2024-10-11 Sidereals & peace talks
General Summary
Scene: in a plaza by where Shinings Sails is anchored.
Fortifier of Hearts & Bones, Stelsor Bladed Tornado, Dreamflower and Flying Eiderdown aka Selene, chosen of Jupiter are on the docks talking to the two Sidereals and their mobs. The two Abyssals are on the seafloor beneath the ship.
Bears-Fangs-at-the-Sun, perched nearby, detects a lie of omission from the Sidereals.
Bears-Fangs shapeshifts into a buzzard and begins circling the plaza.
Stelsor offers to the Moradiant Glory, chosen of Endings to facilitate killing Creon Flecktar Blood-spatter, but only after the peace talks are done.
This is amenable to them.
Stelsor also invites them to sit in on the peace talks as well. The are willing to do this.
Fortifier makes a point to warn them that there are also two Raksha attending the talks.
Alton Sabraël, chosen of Battles seems a uneasy about this, but they have both given their word.
Scene: back aboard Shining Sails
Stelsor proposes that today be a half-day session focusing on hammering out the territory disputes.
Stelsor gives Marpola a small gong to keep order
Marpola Brancino puts the Tang-Zen Crime Syndicate insignia on it.
Factor Norma Jean-Jean is against using the neutral territory for a dueling ground, but still supports the
Stelsor puts forward that the Circle’s protectorates are 12 Carnelian Peaches and Prognositicator Guildmistress Wandry’s house as well.
Bears-Fangs Sunsilk Textiles is also included under our auspices.
The Guild and Tang Zen certainly understand us declaring our territories. They are hesitant to openly state which interests they’re involved in, but respect and appreciate our declarations.
We also extend our protection to Haussmann Firewand, Autochton Lives members.
Bears-Fangs relays that something doesn’t smell right, literally, about the two Sidereals.
Alton Sabraël, chosen of Battles is posing as a painter who was invited to depict these historic talks.
This seems to be the cover he’s using, but he also seems to have some skill with a brush.
A loud splash is heard in the bay and we spot Sees-your-soul. He lands gracefully on the deck of the ship.
He explains he must return to his flock in Great Forks. He has been elected to become assistant minister of Fate. The ministry is chosen by lot.
The Tang Zen lay out their claims
Little of Firewander
Maybe 5% of Nighthammer on the border with Nexus district.
Lot of Sentinel hill
Leaving Confederacy of Rivers District to us
Claiming the horse pastures south of the temple in Cinnabar district
Just south of our theater.
Claim about 4-5 buildings in Nexus district.
A tavern
2 buildings that are probably brothels
A counting-house
A building that used to be the Coin’s headquarters but the TZ is now claiming in the Coin’s absence.
The Guild ask to postpone stating their claims after they hear from some others.
The Coin states they are renouncing their holdings, but ask that Coin agents be unbothered if they do enter Nexus.
Fortifier asks that if Coin members enter the city, they remain manifested instead of acting invisibly.
The The timeless order of manacle and coin agrees to this.
Meeting adjourned for midday.
Before we leave, Stelsor speaks with Combative Mattresses about beginning work on repairing Little Cloud.
Finding space to begin the repairs is tricky because it is a very precious item.
We are starting out figuring out what is broken.
Scurrilous Minx is also coming along to help and Trances of Vitriol and Warpstone is already working on it.
Artifact Repair venture
Obstacle 1: diagnostic
Obstacle 2: figuring out where we can build this.
Scene: Bears-Fangs goes to Pretty Little Underthings
Bears-Fangs had received a letter earlier.
Flora Gesatti and Nora. serve him tea and teacakes
Shadowtea from Champoor, specifically.
Nora leaves Bears-Fangs alone with Flora and the tea.
Bears-Fangs reveals his shape changing to Flora, who is very impressed
Nora returns with a kitten she found and Bears-Fangs feeds it some jerky he carries.
Bears-Fangs is on his way back.
We receive Factor Byorn and his 2 Raksha associates.
We phrase the Raksha’s invitation specifically that they can observe for today.
We take Byorn to the basement where Fortifier, Minx, Selene and Dreamflower set about using sorcery and sagacity to examine him.
Since the core of the problem seems to be the memories of the The Maw of the Void.
We guess that Selene probably knows the Sorcery spell Theft of Memory (Ex.Es. p. 303), which of course she does as a Chosen of Secrets. She’s a little surprised we knew about the spell.
Selene sits across from Byorn with a crystal ball and draws the memories into the crystal. We’re able to see it play out.
Byorn is wandering in search of his Bonbon and Miribadi leads him into the Underworld and to the entrance of the Labyrinth.
Byorn walks the Labyrinth for 10 days and 10 nights calling for Bonbon until he reaches the center.
A malevolent black hole a hundred feet across, constantly vibrating with whispers. Just watching the memory second-hand is painful.
Dark Bonbon of Perdition, champion of Shines-in-Numbers and Shines with the Glory of an Unheralded Gleam were possibly more bothered by this sound than the others.
Selene stores the crystal in our laboratory on the ground floor. Same drawer as the Peach.
We wake Byorn and tell him we roused him from a deep daze.
Shines suggests they go back to a Guild location where they would be safe from their enemies.
We’re taken to a back room at the magic shop.
Little Cloud is still in its miniature form.
Bears-Fangs is able to recognize that this is an extremely old Artifact
Stelsor recalls some memories of having flown Little Cloud in a previous incarnation.
Something killed 6 thunderhawks.
Selene never saw exactly what happened to Arian.
Fortifier discerns that the powersource for the ship, on the bottom of the miniature ship, at the lowest point of the keel is a hole like the socket for presumably a hearthstone.
The Magical Materials of the ship had been damaged.
The hearthstone fixture of the boat is itself geomantically located on the ship.
Blue jade fills the sails.
Green jade veins go throughout.
Black jade is on the hull.
White jade forms the central mast which goes down through the decks of the ship.
Orichalcum figurehead.
The hearthstone mentioned would fit the soul-ring of shadows which Stelsor has.
The big question is where we can hide a 5-masted ship, laden with expensive materials, while we work on repairing it.
Fortifier estimates that, with his Efficient Planning Matrix and Dreamflower’s rapid woodworking skills, we could likely complete the repairs within a month.
There is a great commotion at the mansion.
Everyone of our normal door guards are currently accompanied by a person from the Tang Zen.
No one’s stopping us from entering and the Tang Zen workers are cordial but not obedient.
They tell us Mr. Mattresses wanted a word.
Combative Mattresses wants to know if he’ll be able to borrow Little Cloud once it is repaired. This seems fine with us. We give him the estimate for how long the repairs will take.
He might be able to extend us some credit if we need additional materials.
Selene mentions the names of the Chosen of Endings: Radiant Glory and the painter will probably go by Titian.
Combative Mattresses shares that the Guild has put out a reward for capturing Bears-Fangs.
Oddly, there is no price on the head of any of the rest of us.
They also have rewards out for Steele Cast and Nyeah, so they should probably stay behind for the talks tomorrow.
CM explains that Sees-your-soul will be one of the 20 most powerful people in Great Forks. It is good that they have someone as exacting and unflappable.
Next time: Selene will want to have a word regarding the lies of the Sidereals.
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