now.

 

[Ragoza]

Weaver

The cell degradation is going to take some time to mull over. Time is short, but Weaver decides to take a break for a few minutes to think about the problem from a different angle. Slower than usual the branches of his Silver Tree unwind from the rat's, and he fades back into his own body just in time to hear the skinny girl shrieking into his unprepared ear.

"FU- ahem. Your friend is stable for now miss, please keep clear."

Quick inventory: all limbs where they should be, small patch of scales on the left thigh, flower growing in beard. No cilia this time, that's good. People get uncomfortable when you grow cilia. He absentmindedly plucks the flower from his beard as he rises and stretches, taking a moment to take in the scene. About damn time emergency services arrived. The short girl and the big wingy one must be friends of the rat -Colby, he thinks she said - based on how distressed they are. Looks like they only just arrived after the explosion. The greasy rat with the shotgun, meanwhile, looks like he was caught on the edge of it. He's in danger from this wasting sickness too. Right, time to take control of the situation. Put people at their ease.

"Ladies and gentlemen, calm down and put your weapons away please. The bomb was contaminated somehow, anyone caught in the blast is about to become seriously ill. Your friend is safe for now, but his life is still in danger if we can't co-operate."

There we go, everyone will relax now.

 

[FuzzMonster]

Heresh

Colby is alive. Communer has him stable. Good. Infection or poison? Tainted explosives?

It takes approximately five seconds for Heresh to work through the following chain of logic while she pulls her breathing under control:

Puddleglum Tower authority will figure this out. No Spire will let this shit slide.

Where are L'ámnia and the Doctor?

They may be dead. L'ámnia...

This is not Kaidan Spire. Puddleglum is fucked. This may have been an assassination.

The duel is off.

Puddleglum Spire authority cannot be trusted.

Puddleglum Spire authority doesn't exist right now, and won't exist until the succession is over.

The notion of Spire command breaking down is so profoundly contra to every single part of Heresh's worldview that it would shake her, if she were not already pulling herself together from another shock. When she thinks 'No Spire will let this shit slide', the unexamined, underlying emotional truth is 'my mother wouldn't let this happen, and The Kaidan would savagely avenge any violence under their roof.'

We have to get the fuck out of here.

Heresh's gaze at the Communer steadies the fuck up, and the sparrow gives way to the hawk.

"Sir Communer, can my noble crewman be moved? We must establish a different footing before the authorities detain everyone here as a radical. Puddleglum is in trouble, and we just became the lightning rod. In extremis, should you need to fall under a different authority, I authorise you to claim temporary contract with the Ember Rose, merchant vessel, in light of healing services rendered to her crew. I need Colby to live."

Her attention darts to Urral.

"Honoured Ascendant, my devotion on swift wings. The Desolator-Captain needs to know. Violence-strife of [lesser mortal House] has hit crew of Rose. Colby. Namia. Llorn. Spire command cannot trust. I beg of you, [sully/lower yourself] to courier. I will answer for my temerity."

Heresh would be deeply annoyed if anyone told her that she's turning into her mother.

She also takes a quick look at the other Rattus.

"I'd drop the gun before the Spire Guard arrive, and practice looking wounded and shocked. The shit's about to hit the fan, and I can smell a fuckin' purge coming."

As always: Trades/Spire/Urd.

 

[Silvertongued]

Olimak Lenore - The Ember Rose

Lenore rolls the bell in her fingers for a few moments before sighing a response.

"So be it," she says.

"Regarding your request Cassandra," continues the Olimak, looking towards the ruby node. "Denied. You understand why,"

"I will go above board for a runner myself. If you would be content to stay here for the moment Miss Turner," she finishes, stepping out of the cabin and upstairs to the deck.