[Game Thread] Chapter Five: Everything Changes

[SpatulaOdoom]

Originally Posted by Leon

""What do you mean with giving up her immortal soul? Why would anyone in their right mind want to do that?"

"It's a long story, but boils down to "someone's going to have to do it." The short version is that the five beings who created the universe were deposed and bound up in a prison. Some of them have been sort of kind of let free and-slash-or killed and this has caused an imbalance of cosmic forces that can and will rent the natural order of things asunder unless the imbalance is addressed."
Morgan shakes his head.
"That sounds so melodramatic when you say it out loud."

Morgan chuckles at the young man's comment about meeting gods. ”Stick with me if you want to meet more gods.” His eyes slide up and to the left as he ticks them off on his fingers. ”Zilira, Jester punched me, Tiaan was surprisingly pleasant despite his reputation, the Sword in the Dark (formerly known as Coiya Halva), Fisali (though I don't advise speaking with her if you value your eardrums), I strongly suspect The Oracle is a minor god, Deimos just now (jackass), and of course my foster sister, though you'll not know who I'm talking about yet (it's a long story). And several people that are not technically gods but play on or near that level like Shade.”
A few of them were older than mortal recorded history. It was a bizarre, but like many things Morgan was learning to adapt.
”If you want my advise, just treat them like normal people, be reasonably respectful, and they might actually appreciate it if you didn't waste their time with tons of bowing and scraping and averting your eyes and “we are not worthy.” Although a little flattery now and then probably won't go amiss.”

[Battlechaser]

"And to correct this entire mishap, if you can call it that," the thief reasoned, "Nehv would have to kill herself. Nay, be erased from existence?" He started to walk to and fro and turned to Morgan "Why? Isn't it better to remove the bad guys to fix everything?" Assuming the bitch is one of the good guys.


"Right." Léon tried to remember the entire monologue. "The most important bit would be not to tick them off." That might be a bit difficult.

[SpatulaOdoom]

"Not necessarily Nevh, but three different someones. And not just any someones, they're going to have to be the absolute best three someones we can find, because..." Morgan sighs and looks around for some chairs. He'd actually been hoping to get away from all this, at least for a little while, before he had to face his next hard truth and look into his other foster sister. "Let's find seats. I guess it won't kill me to tell the whole story yet again. Fair warning, I'm going to truncate a little."

Once they've found a couple of chairs along the wall of the throne room Morgan takes a seat and leans forward with his elbows on his knees.
"OK so barroom history lesson." As he talks Morgan fishes a bottle of brandy out of his ever-present satchel along with a couple of wooden mugs. "In the way way way back there was nothing here. Five beings, which we've taken to calling the Elder Demons decided there should be stuff so they created stuff. The planes the worlds and most of the things in them like the Demons. Then they ruled over them and did things. Apparently humans and elves were imported from elsewhere." Morgan takes a swig of his brandy and examines the contents for a moment. "Don't ask me why or where from. I've got my theories, but that's a whole other story. For quite a while existence for our ancestors blew goats to use the colloquial. Perhaps some glorious day Morgan will be able to crack this one out for Asharte herself.A-shart, being the greedy duplicitous hell tart she is, decides she wants to be the one running the show. Problem is she can't just kill the Elder Demons, even if that was her way, because they are literally bound up in their creation. You can think of them more like forces of nature than actual living entities like you or me or even gods like the lovely Zilira. You can't kill them any more than you could stab time to death or murder the number three. Somehow she figures out how to entrap the Elder Demons, or at least the portion of them that constitutes a thinking being, inside five specially prepared daggers. Congratulations Asharte, you're in charge. For a little while. For the rest of us life continues to be less than ideal. Then the Zodiac and the demongate war and blah blah blah. Fortunately life on the whole for us little people starts to suck less and less goat dong as time marches on."
He gives a respectful nod to the two Children. "For most of us that is.

Over a decade ago another hell tart, this one low on the totem pole, crams one of those daggers into the heart of a human and, either inadvertently, or more likely intentionally, releases one of the five Elder into him. Except not really. What really happened was that a new sort of being was created. An amalgam of the Elder Demon and the human, heavy on the human side of things if our information is to be believed. It's creation consumed the human's soul as fire consumes wood to create it's flame. No afterlife for the poor guy. This new being, which someone's calling a Hybrid, supposedly only has a fraction of the power of the original Elder Demon, but even that is enough to look gods in the eye. It also has a number of the signature traits of it's progenitor, among them apparent deathlessness. At best putting a sword through it's eye or disintegrating it's body is a temporary inconvenience, and everything else is about as effective in the long run. I've heard a theory that it could be killed if taken outside it's creation, but I've no idea how that might be done or what the consequences would be for our reality.
Along with the consciousness there's a lot of power that was once bound, power that's part of the five underlying forces of our reality, now unbound and active. Power that is no longer in balance with some bound and others unbound. Fisali is keeping the plate spinning so to speak, but eventually even she won't be able to. What happens next is anybody's guess. Then again we probably will not have to worry about it since her Caveat, the barrier that keeps the fiends and the gods out of our plane, will fail before that time and we'll probably be too neck deep in a reenactment of the Demongate War to worry over much."

Morgan takes another swig, swishing the alcohol around in his mouth.
"Zera created another Hybrid a couple of years ago, utilizing a host he thoroughly prepared to be loyal to him. Even with the preparations it's taking a lot of constant effort to keep it from recovering enough to negate the brain washing and return to it's natural state, which would likely not be friendly to a certain habitual betrayer."

The lanky mage shrugs.
"And there you have it. We've got two more daggers, with one unaccounted for. We've no idea how to put the jack back in the box. Apparently the daggers won't work the same way on the new entity. And any Hybrids created are a very very long term concern as they neither age, nor can they be killed by any means we yet know of. So our only viable alternative is to very carefully choose the best of the best to counteract the Elder's less than kindly demeanour and consign their souls to the flames in the hopes that the result doesn't decide they want to sit in judgement over all atop a throne of skulls or whatever, because frankly, if they did, there's not a whole lot we could do about it.
That, along with a couple of other little things, is why this council of the high and mighty is here."

[Battlechaser]

After listening intently to the long explanation Léon whistled. "****ing hell!" He brushed though his short hair with his right hand. "So now we have to find three sods willing to sacrifice everything?" Léon mentally went over Morgan's second monologue again And that he calls truncated! I've had less longwinded teachers at the Academy. "You're saying Zera controls one ... Hybrid was it? Then who controls the other? Or is it... him...she, whatever, a loose projectile?"

Léon went over to the stand and filled his glass to the brim with whiskey. Just before he sipped he thought better of it. Gonna need all my wits to crack this one.

"Isn't this just one big weapons race? Zera has one, we need one, preferably more?"

[SpatulaOdoom]

Originally Posted by Leon

"So now we have to find three sods willing to sacrifice everything?"

"Hideous as it is, yes. Not even an afterlife for them. I'm hoping that someone will be able to come up with a palatable alternative before we go though with it, but sometimes you only get to choose between bad and worse."
Morgan takes another drink of brandy and tops off his mug before putting it back in his satchel. It wasn't like he could get drunk, maybe on some of Zilira's weapons grade hooch but nothing normal, so he's not entirely sure why he's bothering in the first place. Habit I suppose.
"I'm not sure how much information is being disseminated on the first Hybrid, but you are correct. Nobody controls him. Nor will any of the others be “controlled” if I have anything to say about it. The man who's body the Hybrid inhabits was a good man and he claims to be working towards the greater good, but I don't trust the first Hybrid, not yet. But it's possible I have trust issues, and until we have some sort of evidence that he's actually doing wrong trying to muck about with him is simply asking for trouble unneeded.

I caution against the mentality of an arms race against Zera. He is a temporary problem. He's turned pretty much the whole world against him, even Deimos wants to get in on the Zera destroying action. His main defence isn't raw power, but being difficult to get at and difficult to kill in a permanent sense. The thing is it's all stolen power. Free his slaves and he's nothing but a man. And once he's gone then what? The Hybrids will still be there. If we created them simply to destroy Zera what happens next?" Morgan sighs. "Which brings us to the Zera situation. It's separate but connected to the daggers." The mage goes on to explain about Sanctuary and the Godforge as well as Zera's imprisonment of Airis and Malvain, apparent unkillability, army of trolls, the children he's gotten by Airis, his scheme to turn Phare against Halva, and so on. "-so needless to say it's a thoroughly f@#%ed up situation."

ooc I'm going to assume you guys have done enough reading to get a decent idea of what's going on. If not, then have a look at the Communal information thread Specifically at the areas listed as Zera and company and the Objects/Creations directly below it on the Godforge and Sanctuary, and Kala under Misc people of interest. Sorry if there's a lot of junk to catch up on but this is a game that's four years ongoing.

[Makenshi]

Zilira looks suitably pleased at Morgan's 'marking' of her 'territory', although she outright laughs when he mutters about dragging him to a broom closet. "Closet? Why do we need a closet when there's a perfectly good throne there?"

Didina, who happened to be mid-sip at the point ends up spluttering and choking on her wine at the remark, while Misa gives her a look of concern while trying to hide a smile of her own.

After Morgan is finished with his explanation the doors open again, this time revealing Tiaan, Princess Aldamil, King Vulcar, Prince Marcell, Cipher, Bane, Rising and the Sword in the Dark. Vulcar looks around the room for a moment before walking towards the drinks himself. "Good. Everyone is here. You said you had something important to tell us Coiya?"

The God nods. "Yes. Humility, Whisper and her brother, Screech, had a rather...odd encounter in the World Between Worlds a short time ago. Humility, Whisper, would you mind telling them what you told me?"

OOC To save on time, I'm going to skip over the actual explanation and just make the thread public, however unless Humility (or rather, DG) says otherwise, she would not pass on the exact nature of the discussion she had with the strange woman in private, although Whisper would mention that they spoke in private.

~MTWC

[SpatulaOdoom]

The mage looks at the throne with a speculative eye. "Hmmm. Cushions look rather thin. Don't imagine it would be very comfortable. Probably intentional, to keep him from falling asleep. Besides it's Vulcar's chair, we should let him and his new fiance break it in." He jokes.

As the others arrive Morgan stands. When he sees Vulcar look at the drinks and senses the intent Morgan opens up his satchel again. The Roja red and the scotch were out on the little table since the others had wanted that. He adds his brandy, half full now, to the table. There was a small bottle of nice white he'd picked up in Mayasoris ages ago. Ah, he'd apparently stashed a few of bottles of Old Olney's Best beer in one of the side pockets when he'd been at the ruined inn to meet Samael. Another thing he might never see again, but he'd drunk it plenty of times and the others might not get a chance, so he adds the three bottles of beer to the table.

The real problem was glasses. He paws through the three pouches. He had three more wooden mugs and a second wine glass, the first being used by Didina. There were a couple of thick glass tumblers, he'd drunk the good scotch with Valen out of them. Oh look a Kastish drinking horn. How the heck did he have that in there? He can't even remember where he'd picked it up. Maybe he needs to clean out the extradimensional space.

It was a humble looking mish mash of booze and cups he'd set on the side table, but something about that appealed to the mage's sensibilities. Pretty much everything in his life had been a patchwork affair, from his family, to his education. His work and travels and friends. Pretty much everything. Besides if any of these people didn't want it there was surely a servant or two a bell pull away to fetch the best of the best to be served in crystal cut between the thighs of beautiful virgins or whatever.

Morgan listens to the story with polite attention, pausing at a few places to clarify that he's getting exactly what was said at the time. He can't help but feel frustrated that there was yet another powerful unknown player out there. His mind begins ticking over what was said and what evidence she'd revealed, trying to piece together whom she might be. Lynka was supposed dead, and more than a demi-god to begin with. Perhaps a daughter? But then what was the link to Sharak and the signet ring? And who was this Vallyn? He'd heard that name somewhere. Someone connected to the children, but not of them. A demi-goddess's uncle. Jester? Maybe. No wait, father's father's brother, and mother among the children. Oh damn.
”Well the only Vallyn I know of is umm-” Morgan looks to Zilira. ”Zil's eldest son. Supposed to have died a long time ago, not that that seems to mean anything these days, at the end of the Demongate War. If Vallyn's her father's father's brother then the other brother would be-” He jabs a finger at Coiya. ”You?” Which in turn would make this Shadow girl one of Bane's children. Wait. Did Bane have children or only Cipher? Something about this felt off.
”And none of you know who she or her family is?”

[Makenshi]

Zilira looks more than a little surprised at the mention of Vallyn, looking thoughtful as Morgan thinks out loud.

Coiya shakes his head in response to Morgan. "No. None of us are familiar with her or her Family. Or her cousin and his Family. I have sent people to investigate though. If Vallyn is Zilira's Vallyn then that would mean she is the daughter of a son of mine, and Bane my only living son." He glances questioningly at Bane.

"I'm not a father as far as I know, and even if I was, there's no way they could be old enough to be this Shadow. Are you sure none of your others sons survived? Did you have any during you time before the Children?"

Coiya shakes his head. "No. Just you and your sisters and of the three of you only Cipher has children, both of them only a couple of years old."

As the two of them talk Cipher looks thoughtful, and even a little concerned, before turning to Whisper and Humility. "You said she spoke with her shadow?"

Whisper nods. "Yes, and it seemed to talk back, although we couldn't hear it."

"Strange." Coiya's eldest appears lost in thought now, prompting Didina to speak up.

"Maybe she was just lying?"

"What about the ring imprint then?" Aldamil asks, fiddling with her own signet ring - the very same one that had apparently been pressed hard enough into Humility's hand to leave a mark.

"Copies can be made, and she did admit that she wouldn't tell you the truth. Why believe anything she said?"

~MTWC

[DiabolicalGenius]

Humility was not a prude, but had to admit to feeling increasingly awkward with Zilira and Morgan's saucy flirting. Even her poker face nearly slipped at the suggestion of them copulating on the throne, not sure if they were seriously or simply messing around. Who knows what kind of customs the Freeborn had regarding that sort of thing after all. Even though she felt sure that the Faces would have mentioned if any of their cultures featured such wanton displays in public as though it was nothing, even in the very meeting places of their most powerful and respected people. Surely someone would have said something? Even the Young-Blades would at least find a bed or a secluded spot to have their fun, and rarely entertained spectators knowingly. She was sure it was a joke, but even so a part of her wondered. Her expectations of the mother of her God had been rather thrown askew by this development and her bright mood and complete focus on her lover made it all but impossible to ask about how she felt about her enslavement, and address her own concerns with dealing with a nation that profited from it. It just didn't feel like the right time and place. It was probably better discussed alone anyway. She was considering this when the people they were waiting for arrived and she was prompted to tell them about her encounter during her patrol.

The Child gave a nod of agreement and did so without objection, not the nod of a subordinate obeying her superior, but of someone agreeing to a request from someone they respected and were happy to listen to. It was a subtle difference from how this sort of interaction might go if it were between and god and his Ahekan worshipper, but it was there. She then proceeded to explain what happened, going into as much detail as she could manage, in a manner of someone used to making patrols that concerned the safety and well-being of her Clan and Family and knew that an accurate report could be a matter of life and death. The only part she failed to cover was what Shadow discussed with her privately, still considering if she should share it with someone she knew and trusted, let alone a room full of people she had just met. After she finished she listened quietly to their reactions with interest, but was distracted as she looked at Aldamil. She stared at the woman as though trying to solve a puzzle and after a few moments of thought her expression relaxed in the manner of one who had finally figured out something that had been trying to put their finger on all day. She hadn't spoke yet, save to nod in agreement as Whisper confirmed the information about Shadow's power over her shadow. But when Aldamil entered the conversation and Didina suggested that Shadow had been lying, the drow finally spoke up in her calm, level tone.

"The possibility of deceit cannot be denied, but I didn't feel a lie in her words, even though I'm sure there was plenty she was hiding. Whether you trust my judgement is up to you. What I can tell you is that she spoke to her shadow and mentioned the names Snark and Vallyn when I was still hidden and before I revealed my presence to her. It would be pointless to put on an act unless she knew I was there, and I'm quite sure that she didn't. The Children take that sort of thing rather seriously. As for the ring, certainly it could have been a copy. But that begs the question of why? Knowing full well that the original was in the hands of it's rightful owner, and that we would know it for a fake as soon as we checked, why bother making the imitation and revealing it to me in such an indirect way, without even letting me see it? As though trying to tell me something she was forbidden to? It makes no sense to me, though it seems that there are several persons much smarter than I am present right now. Perhaps one of them can explain it to me? In any case, her power was not a lie. I saw what she was capable of and what she could do with her shadow. I saw the corpses of the fiends that had attempted to accost her, in enough numbers that my patrol wouldn't have risked clashing with them without reinforcements if it could be avoided. I heard her talk of infiltrating Invidia and escaping in one piece, and even of leading the Lone Lord himself on a diversion without seeming to think she couldn't handle it. She couldn't have faked that. The biggest proof though, is in the package she gave us to deliver......"

She couldn't keep the hint of darkness creeping into her voice when she mentioned Invidia, even when she was concentrating on a topic that only related to him in passing. The feeling ran much too deep there, though she doesn't let it distract her. Not sure how The Sword was planning to handle the delivery or if he already had done before they came in, she left that topic at that before turning to Aldamil with a curious look.

"More importantly, I just figured out another clue about that Shadow. I mentioned that we all felt that there was something familiar about her, myself and the twins as well, right? I couldn't quite place it at the time and it's been troubling me ever since, but I've finally got it. It's Princess Aldamil. All the Children who were taking part in the business in Sharak were shown images of her, just in case she had been somehow caught by the Royal family and imprisoned before the attack. Looking at her now it's obvious to me. The resemblance is close enough that if you brought her in here now and introduced her as your sister or cousin, I wouldn't doubt it for a moment. Right Whisper?"

She glances over at her comrade, the only one there besides her who had met Shadow, to confirm her judgement.

[SpatulaOdoom]

He listens to the initial reactions of the other's, and pays close attention to the analysis of the one who'd actually been there as well. He notes the change of tone when speaking of Invidia, but assumes it's a normal reaction when speaking of the Fiendish gods.
”Well I seriously doubt she'd hand over the prince if she was working for the fiends, not unless there was something very substantial in it for them.” Having someone with legitimate claim to the throne in their pocket. ”No. I think she was less lying and more trying to speak around the true magic bonds she mentioned. Come at it crabwise and you might be able to get across information you'd be prevented from communicating directly. Like what happened in the meeting with me knowing how to free Zilira, but unable to say so directly.” That had been relatively easy to allude to and get around, but Morgan's 'bonds' hadn't been terribly restrictive.
”She didn't actually indicate that her father, or her grandfather for that matter, were still alive, but she did indicate that her mother was. Though... Not that she was in the camp, just that she didn't relish explaining herself to her. We may be focusing on that side of the conversation too much. Being a demigoddess she could be anywhere from her apparent age to hundreds and hundreds of years old. Her father and grandfather may be dead or alive or someone we know or not, we just know that her grand uncle was named Vallyn.”
He looked over at Aldamil thoughtfully.
”May I see the ring? Is it unique to the best of your knowledge, or is it something your brothers or parents might have had as well?” Vulcar's ring wasn't unique after all, there had been three of them until recently. ”Are there any stories associated with it, or schisms in you family since the days of Sharlan? There's also the question of what's to be done with your brother.” Morgan is tempted to suggest he spend a little time with the Children. It would be an excellent way to get the other side of the coin regarding the Fiends. To see how life was for people they weren't trying to seduce.

When a brief lull comes in the conversation, while everyone's thinking, Morgan sends a quick communication to Jester through their telepathic bond, asking if he knows anyone named Vallyn or of a family called the True Dawn Avengers or Silencers. Morgan hasn't yet tried to speak to Jester about whatever history the godling has with the Children in the Dark, and has no intention of forcing the issue, but this might be very important.

[Battlechaser]

Listening intently Léon classified the story in his mental archive. "So there's another player in this game. Someone we have no knowledge about except what Humility related. Shadow states she is a demi-god. Her powers might point in that direction. Which leaves the question: who is the divine parent? And who are her allies? And more importantly, who the hell bound her with True magic? If that is true."

He turned to the drow "It's quite possible that she knew you were there. I know a few persons with that ability." Léon was careful not to look at Didina and Misa.

[Makenshi]

Aldamil frowned in response to Morgan's question, shaking her head. "Other than being able to create an Arcane Mark of the same design, it's an ordinary signet ring, for sealing and marking letters."

"It has no other value to you?" Coiya asks.

Aldamil begins to shake her head before pausing. "Only sentimental. My mother brought it for me shortly before she died." She twists it in her hand for a moment before passing it to Morgan, although the mage doesn't get anything special from the ring and he can't see anything special about it either. "As for schisms...nothing recent enough other than my uncle, but he's not mentioned any trysts and has no ties to the Children as far as I'm aware." She glances towards Coiya, who shakes his head. "And Tasak? How is he?"

"Indignant and a little dirty. A Cleric has seen to the minimal injuries he sustained fighting Shadow. I've left explicit instructions that he is not to be harmed and Shadow was kind enough to provide a collar that prevents him casting spells. We checked it out ourselves of course."

"I'm not exactly in a position to take him in at the moment. I've half a mind to leave him among the Children for now unless my uncle knows somewhere safe."

~MTWC

[SpatulaOdoom]

Originally Posted by Makenshi

"I'm not exactly in a position to take him in at the moment. I've half a mind to leave him among the Children for now unless my uncle knows somewhere safe."

”I think that might be a pretty good idea, leaving him with the Children. Learning a little humility never hurt, and more importantly they might be able to open his eyes to the truth.” If both of the remaining royals came down on the same side of the 'Fiends: ally or enemy' debate it would be much better than discord or a single voice.

He hands the ring back. ”Can you tell us anything that seems like it might be relevant about your mother's side of the family, or her death?” With her appearance and the ring it seemed there was a stronger connection between Aldamil and the mystery goddess than a far flung maybe connection with Zilira's first son. Then again it might wind up that they were both connected and Vilcar and Aldamil were far flung cousins. Morgan could see the Children, or those who styled themselves after the Children in the Dark like a splinter group, wanting to have someone close to the Sharakan throne. Someone able to keep a close eye on things, maybe even sway the throne a little bit. Perhaps the fiends found out and killed her, but her children, or even husband, were never told what was going on. It seemed plausible but a little improbable. Until they knew more it was best to look into every angle.

[DiabolicalGenius]

Humility turned to Léon at his words and gave him a withering look that was quite ruined by the lenses covering her eyes, before she replied in a carefully composed tone.

"I never said it wasn't possible that she knew I was there. I did say that 'Whether you trust my judgement is up to you' and I am sure that she didn't know I was there before I let her know. Being able to tell whether you've been noticed or not isn't so much a matter of pride for the Children, so much as a matter of survival. I've seen far too many of my Brothers and Sisters perish from their inability to judge the situation. I don't claim to be infallible, but I'm as certain as I can be in this case....."

She trailed off, willing herself to be calm in spite of the wayward surge of irritation at having her skill and judgement paid for in hard training and blood, called into question. Another person might think such feelings natural and happily express them without worrying about it, but the drow was different. Anything feeling that evoked a sense of pride and self-satisfaction was ruthlessly suppressed and she always fought to maintain the attitude that no matter how good she was, it was never as good enough. Any chance of failure and the consequences it could bring no matter how small, was too much. Complacency was unforgivable.

She listened with detached interest to Morgan's theories and his questioning of the princess to determine whether Shadow might be a secret blood relation of some kind. She had a thought and interjecting without hesitation while they were on the subject, the informal nature of leadership among her people giving her the assumption that if she was included in a meeting, then she had every right to speak her opinion at will. The immense power and importance of some of the people standing there never crossed her mind in relation to that.

"She doesn't need to know anything about it for there to be a relative of hers wandering around seer. You know that the Children have been concerned about the fiend's influence in Sharak, right? I'm not one of the Faces in the Dark and not privy to their activities which aren't commonly known. But I'm sure that they have had people infiltrating the country for years, and likely as close to the royal family as well. If a Face was on a mission and was willing to have that kind of relation with someone important in order to discover their secrets.........well, you don't need me to draw a picture for you. If a child was produced from this, the Face might very well have raised her as one of the Children, right? Though I'm not sure why said child would be a demi-god or have a copy of princess Aldamil's ring. How about it Cipher? Is it possible?"

She looked at the Face questioningly. At the mention of leaving Tasak with the Children, Humility can't help but declare.

"That's a marvellous idea. You should send him to the Tal'gos, they'll take very good care of him."

She voices her approval with a perfectly straight face and in a calm, level voice. Yet somehow a sense of foreboding can be sensed from her tone. She gives the very distinct impression that one way or another, if her Family are entertaining the Sharakan prince he'll be coming back a new man.

[Battlechaser]

Holding up his hands Léon said "Don't bite my nose off." If looks could kill, her glasses would probably have shattered. "I'm not doubting your skill, but I know mine. I can dance a jig in front of a pair of starving bloodhounds and they won't notice me until I want them to. Yet some people seem to know that I'm there, almost as if they are sensing me. Heck, even I can do that." The thief blushed when he realized he had probably told too much about his abilities.

Scraping his throat he continued. "Ehm... Well. So what do we do about this Shadow Lady?"