Session 51 - Il-Lumin-ation

The party has been reunited with their oldest collective friend, and fortunately no one paid the price for it.
Perilune met the party initially outside of the Valles Estate right after they met for the first time, and while she immediately charmed Linnet with her shy and enthusiastic nature, she also immediately came under attack from one of the fallen stars, a bleached mask with fragments of a ruby wedged into the cracks in its forehead.
The night before, Linnet embraced Perilune impulsively, only to hear the words “I’m so sorry, Linnet,” as another star hurtled to Ducorde, resolving into the dragon Midgardsormr. Through their impeccable teamwork -- Perilune included -- Midgardsormr met his end, but not before the Father of Dragons repeatedly called Perilune “Starscourge,” accused her of “butchering the stars,” and even in his dying breath promised that Perilune would never have respite or safety.
As soon as the battle ended, Orrey demanded answers, quickly supported by Bast. Linnet leapt to defend Perilune, pushing anything else for the morning, and imploring Perilune to let her help. A distraught Yves kept to himself, and Isa left the battlefield, saving anything else for the morning.
The night brought rest, but not respite. The morning would bring answers.
We join our heroes on the morning of the 25th day of Kuganepo just outside of the village of Uhja…
**
The blue skies of the previous day have been replaced with the colorless swell of clouds, and a light snow is falling in the Cardian mountains. Uhja sees little activity outside of the town’s walls, so there are no locals to observe the current situation.
Isaline Osler stands in the center of the group, arms folded, sword on her hip. If she is bothered by the bitter cold, the drifting snow, or the tension rising, it does not reach her face.
Yves Mjrwin stands by her left shoulder, wearing all of his trademark black and buckles, wearing none of his trademark anxious energy or affected gloom. His eyes rarely trend higher than the surface of the snow.
By his left shoulder stands Bast, a good night’s sleep and a quality breakfast doing little to improve his disposition from the night before. He ignores the snow settling on the top of his pompom, his eyes never straying from the target.
On Isa’s right shoulder, Orrey Alyon stands, sketchbook cradled in his left arm, pencil held delicately between two fingers on his right hand, fingerless gloves giving him some measure of protection from the weather while not sacrificing his skill. He occasionally looks over at Yves, but his eyes primarily bounce between his sketchbook and his subject.
On Orrey’s other side, Linnet shifts back and forth in place, uncomfortable in her boots, uncomfortable in her coat, uncomfortable in her hat, uncomfortable in her skin. She stands by her friends’ side, but looks as if at any moment she may rush to someone else’s side, her loyalties pulled in all directions.
Twenty feet away, small underneath the tall snow-covered trees, her blue cloak pulled tight around her, crystal-blue hair blowing in the wind, Perilune waits.
Linnet's pre-snow lecture is hopefully still in the back of everyone's minds, her tone as serious and as ice-cold as they've ever heard her. "Now we are going to act like civilized fucking adults out there, and we are going to listen before we attack, and we are going to give Perilune a fighting chance to tell her side of the goddamn story before we start jumping down her throat about what a dragon called her out in the middle of nowhere. Or so help me sandstorms, I will start punching all of you. And for the sake of what little dignity we all have left, nobody wants to see that. Particularly out in front of the entire town. You will behave and you will be civil and you will wrap up warm and so will Perilune because this is a conversation and not a fucking torture session. You people and your damn resistance to reasonable ideas." And now, in defiance of all reasonable ideas, they stand in the snow. There is insufficient cocoa in the world for this.
Yves did not sleep much, between coffee and adrenaline still in his system by the time he went to bed. Maybe he wouldn't have slept much regardless, given what happened immediately beforehand. He no longer has tree ornaments in his ears. Or most of his usual jewelry, for that matter; he looks less glittery today, all black on black, but for a green gem in one ear and a blood-red bead dangling just below it. He looks up from the ground to stare at Perilune, twenty feet away, and asks, "Why did you start?" On the snowfield, his voice carries well enough without raising it.
"Charting the stars?" Perilune asks, quietly, for clarification. Playing it safe, she follows it regardless with, "It is my duty."
Linnet sighs quietly and begins unloading travel containers of cocoa and some of the inn's breakfast pastries, wrapped in cloth napkins, from her backpack. This could be a long day.
"Is that what has stars trying to kill you?" Yves asks, bone-dry. "Charting them? Do they not appreciate being mapped? Because if they take that so personally as to attempt murder on multiple occasions, by all means, let us know now, so that we can assess their rights and yours accordingly."
Perilune winces, bits of snow falling from her shoulders. "I didn't -- that's not--" she stops herself, and after three more deep breaths, she looks at Yves and answers. "I'm charting the stars after the destruction of the Great Crystal. I'm supposed to find them all so they can be saved. I don't know why it called me the Starscourge." Quieter, she goes on, "I didn't do any of that."
Linnet glances up at the sky, then, seeing no star hurtling her way, walks over to Perilune and hands her some cocoa and second-breakfast. Nothing more, just that and a bit of a smile, then she turns toward her crew with the rest.
Yves huffs out a breath, white in the cold air. "You're supposed to find them. So they can be saved. What is the saving? Or more precisely, who is trying to save them? Because I've--" He stops, setting his shoulders back. "Maybe you didn't know. But it's possible to be responsible, even so, for terrible things you were part of, even if you didn't know. What does the 'charting' involve, and do your answers go to anyone else?"
Isa's expression is unreadable, neutral and attentive. The face of a noble sitting in judgment, not a face she's shown before. She turns down the food with a small gesture of her fingers as she listens to Yves and Perilune.
Linnet sets it by her feet anyway.
The occasional squeak of pencil on paper is impossibly loud in Perilune's ears as she tries to avoid Orrey's studious gaze. "I use my telescope to find the stars in the sky," she stammers, "and I watch for signs that one will fall. Once I see that, I check the cards to find where it will fall, and I go there to try to... try to see what it needs, that's what I was told. Help it." She wrings her hands together, rubbing life into them through the thin gloves. "That's all. I-I mean, that's not all, I'm not trying to be reductive, it's supposed to help... but it's not helping. I don't know why they're so mad." The second half of the last sentence catches up to her brain. "The answers don't go to anyone else yet. I'm alone."
Yves gives a quick shake of his head, ears swinging. "It's not only that. It can't be. But... perhaps that's all you know. It can be not only that, and still only that, looking from different distances. We need to ask the stars, and that's... that's not anything easy." He takes a sip of the offered cocoa at last. "You seem sincere. So did that dragon. Suggests a third party we're not aware of, or aren't aware is... doing something. It feels like... politics, all over again, but much bigger than any kind I even know how to map in my head."
(Linnet finishes distributing snacks, either into people's hands or by their feet, and has returned to her anxious spot sort-of-between the arguing parties.)
"You say you were told to see what it needs," Isa finally interjects. "Told by whom?"
"Master Roche," Perilune says. "My teacher, as an Astrologian."
"Have you spoken with them since?"
"No, I haven't."
"Was that intentional, or has he just been hard to reach?" Linnet asks quietly.
Isa nods, in a "no more questions at this time" way.
Perilune hesitates, just a moment, eyes scanning the sky as she thinks. "I don't really have a way of reaching him right now," she says.
Linnet takes out her blue crystal and holds it up with a questioning expression.
Perilune's eyes widen upon seeing the crystal. "He's out of reach," she adds, her hands tightening in front of her.
Linnet nods and puts the crystal away.
Bast takes slow sips of his coffee, mug wrapped in both hands for warmth, not taking his eyes off Perilune. His eventual contribution is a mildly spoken "What were you apologizing for, yesterday?"
Yves looks over at Orrey, then back at Perilune, and frowns slightly.
Perilune softens a little at Bast's question. "I thought I was about to get you all killed," she says, her eyebrows angling up in the middle. "I thought because of me, you were all about to die."
"We're stubborn that way." One corner of his mouth twitches up briefly. "So how many times have they attacked you, so far? I'm not sure if that time at the station counts."
Linnet raises a hand. "And am I allowed to point out that instead of getting us killed, you saved our butts? Multiple times? Each?"
"I told you about the two I'd seen, right? The fire, the temple? Both of those," Perilune answers Bast. "Both of those attacked me."
"...and this wasn't a hint that perhaps the falling stars didn't want your help?" Yves asks, though it doesn't sound like he's expecting an answer. He shoves hands into coat pockets, and stares up at the sky.
Perilune shuts her eyes for a moment, and then just stays silent, looking off to the side, blinking a few times.
"I can't say the ones we've come across have been all that keen on talking to us either, Yves. Maybe they just come down in the mood for a fight. Though that does seem like rather a long way to go in the face of that kind of reception. For...no apparent results so far, it sounds like?" Bast tilts his head inquiringly at Perilune, some of the powdery snow sliding off his pom.
"The trees were perfectly reasonable in talking with me," Yves says staunchly, which is not exactly a contradiction to what Bast says. And does depend on certain values of 'perfectly reasonable'.
"It worked both of those times in the end," Perilune says hollowly. "I did what I had to do."
Bast unwraps one hand from his mug and opens it in her direction, inviting her to go on.
Perilune does, the silence agonizing. "In Marilith's case, I didn't know they were trying to kill me. That was the first one. I let it burn itself out before taking the mask. Kujata, the second, was when I learned for certain they were trying to kill me. It had killed two people already after landing. It chased me instead. I trapped it in a cave and overcame it. I have its mask, too."
"What do you do with the masks?" Linnet's trying not to glare at Isa, who she definitely overheard muttering something about the engine.
"I keep them until I can take them back," she answers evasively.
"...to...." Yves says, and drains his cocoa.
"To Master Roche," Perilune says. Her cocoa has long gone cold.
"Who you have not seen since you were set to this task," Isa prompts.
"I know," comes the defensive reply.
"So you still have the masks."
"I do."
"Peri, part of our concern here is that you're not the only one we've met who's interested in these masks, and the other, uh, organization had an awful lot more firepower behind them. When you said Master Roche was "out of reach"...are we talking 'lost in time and space,' or 'dead,' or 'held captive by maniacs trying to destroy the stars'?" Linnet asks.
Orrey looks up from his drawing, “Have the masks ever woken up, become alive again?”
"...or maybe let's think about that one first. Much less intimidating," Linnet says.
"They haven't," Perilune says, scooting back just enough to crunch the snow at Orrey's sudden voice. "Master Roche is fine, too. He's just not reachable while I'm here."
"...do you know what he wants to do with the masks?" Linnet asks.
"We read the stars," Perilune says. "I can't read them as clearly as he does. The stars falling to Ducorde are an ill omen, and I don't know why they are falling. He hopes that by finding the stars after they have fallen, we can prevent any more from joining them."
“Are you sure that’s for the best? Seems like they’re angry at being put out there,” Orrey says.
"Or at being pulled down," Yves says, not quite under his breath.
"What would you have me do, then?" Perilune suddenly explodes, as if remembering she's cold and wet and exhausted and scared. "Let people die? Let a giant bull-god gore an innocent priest to death and then turn and attack the woman he was trying to heal? Just let the stars fall and wipe out anyone around them who can't handle this?! I can't handle this but I still have to try, don't I?! Do I just walk away?!"
"...Peri, please, this is important. Master Roche hasn't mentioned any plan to put them back, has he?" Linnet asks.
"No. No, he hasn't." Both of Perilune's hands are in her thick hair, pulling at it, untangling it, wiping the snow from it. "He hasn't. I'm sorry."
Linnet crunches through the snow to Perilune and takes her friend by her cold, damp hands, squeezing the life back into them. "Thank goodness. Guys, she's not with the Dawn. Whatever that means to you."
Perilune looks lost.
"We've met some other people with some really scary designs on these stars, and I think some of us might have jumped to conclusions. I just un-jumped them. I still don't know why they're trying to kill you, but it's not because you're trying to use them to rebuild the universe in the perfect ordered image of the future that you've created in your own weird megalomaniacal head." Still chafing Perilune's hands, Linnet turns to the rest of the party. "Now that that's established, could we please have the rest of this conversation somewhere slightly more civilized? Either in the inn or on the damn ship?"
The look Isa gives Linnet seems perfectly flat to outsiders, but those well-versed in her subtleties might think that she feels Linnet has...missed the mark in her understanding of Isa's objections. She then looks over at Bast. "Should I send up the signal, Captain?"
Linnet's response look is perfectly clear: she is cold, angry, and perfectly ready to dissect those objections somewhere that is not the middle of a frozen wilderness. 
Linnet is a child of academia: debates are things that happen at reasonable volumes over coffee.
"Not yet, I think. We did promise the Jidoors we'd look in on them before we leave, and I think this isn't the sort of conversation to have at their place," Bast replies.
"We need something like a white flag that stars will recognize, to try to have these conversations before they try to eat a few ships," Yves says, mostly to himself. He probably means a different kind of 'these conversations' than Bast does.
Isa merely nods.
Back in the village...
The first thing you notice at the Jidoor household is that a lot of the books are not on the shelves. Some of them are, but many of them are not.
The second thing you notice at the Jidoor household is that all three of them -- Ryna, Barea, and Natron Rensa -- are wearing rather identical expressions. Cautious hope, an expression that Orrey and Linnet noticed that Ryna was afraid to let show when they saw her to the train two months before.
(Yves was there, but Yves mostly saw equations and concepts, dancing in his brain.)
"It is okay if the answer is no," Natron starts.
"Not likely to be, after all you've done for us, but please, continue." Linnet can't help but grin. "Oops, sorry, cap'n."
"But you have done so much for us here," Barea says, "that we want to ask if there is anything we can help you with on your journeys."
"You came here on a ship, everyone knows that," Ryna adds. "If you are looking for crew, for extra help on the ship, anything, we all offer our best. You gave us hope when we had all but given up. If you have a cause, we will lend our strength to it."
"I have a lot of books," Natron says, clearly doubting that the library itself is of much help or appeal, but saying it regardless.
Isa has let most of her imperiousness slip back into dry sarcasm, and asks "I don't suppose any of you have artillery experience."
Ryna and Barea both look at Natron. 
"...I won't say a considerable amount of experience, but there is a bit," the earth sylph allows.
Isa raises an eyebrow. "Do you think you could teach actors how to aim a cannon?"
"Or, failing that, non-actors," Yves adds.
(Linnet barely suppresses a snort of laughter.)
"If it's just a matter of making sure they hit their marks, then you need only define the marks," Natron says firmly.
Isa gives Bast a look that he could read as "Good enough?"
"And our library on the ship is sadly lacking," Yves says softly.
"That'd be a start. The ship's seen battle already, and will again. That a problem for any of you?"
Three head shakes answer that, their resolve clear.
"Then yes, you're welcome on board. Anything you need help with here? Medical equipment?" Bast asks.
"We wouldn't turn down help loading it," Barea admits. "Most of it travels well, but there are many boxes."
"I'll need a list of food allergies and also to know if any of you have a problem with kittens," Linnet notes to Ryna, "but that's not urgent. There's plenty of room and lots of willing hands to shift boxes."
Bast glances at Perilune. "Want to give us a hand with loading, or do you have other plans?"
"...I would have been too shy to ask, but I'm so glad you did. Friends, I hope you like good food, boisterous company, and the occasional very odd adventure." Hugs for everyone!
Linnet and Perilune work to fix Uhja's tree as the Starfall follows Isa's signal to the agreed-upon boarding location. A team of actors and stagehands are dispatched to move boxes and suitcases and one specially-ordered bed, and Yves retires to his cabin aboard the ship for the duration of the loading. Isa and Bast, ever the watchpeople, ensure the safety of all involved, Orrey switching between moving boxes and sketching out points of interest in case there is a need to return.
Mid-afternoon, the final call on the ship comes from Jasper. "Four for boarding!" he calls out, as the loader begins to bring Isa, Bast, Linnet, and Perilune aboard. Orrey has returned to the cargo hold for this, as has Yves, Orrey doing his best to keep reassuring his friend without being cloying or overwhelming. Most of the other primary crew members are also in place, the Hive flitting around Barea as he offers wardrobe tips and costume ideas.
On the lift, Perilune stands by her one travel bag, her hand tightly around the strap holding her telescope case to her back. "Thank you again," she says quietly.
Yves has managed to avoid any hauling duties by the expedient of having an open notebook and pen in his hands, for, presumably, important note-taking reasons.
"Thank you. For trusting us." Linnet's hand rests on Perilune's shoulder; the other hand clings tightly to the railing of the loader. Stupid gravity, still being a thing that requires attention. "They're kind of a lot, but it's a very friendly lot. And Triscuit's around here somewhere. Watch your ankles."
The lift rises the rest of the way into the ship, one last blast of frigid air before temperate internal climate wins out. Rahel dashes over and greets Linnet with the customary hug, Jasper bellows out that the captain has returned to the ship, Apoc makes a show of clearing out his ear, and Shula rolls her eyes, but with something approaching a smile on her face.
"Oh, there's a new recruit! Welcome!" Rahel says, immediately putting her arm around a bewildered Perilune. "Where do you want to stay on board? Linnet is near the bow of the ship, but most of us are down near the lower decks, closest to the restaurant -- I mean, it's not a restaurant yet, more of a cafeteria, but some of us have big plans, let me introduce you, this is Jasper the quartermaster, this is Shula she handles the exterior, this is--"
There is a tremendous flurry of movement.
Three heartbeats later, three heartbeats during which Isa and Bast are instinctively at full alert and attention, Perilune is back against the railing of the platform, copper globe out, cards spinning rapidly around it, her hair flaring out behind her as an energy crackles about her person.
Apocynthion Lunakrei Tolvani, the Third, is in front of Rahel and Shula, a rapier no one saw him bring into the cargo hold in his hand and raised in a defensive position, keeping himself between Perilune and Rahel.
Perilune and Apocynthion mirror each other's panicked expressions and barely contained fury. Their voices mirror as well: "What are you doing here?!"
Yves... makes a note.
"Weapons down, both of you." Bast's expression makes his meaning quite clear.
Apoc is the first to move, switching grip on his sword and lowering it, removing himself as an offensive threat. His legs remain tensed.
Two beats later, Perilune closes her globe.
"...actors." Bast shakes his head. "Someone want to explain this with something without three acts and an intermission?"
"Simple, Captain," Apoc says, projecting confidently. "The Starscourge herself has boarded your ship, no doubt looking to snuff out a few more lives to blot out the light."
Perilune bristles. "I was unaware you traveled in the company of cowards and traitors," she practically spits.
"He sort of invited himself. Your twin, bombastic big brother, or obnoxious little twerp?" Linnet asks.
"Was that aimed at me, or merely about me, Perilune? Assign your fury, lest you bring down another celestial to satiate your own errant bloodlust," Apoc mocks.
"There a story to that name, Apoc? Perilune wouldn't tell us," Bast calls out.
"There is," Apoc says, ignoring the daggers Perilune is shooting at him with her eyes. "She does a murderer's work for him, because he doesn't believe he should have to dirty his hands. So you seek out the stars that fell to Ducorde, deigning to walk amongst these foolish mortals just to make sure that they can take their rightful place back in the cycle? Or is it just about the stars themselves, the people here have nothing to do with it?"
Yves is taking /many/ notes.
Apoc starts to gesture dramatically, before remembering he's holding the rapier, and Isa has never had a long fuse with him. He keeps his left arm at his side. "Every soul that is trapped in the sky above us has a vested interest in revenge, Roche, and you know damned well why. Don't you dare wrap these people up in your bloodlust."
Yves' pen stops for a moment, then moves even faster.
"Perilune?" Bast shifts his attention back to her. "Where does the 'coward and traitor' here fit into your travels?"
"Have I mentioned today how much I hate circumlocution?" Isa asks nobody in particular.
"Why the hell are you traveling with actors, then?" Linnet responds to nobody in particular, mostly under her breath.
"I see someone who gave up his right to a name he no longer deserves and a duty he forsook when he decided that politics and prose better suited his fickle nature," Perilune growls, hands in fists at her sides. "Someone who I thought cared about the Guardian Forces strewn across the sky!"
"I was sent down here to find you and help you," Apoc retorts, "and believe me, I wish I could just do that and pretend that everything is just like your precious father told you."
"And yes, while I admit to some enjoyment of the stage, I will sum this up for those of us who prefer to read our news delivered in twelve-point font underneath a catchy headline." Apoc counts off on his fingers. "One, you are a murderer, and the best I can offer is maybe you weren't smart enough to not be one. Two, your father is a murderer, and he is smart enough to be one on purpose. Three, you are down here to finish what he started, and by what he started I mean what we started, and by we I mean more than just you, Perilune Roche, and me, Apocynthion Lunakrei. All of us. The Lumin."
Yves' pen goes through a sheet of paper.
"The Guardian Forces are spread across the night sky because we put them in the Great Crystal, and then it broke, and they died. And I want to know why, and apparently that made me the bad guy," Apoc snaps.
Linnet sighs. "Okay, so, there's a bit to work out here. Can we manage to do it over a bit more time without you two murdering each other in your cabins?"
"A bit to work out." Apoc pinches the bridge of his nose.
"I mean, we're already accessories to murder here and there," Yves mutters, "what's one more?"
Linnet has stepped directly between Apoc and Perilune and is glaring between them with her arms crossed. "There's clearly some history between you two that's going to take more than one shouted argument in the middle of the bloody ship to resolve, and in the meantime I'm pretty sure the rest of the crew has things they can be doing besides standing here. If we can have both of you on board without you trying to reduce that number to one at any point, we can work through this at the appropriate time and place and try to figure out how the Starfall can best contribute to whatever the hell needs to be done with the Guardian Forces."
Apoc looks pointedly away from Linnet, his emotions plain, and salutes Bast. "Captain. As a member of your crew I will continue to do my job as you have assigned and fill my role as you require. We are here on business and on business we will remain. You have my word that I will do as you require until this journey to Cardia has finished, after which point I would request an audience to determine whether or not my presence here will do more harm than good. But until then, I am yours to command." He spares a baleful glance over at Perilune. "I recommend you get her word in writing. She follows the letters perfectly."
"Apocynthion Lunakrei Tolvani, thou sodden-witted lord, thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows. Perilune, whenever you decide to retire for the evening, I'll show you to a cabin," Linnet says.
"Can't say I've seen harm from you so far, Apoc; you've done good work for this ship and crew. We can talk about this later." Bast then turns. "Perilune? We'll be setting sail soon. If you're staying, I expect not deal with weapons being pulled on my crew again."
"It won't happen again," Perilune says icily, watching Apoc walk away.
"Alright. Questions later, cabins now. Linnet and Rahel, could you get everyone settled in?" Bast says.
Rahel salutes involuntarily.
Linnet takes a deep breath and settles a slightly twitchy mask of composure. "Of course, Captain. Wouldn't want to present our first impression as anything less than a completely reasonable ship, after all."