Session 149 - All the Rowboats

Previously, Across the Horizon...
There is so much about this situation that vexes Bast.
Much of it he just unloaded on the Board of the Nanab Foundation. Another dramatic speech in a growing line of them, a bit of stagecraft he'll hear about for weeks after. As the alternative would have involved unloading a crossbow, he will suffer the indignity of a curtain call.
But the situation goes deeper than that. This isn't about standard justice or morality; the captain of the Starfall follows his own code of justice and views morality as a philosophical debate. This isn't about an insult to his station or an affront to his place of power.
No, this is far worse than that. This is far worse than any of that.
This is about defending a fr--
This is about protecting a--
A valued member of the crew.
And there will be hell to pay if anyone draws a different conclusion.
We join our brave adventurers as Bast invites even one more poorly-chosen word out of the Board...
**
Apparently not done with reaming the Board out, Bast walks forward slowly, hands in his pockets and the eyes of the room on him. "Since my elders appear to be confused about the reason for their presence here, listen and listen well.  I am not here to beg favors from you. This chance to explain and redeem yourselves is a mercy that you have done nothing to earn, and nothing I've seen so far shows me that you understand its value." He comes to a stop in front of Lake, who clearly answers for the rest of the Board here. "You owe me and my crew a deep debt measured in our blood spilled in place of yours, lives not lost on your watch, buildings and reputation not burned to the ground by enemies you ran from. And now that a strike seeking to kill one of us comes from you, and we hold back the full extent of our wrath to deliver the perpetrator into your soft, idle hands, you think you can sneer and dismiss us? Until I walk through those doors behind me, you have a chance to persuade me that Temenos acted alone, and that the Foundation regrets its failures and is ready to make amends. Until that point, you have a choice in what the headlines this evening and in the weeks to come will say about the Foundation. But your chances and your choices are quickly running out with my patience, so before you again spit in the hand extended to you, ask yourselves" - he looks slowly from one end of the arranged Board to the other - "why am I giving you this hearing at all?"
(Linnet is holding her applause, but taking notes to share with the crew later. This is masterful.)
Of all those present on the Board, only Lake is unshaken. He merely inclines his head. "As you said, you wish to know if Temenos acted alone or if one or more of us aided him. What's more, you wish to use this situation to your advantage, because one does not come to captain a ship as masterful or mysterious as your Starfall without an intuition that has kept you alive where other lesser ones have died. But your demeanor and diatribe clearly communicate that this is not simply a matter of solving a crime or finding the guilty party. This is a personal affront that the Foundation has visited upon your person, and you will find satisfaction ere the night is out." He smiles mirthlessly. "I am sure there is more to it than merely that, but I would know if I have misjudged you in any of the aforementioned."
Bast vents a slow sigh. "Professor, if this was merely personal, I would not be wasting my time with you. Someone attacks my crew? They get taught a lesson they don't forget or recover from in a hurry. As you've seen before. But for some reason Celeste still sees some value in what you do and wants to be a part of it, so unfortunately bringing it all down and salting the earth couldn't be my first course of action. Her regard for your Foundation is the reason we're talking here."
"Then I would see that we do not continue to disappoint her," Lake says, calm and even. "What further evidence have you to share?"
(Out in the hallway, Yves has finally bid a fond farewell to the many helpful people who were participating in that last conversation, with the explanation that he simply can't go redesign the water feature right now, he has to hold this sack and listen for some knocking, but he will surely implement many of their suggestions on his next few iterations, and write back with results!)
"Oh, I think we've given you enough to get on with. The question is what you intend to do about it."
"We intend to investigate. At the very least, we will suspend presentations until we can discern the guilt of Temenos and any potential co-conspirators."
At Lake's comment, Lynn's face falls.
Orrey sighs impatiently. "And punish those who have nothing to do with the crimes."
Bast laughs outright. "And I'm sure you'll get on that as soon as you finish investigating what happened last quarter. No, Professor. Nowhere near good enough."
"If I didn't know better, I'd swear he was enjoying this," murmurs Linnet under her breath to Orrey.
"What have you given me, Captain?" Lake asks. His jaw is tight but his voice remains neutral. "A letter and a handwriting sample, the likes of which are quite damning. A powder that served as a terrible and ingenious means of assault. That is the evidence you have given me. Evidence that we mean to investigate. Is the proper course of action to haul Temenos in front of you so you can berate him as you have us? Or to simply shoot the man and consign his body to the sea? We will investigate, Captain. I will find if he did it, if he was framed, if he was misled, or if he is fully innocent. If you would see a different outcome, make your case."
"A different outcome? Very well. First, this Board has clearly shown that its judgment is suspect given its breezy acceptance of Temenos' claims - I find it interesting that you omitted his lies to you under his student's name. And in any case, leaving it to you to investigate a matter that touches so closely on the reputation of your Foundation would be...unwise." Bast gives Lake a toothy smile. "Here's what would convince me that you are actually sincere: You fully cooperate in the arrest and prosecution of Osvald Temenos by the local authorities - no records closed or mislaid, no red tape slowing things down. The Board issues a public apology to Celeste Meracydia for these and previous events and clears her reputation. And Celeste ends this week as a full member of the Foundation, as she should have been months ago - while Temenos does not. That should address your concern about allowing the presentations to proceed, no?" Quietly, Linnet puts an arm around Lynn's shoulders.
"You didn't have a new member join at the previous selection. That's an open slot for someone to take. And you have an upcoming opening as well, for which Lynn has prepared her presentation. Celeste was robbed of her opportunity by one of yours, and should be given her chance to join you. And Lynn should have her opportunity as well, regardless of the nefarious actions of her sponsor." Orrey adds.
Quietly, Linnet puts an arm around Lynn's shoulders.
"You didn't have a new member join at the previous selection. That's an open slot for someone to take. And you have an upcoming opening as well, for which Lynn has prepared her presentation. Celeste was robbed of her opportunity by one of yours, and should be given her chance to join you. And Lynn should have her opportunity as well, regardless of the nefarious actions of her sponsor." Orrey adds. "When something goes wrong on your expeditions, do you cancel them and turn around? Or do you solve the problem and move forwards?"
"There are rules," Lake says to Orrey, "and there are times to adjust those rules. At this time the Board has not seen a reason to suspend the rules, with the information we have been given."
"You have to understand, Captain," Durrie begins, "there are protocols to be followed. In the event a member of the Foundation is accused of malfeasance there is a period of time in which they can protest their innocence, during which anyone who is working beneath them is placed on leave until such a time as..." It goes on like this, to Grevendonck's visible frustration and a single twitch of Lake's own eyebrow.
"We realize that admitting two candidates at once goes against eons of tradition, but sometimes, tradition needs a little dusting off and reexamining. Like a dusty old book that's been serving as shelf decoration only, but when you pull it down, it's hiding century-old love letters. Or a poisonous spider nest. Both are equally valid reasons to dust. And if your hallowed halls are so narrow that you believe fewer sources of new ideas should be admitted, rather than more, it is perhaps time to step outside and breathe the air of the busy world. Go for a harrowing adventure again and laugh in the face of death once more. Team up on your favorite unsolvable mysteries. Remember what you joined the Foundation for." Linnet's not entirely sure who she's talking to - it might be herself - but she's delivering this speech to a tapestry on the wall, while hugging Lynn. "What is the Foundation about, esteemed gentlefolk? Art thou keepers of knowledge, seekers thereof, crusaders, custodians, risk-takers, dream-makers, pillar-shakers? What in your hearts inspired you to be here? And can you find that same inspiration in the new generations? And if Temenos does not wish to come forward and protest his innocence, how long will your prospective members be kept waiting on tenterhooks? How long does the foundation wish to suspend the careers and the lives of two promising young academics to search for a malefactor who is actively targeting one of them? What exactly are we waiting for, I ask?" Linnet's starting to lose faith in her own argument, and Lynn is making slight squeaking noises of a need for air.
"Doctor? That is a load of chocobo shit and you know it." Bast's lip curls up in disgust. "Temenos lied to you, formally and in writing and impersonating another Foundation member. He's going to be in deep trouble with the law very soon, with your assistance or without. Do you want to find out just how much liability he brought upon the Foundation by using his access as a member and supplies from your collection in his crime? Keep trying to weasel out of your responsibilities and I can arrange all of that and much more. How you meet my requirements is your concern. As the last quarter shows, you're no strangers to bending your rules and traditions when it suits you. If it doesn't suit you yet, then you can read about what else we've dug up in your archives in the evening papers like everyone else, under the headlines about your precious Foundation sheltering a would-be murderer."
Not waiting for a response, he snaps his fingers in a pre-arranged signal to Luca.
Quietly, Linnet takes a seat beside Lynn, releases her grip ("oops, sorry"), and sighs. Clearly, appealing to souls isn't going to work here.
Luca reaches back and knocks once. Knocks twice. Gets clear of the door.
Yves bursts in dramatically, bearing a sack. "Ah. Yes! The board! Hello. So, it's about the by-laws, which--" He waits, and frowns. "No, that would be four knocks. The other thing. Right." He clears his throat, and starts fumbling into the sack. What he wants is apparently under a large stack of bureaucracy, but he'll have it out in just a moment.
Yves bursts in dramatically, bearing a sack. "Ah. Yes! The board! Hello. So, it's about the by-laws, which--" He waits, and frowns. "No, that would be four knocks. The other thing. Right." He clears his throat, and starts fumbling into the sack. What he wants is apparently under a large stack of bureaucracy, but he'll have it out in just a moment.
Lake watches, amused. The others watch, bemused.
Yves takes out a mask quite familiar to the people who know him: the Speaker's mask, which he puts on his face with the skilled ease of having done this many times before. What he removes from the sack next is much less familiar to most people in the room: the top half a horse skull, for all the world something dug out of the archaeosteology archives, but for the jagged golden horns that jut out from it. "I would like to introduce you all to Kirin, the Steed of Wisdom, who I found in your archives. They would like to speak with you about certain recent events." He settles the horse skull atop his face-and-mask. Yves' lop ears dangle absurdly down on each side of his head, and his eyes peering through two sets of mask holes ought to look absurd. They do, really. For a moment. Until a haze settles over them, and shadow begins to seep out of the horse skull's eye sockets.
The Board do not look comfortable with this view, Durrie and Ehreth least of all.
Bast doesn't stop glaring at the Board for even a moment as this goes on, but for once no one notices.
Shadow seeps out of the sockets. Streams out. Pours out, gathering in eddies and gouts and pools that form a shape behind the viera. There is no substance to it, no solidity, only an image seen as a reflection in dirty glass. The skull is vaster now, larger than anyone in the room could place over their head without being hidden by it, and hangs nose-downward to look at the board from above. Golden horns, transparent and fading into ragged invisibility at irregular holes, drag against the ceiling. And all around--behind Yves, across his companions, like an intangible waterfall--the shadow gathers itself up into a lumpy, irregular form with a suggestion of... limbs. The forelegs of a stag, perhaps. The grasping branches of trees.
I am Kirin, the Steed of Wisdom, the Herald of the Archer, the Master of the Open Plains. These are my words, this is my truth.
The viera's mouth opens slightly, but his lips do not move. The words are quite audible to everyone in the room. They scrape at the hearing. Hooves dragging at ice.
Durrie scrambles back out of her chair. Ehreth cowers behind his. Faden has his notebook out, furiously scribbling. Grevendonck tries to measure Kirin's size from afar. Kasurinen gapes in awe. Randle stares uncomprehendingly.
(Lynn is scribbling furious notes, Linnet hanging by for emotional support and/or catching Yves if he overbalances.)
Lake slowly stands. "Hail, Kirin, Steed of Wisdom, Master of the Open Plains. I would hear your words and your truth."
The skull--not the one that Yves wears, barely visible through shadows, but the one that looks down at the board--turns slowly back and forth, seeking something. A light flickers like distant lightning inside its eyes. I granted a gift to a traveler who came to my domain, says the skull. I was promised a guest's welcome, should we return to his in turn. A tendril of shadow curls its way out of one socket, and darts about, never touching any of the board members, until it curls up in beckoning fingers in front of one specific chair. Do you remember your promises, Professor? A shadow-finger turns from beckoning to pointing. I remember your promises. When you forgot, Professor Martti Ehreth, I remembered. Every time you entered the room where you left me, I remembered. When you drew out other treasures, with as little thought for anyone else as you had for me, I remembered. When you spoke with your companion amidst the dust of what you believed everyone had forgotten, I remembered and I saw. (The shadows lying across other members of the crew are not unpleasant to the touch, nor substantial, but they are rather... present. It's like standing about in a fogbank with opinions.)
"Did this companion have a name?" Lake asks. "If they did not say, would you be able to identify them on sight?"
The skull tilts toward Lake, who perhaps sees this kind of thing every day. Or at least often enough to know how to speak to one politely. Ossss, Kirin says, those lightning flickers inside their shadowed mouth. One of the flat-faced kind. Not as you are, but as this one is. A thicker loop of shadow oozes across Orrey by way of indication. Old friends, it seemed to me, in forgetting promises and remembering grudges. I remember grudges too. Without sky, without plains, without anything but dust. Lake snaps his fingers, and the stuffed bird on the back of his chair flaps its wings. "Send the guard to Temenos," he instructs it. "Bring him here." He nods to Luca. "I would appreciate your assistance in case anyone attempts to leave this room, which is forbidden until I say otherwise." He raps his cane on the floor. "Kirin, Steed of Wisdom, Master of the Open Plains. If I might impose upon you for another few moments. After that, it is my hope that you will never again be constrained by walls such as you have seen. If you have any further surprises in store, Captain, save them." Lake grips his cane in both hands. "Save them until Temenos is here to see them himself."