TBA: Ashes to Ashes

Mile High Broil, the Lap, 7 Ascending Air

Suggested Music: Final Fantasy VII - In Search of the Man in Black

The room was crowded, but cozy enough. From the walls hung a number of a trinkets and decorations, all of them too old or worn to be useful, but interesting nonetheless. A few knick-knacks even contained subtle throwbacks to the First Age, a time many claimed was dominated by the benevolent rulership of the Shining Ones. But that was not the issue at hand - two Sidereals sat hunched over a table with a number of local news documents spread out in front of them, hoping to ascertain a plan of attack. The Zenith approached, and the Unconquered Sun was bright enough that even through the room's minuscule slat of a window, there was plenty of light to read by.

((As far as I know, the session left off where the two of you had decided to infiltrate these organizations to look for a link between Five Thunder's Falcon and Meticulous Owl, but you hadn't decided how you were going to approach that infiltration, so that's where I'm starting this off - Either one of you could start this one off.))

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Overnight, Magistrate activates Methodology of Secrets, taking a +1 speciality in Investigation: Ancestor Cults and +2 in Stealth: Crowds

Magistrate sat reclined in his chair with his feet kicked up on the table. His glasses rested at the tip of his nose; his eyes were fixed on the document he was reading over. The two had taken a big step forward the previous night meeting Baldur himself. Their task now was to validate or discredit Baldur's claim. He recalled from the original mission dossier that the probability of an Abyssal presence was high, though he always remained skeptical of the Bureau's arbitrary statistics.

"I don't know what you would prefer," he said to Starfall, his eyes never leaving the paper he was reading, "but I'm suggesting we investigate the ancestor cult first. We have a few days before our next meeting with Baldur, so my inclination is that we should stick together."

He continued to scrounge the documents, looking for clues regarding potential ancestor cult meeting spots or times. He looked for patterns to ancestor cult activity in an effort to make a prediction regarding their next gathering. If the documents could not provide answers, he planned on spending two motes of essence per question to invoke Efficient Secretary Technique, calling upon an emerald pattern spider to answer the following questions:

• When did the last ancestor cult meeting take place in The Lap region?
• Where did the last ancestor cult meeting take place in The Lap region?
• Was Meticulous Owl present at the last ancestor cult meeting in The Lap region?

Kirkland 00:49, 2 July 2009 (EDT)

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Overnight, Starfall activates Methodology of Secrets, taking a +1 speciality in Investigation: Ancestor Cults, +1 in Occult: The Underworld, and +1 in Lore: Local Knowledge (The Lap)

Starfall somehow managed to look both relaxed and tense at the same time as he sat across the small table from his companion, he was leaning forward with his elbow resting on the table and his chin resting on his open palm. When he spoke he did so softly and with an almost lazy tone, still resting his chin in his hand.

"I suppose it depends on how you like to begin. Investigating the Cult would be the easier and less dangerous task, almost without a doubt. Unless of course it uncovers something Baldur was hiding and he decides to give us the same treatment he gave his master. On the other hand the Ancestor Cults I know much less about, and if we're being trusting of our shining friend it would make more sense to look into the undead dealings of the city."

Starfall glanced down to the documents on the table, he poked at a few of them with his free hand to move them slightly around the table as if looking for something, though he stopped before he seemed to find anything. He looked back up to Magistrate and gave a single shouldered shrug before he continued.

"Ancestor Cults are pretty common and not really so frowned upon in moderation, many people here worship their lost ancestors and have the right to do so. As long as they still give their lip service and prayers to the Immaculate Order no one is going to stop them, this is what makes it so easy for the Abyssal to influence them. Which means information shouldn't be too hard to come by, just difficult to sort through. It's unlikely Meticulous Owl is influencing every ancestor worshiper or even every cult within the city. We'll have to find the right one, hopefully that won't mean we have to find them all first."

Starfall stood up slowly from the table, placing both hands on the edge as if to push himself up to a stand and leaning over the table just a bit. He pushed in his chair haphazardly with his foot before taking a few steps towards the door, stopping to turn back towards Magistrate.

"I'd rather get my hands dirty finding information in the streets, I dunno how you operate but we might cover more ground if we split up. At least while we do a bit of recon. Whatchya think?"

--FyreFly 23:34, 7 July 2009 (EDT)

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((I am changing my execution of Efficient Secretary Technique, as I got a little ahead of myself before Starfall's post.))

Magistrate flipped through a few more pages of a book swiftly before shutting it with one hand. A small cloud of dust kicked up from the pages, illuminated by a sliver of morning light from the window. He looked up to Starfall and responded, "That would be fine, and certainly more fun."

He opened his mouth wide as he channeled two motes of essence into Efficient Secretary Technique. He reached his fingers into his mouth as a pattern spider materialized within. He pulled the large spider from his mouth, a sight that would make anyone with mild arachnophobia squirm. He set the spider on the table and leaned over to address it. He asked softly, "What is the name of the Ancestor Cult that Meticulous Owl is most involved with?"

The pattern spider dematerialized, going to the loom of fate to present the question. Only a second passed before it rematerialized. It jumped from the table to Magistrate's arm and quickly crawled up the side to his shoulder. Magistrate tipped his head slightly toward the spider so it could whisper into his ear.

Kirkland 16:56, 16 July 2009 (EDT)

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The spider, rearing back slightly as it stretched for Magistrate's head, chirped into Magistrate's listening ear, speaking in a robotic, but off-beat squeak that would have seemed humorous were it not for the pattern spider's fearsome visage.

"No thread ties the being 'Meticulous Owl' to our Tapestry. There is a cult that makes its home in The Penitent's Northleg region. They call themselves Lho-Zhen ((low-gen)). Its thread in the Loom of Fate is being tugged invisibly by forces beneath this world."

Without waiting for a reply, the pattern spider returned to its work, dissipating quickly into dust with a cheerful pop - it almost looked like the creature had burst into small, particulate matter and blown away with the room's gust. After receiving his answer, Magistrate quickly shuffled through some of the documents scattered on the table, certain he'd seen that title before.

Information about the Lho-Zhen was scarce, but they did have a reputation - A few newsletters from Northleg's taverns they'd scrounged up revealed that the Lho-Zhen were one of the Lap's more extreme ancestor cults, subscribing to the practice of seeking out shadowlands where they could mate with their ancestors to keep their legacy alive in the living world through offspring. It was unsurprising, then, that the cult was thought to have a fairly high Ghost-Blooded membership. They were regarded with some suspicion, but had never been dissolved, although the news scrolls failed to explain why...

It wasn't stated in the periodicals who the group's leader was, although they were infamous for having several direct, albeit verbal confrontations with the local Immaculate leader, a wizened monk-alchemist sent to study the inner workings of the Penitent. The papers, and the town along with them, had nicknamed him 'The Bishop'.

There was little written of their religious grounds or usual hang-outs. It seemed likely, however, that the Immaculate Order might keep closer tabs on these affairs than the city's journalists.

Dan 22:37, 26 July 2009 (EDT)

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Starfall eyes the summoned spider with a wry smirk waiting patiently for the response, he took a few steps closer to the table as the spider returned. He looked over the shoulder of Magistrate and the documents on the table top below, taking note of what information could be had about the Lho-Zhen.

"Hmmm... The Immaculates have their eyes and claws into this already. How fitting." He paused his lazy speech patterns for a reflective moment of thought; stroking his chin and gazing towards the ceiling in a parodying fashion. "I do pray that our brethren have not yet found the time to...'pop' in."

He rolled his neck, cracking it several times before he poked through several of the pages on the table again, leaning over Magistrates shoulder. He made a few mental notes about the group that seemed obvious to search for, bobbed his head side to side a few times in thought before he stepped away from the table.

"Settled then by the strands of fate... Let us pay a visit to 'The Bishop'? It sounds like this one would be best served if we showed up together don't you think?"

He was moving towards the door well before Magistrate had a chance to answer, though he wasn't leaving without him and didn't seem to be in a large hurry. As if he didn't want to stop moving, but not out of a need to hurry only a need to be in motion.

--FyreFly 20:51, 5 August 2009 (EDT)

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Magistrate closed the book he was reading and a cloud of dust was released from the pages. He coughed as he waved the dust out of the air in front of him. He stood up. "I agree, it'd be best if we both pay the Bishop a visit." His mind started racing with various ways to handle the situation. "How should we go about this? I can be a wayward old man that has traveled all the way to The Lap in search of my dead ancestors. Surely 'the Bishop' is in on this, no? Otherwise the cult would have been shut down by now, or at least there would be more information on them. It's pretty well covered up, if you ask me."

Their conversation continued as they left the building, and Magistrate waited for Starfall's input on getting their story straight.

Kirkland 01:20, 3 September 2009 (EDT)

((My next post: either Fri Sept. 4 or Fri. Sept. 11, depending on how soon a reply comes. The next three weeks are busy for me and I don't want these threads waiting on me so I will try my best to keep them moving.))

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The local Immaculate temple was enormous. As one of the Realm's most important satrapies, it could hold nearly two-thousand people at capacity, and was positioned such that it had a spectacular view of the Verdant Triangle. The temple, a major site in the Immaculate Religion, was headed by a lama (that's one step above an abbess, think priest vs. bishop) by the name of Laughing Peony. The two Sidereals had approached the temple, and after entering ((feel free to elaborate on whether or not your characters observe proper respect of the entrance/exit rituals for sacred sites in the Immaculate Religion)), made their intentions clear to one of the itinerant monks present ((Probably a good idea to establish how you phrase this, since it depends on your chosen identities and affects how the lama will interact with you)). The monk, promising they'd get an audience with someone who could assist them, strolled quickly down one of the temples many corridors, leaving the veiled Sidereals to admire the Temple's workmanship - The whole structure was peforated with skylights, and a massive window Chiaroscuran glass made the world beyond the view of the altar seem like an open sky, beneath it a plain of fertile farmland and distant civilization.

Laughing Peony was a Wood caste known for her sympathy to the plight of the common citizen. On this particular day, she sat cross legged on a mat across from one of the many farmers with whom she'd become close friends. The two them shared a jovial laugh over orchid tea, though the moment was interrupted by one of Laughing Peony's many attendants.

"Lama, you have two visitors. They seek the Bishop."

The Bishop was a visiting scholar - he was sent by the Mouth of Peace himself, and though he had no formal rank within the Lap's government, his word held considerable weight with Laughing Peony, given his position. Nevertheless, he was a tough man to get ahold of. What surprised Laughing Peony was that anyone wanted to. Who wanted to seek out the Bishop?

After apologizing humbly to the farmer, she bowed, bade him farewell, and stood to meet her two guests.

((Your next post should detail the characters deciding on disguises/destinies/etc., as well as whatever parts of the journey to the temple you want to describe - check out South book around pg. 58. Also cover how the characters would approach and talk to the monk working in the public area - e.g. what do they request? I'll take over after that and describe the monk returning to the characters, leading them back to Laughing Peony, and then greeting them.))

Dan 20:52, 3 September 2009 (EDT)

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“It’s not so impossible to fathom The Bishop isn’t in on it, though surely at least deceived. The servants of the dead tend to be rather cunning… Either way I think it best we see what he knows, or thinks he knows.”

Starfall scratched his head thoughtfully for a moment, seemingly in thought about what disguises they should arrive at the Immaculate Temple. Their kind had long deceived the Dragon-Blooded and the Immaculate Order, but that was not to mean that a well thought-out plan wasn’t necessary. Eventually he nodded as he opened the door to exit and start their walk to the temple.

“Aye Eye Captain. An old man for you, and a young un-exalted dynast as your guide for me.”

Just before the exited they private hall outside their room he donned the resplendent destiny of The Rising Smoke, a young journeyman ready start at one of the Blessed Isles secondary academies by appearances.

Starfall led the way into the temple, humbly observing the common practices of the Immaculate Religion as he entered and paying his due respects. He spoke with a monk upon their entrance, showing a great deal of respect to the service of the man when he spoke.

“The man whom I escort has traveled a long way in search of a specific form of console. He was told that a visitor from The Mouth of Peace is currently stationed here and was the one he wished to speak with; I believe he is known as The Bishop. Would it be possible to obtain an audience with him?”

Starfall bowed humbly when the monk went to investigate if their request could be honored, in the meantime he knelt before one of the many statues or alters in the public area, helping the old man Magistrate was disguised as to join him if he wished. From here on out he would default to allowing Magistrate to speak and lead the way, as it would be far more appropriate for the old man to speak directly with the Bishop should their request be granted. Meanwhile he would mostly be left to listening quietly, though he did not doubt that Magistrate would know the right things to ask.

--FyreFly 18:11, 13 September 2009 (EDT)

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The Old Man (Magistrate) and his charge prostrated themselves before the lama when guided to her chambers. Displaying tremendous humility for an Immaculate of such high standing, she matched the depth of their bow when greeting them, and stood quickly. She moved to the old man's side, helping him up from his gesture.

"Please, elder, sit." Taking the man's arm gently, she guided him to one of two large cushions placed on either side of a low table. Placing her free hand on his back, she helped him to sit upon the cushion, not giving him the chance to turn away her hospitality. With a wave to one of the temple aides, and third cushion was brought over and placed at a third side of the square table. After she and the old man were comfortably seated, she motioned to Starfall.

"Have a seat." She smiled warmly as she offered the place at her table. Without looking to see if he'd accept her offer for a seat, she set out three small cups from a tea set that had been left on the table from her prior meeting. Taking the larger pot in hand, she placed one hand on the lid and tilted the reservoir with the other, filling the old man's cup first. Next, she filled Starfall's, and finally, her own. The orchid tea was remarkably fragrant and evoked thoughts of the East's most elegant flora.

Laughing Peony, who was kneeling on her cushion, placed her hands on her knees and assumed a straighter posture after putting the teapot back down. Still wearing a tender smile, she initiated the proceedings, speaking primarily to the old man, though not guarding her address so much as to exclude Starfall from the dialogue.

"I'm told you gentlemen are seeking the ear of the Bishop. He is very busy with his studies here, and is a difficult man to distract, but I may be able to assist you in winning an audience with him. Might you tell me a bit about yourself?"

Dan 18:34, 13 September 2009 (EDT)