[Game Thread] Chapter Five: Everything Changes

[Battlechaser]

Answering Didina's smirk Léon just smiled "I think I can use you. That's why." When the Rudaa suggested using Anorde, he could just facepalm himself. "I like the idea. We can use both."

[Makenshi]

"It also helps that Anorde is already involved with us, so you wouldn't need to catch him up on things." Vulcar explains. "That he's a As in, a Watcher of Fisali. They're servants of Fisali bound by a code of non-interference in Ahekan affairs that can only be broken with Fisali's direct permissionWatcher only helps matters. Either he can't interfere in our affairs (just provide information) or Fisali is screwing with us, and if its the latter then we've very little chance of stopping her from doing it."

"Use me?" Didina sounds more than a little affronted. "And how, pray tell, is it that you intend to use me?"

~MTWC

[SpatulaOdoom]

"Eloise Watson might be able to help as well. She's a private detective I've known for years. Very good at her job, and can be sneaky as hell if needs be. Not a big fan of the noble class, but I'm sure heading off a war would be worth her time."
Morgan turns his attention to Marcel.
"Can you share the particulars of the incident?"

[Battlechaser]

"Eloise Watson." Léon mentally pens down the name and then turns towards the incensed Didina. "You found me when no one else was able to. Which leads me to believe you have a certain "knack" of finding people that really don't want to be found. So I'm asking you politely to help me find the bastard that dared to attack my Queen." And you can read minds. Now that is something I can most definitely use.

[Blue]

Nevh pursed her lips, turning to Marcell
"Not to meddle in things that aren't really my business, but there is a great battle on the verge of happening in Halva so although an investigation must indeed be done to find as much information on that lead as possible, not only to enact justice upon the one responsible but for the future of the relationship between your two countries, the better of your attention might be best focused on being ready to apprehend that criminal once his involvement is confirmed. Especially if it is indeed Zera. Trying to find and capture the pawn used might be a wild goose chase with Sanctuary in the picture. Just finding enough to satisfy your circles of nobles on the identity of the culprit should be sufficient."

By making enemies with the rest of the world in his attempt to seize Halva for himself, the future of his would-be kingdom didn't look so bright. It was the failed attempt against the young king all over again. She tried to think further. Aloud this time.
"If it is indeed Zera. He's usually very efficient but he's been failing a lot lately; didn't get the whole Quartet to pin the blame on Halva, didn't succeed on killing his sister, didn't succeed to kill Vulcar, didn't succeed to get Kala back. He is perhaps at the peak of his power to initiate his war and he is being awfully sloppy about it, his failures were high-risk and now he might be drawing himself even more enemies, making ruling over Halva harder even if he succeeds. Maybe this is the work of that other problem we had reports on. The last war or that other thing that comes after. This Shadow person being found around the same timeframe as the massive assassination strike in Sharak and the two attempts to draw hostility against Halva is a strange coincidence. Investigating on the whereabouts of Shadow might give you clues you need."

[Makenshi]

Didina gives Leon a flat look. "Just because I can sense people around me doesn't mean I'll be able to help you spy. When I say I am a Lady of Halva I mean it. I don't go gallivanting about the streets dressed in black trying to avoid notice. Now, if you want me to help woo a noble or the like I could probably help, but I'm not exactly known for being...low key." She gestures to her large, bejewelled horns as an example.

"If you're looking for someone like that, you could look into Lucretia Ardin. She's been working with Princess Zephyra until now, so she'd not be privvy to everything and you'd need to check her out, but she's much more suited to that than Didina is." Misa tries to add helpfully. "And before you ask me, I am also lacking when it comes to stealth. Both mine and Didina's senses are more about awareness and survival than finding people."

Didina takes a quick sip of her wine before adding another alternative. "You could always get Schakri's help too. Assuming we still believe that the Dragonblaze aren't in bed with Zera. I'm not entirely sure what his skills are, but it's only been recently that we outed him as a spy, and we only confirmed it with help with Zilira."

Marcell nods in response to Nevh's comments. "Exactly. I think there's been a misunderstanding here Leon, your remit isn't to look into the assassination against my sister. Not specifically at least. That investigation is starting in Elern first and I've set other eyes on it that I trust, as has my sister and no doubt others. What I want you to do is to help them uncover Zera's agents in Halva and keep an eye on things here. Even if he isn't the one behind the attempt he's the far greater threat at the moment, which is why I've brought you instead of one of the others. I'll have to return to Elern after this meeting but I'll leave you a couple of Sending Stones to contact me with."

Didina raises an eyebrow. "Wait, what? Zera has a sister? Have I missed something?"

On the matter of Shadow Breaker speaks up, breaking the Childrens' long silence. "We will be looking into finding out everything we can about Shadow and this 'Snark' she spoke of. I expect-"

Rising interrupts, still seeming a little bit 'out of it'. "She'll contact us again. Soon I think."

Breaker raises an eyebrow. "One of the visions? What did you see?"

"It's difficult to say with complete certainty, but I believe that she will contact Humility again. Given what she said to her before and her desire to speak to her alone out of all the others, I think it's safe to say she has some kind of connection with her."

"But I swear-" Humility begins.

Rising holds up a hand. "I'm not saying that you lied to us. You're not exactly unknown among the Children, Humility. No matter how much you try to downplay your own actions and accomplishments that is the truth. That you are a living example that a Child's blood and origin does not matter, only who they are now and what they strive to be." The Drow woman clearly seems to struggle with accepting the praise from the Keeper, but doesn't try to deny it. Verbally at least.

~MTWC

[Blue]

Nevh took a short moment to answer Didina, her mind elsewhere.
"Hm? Oh, no. Marcell's."

Once all that was said, she turned her head toward Vulcar, wondering if he would dismiss them. It seemed more formal given those present in the room that the meeting should end properly.

[Battlechaser]

"Search and destroy them?" Léon asked, "Or search and feed them false intel?"

[Blue]

That caught Nevh's attention.
"So you're an ambassador, a spy and an assassin too?"

She seriously doubted killing was on the agenda. International spy-work was mostly investigating and reporting and killing the sought mark could cause more problems when the time would come to show the required proofs of the mark's culpability. Especially if they are then deemed insufficient. To say nothing of the damage it could cause to the country's foreign affairs. It was a good thing Vulcar was here to prohibit or sanction the act before it might happen, though the tact of the statement in the current situation was questionable.
"That would make you my Elernan counterpart, I suppose. Your skills must be impressive, I'll admit I've never heard of you."
Or he was getting his first experiences outside of the country.
Without really thinking about it, she was evaluating him. Perhaps because she now saw him in a new light; a possible rival, perhaps a threat.
She offered him her hand to shake.
"I'm glad it seems we're on the same side. Hopefully for a long time."
Truth be told she never really liked Elern. They had become a little too militarily aggressive and happened to be too close to home for comfort. Not having to worry about them was another load off her of concerns.
Whether he shook her hand or not, she'd lock eyes with him, staring with unnatural intensity as she tried to Sense Motive check to discern his evil/good alignment.pierce through his social masks and see his true nature.
She'd smile as her eyes eased on him whether he shook her hand or not. She suddenly doubted that was a true killer. Though, there were other ways to 'destroy' people.

[SpatulaOdoom]

”The failure of his attack on Kala is reasonable in retrospective.” Nobody could have expected Revenant the undying. ”The other attacks vary, though I think we can call the attack on the Dragonblazes successful. These last two, Phare and Elern, may be signs that he's starting to feel the pressure. The premise, that Halva would engineer assassinations at this time, with all the other things going on, doesn't flow well. Not like Shali's poisoning of Sharak's cropland years ago, or a similar incident.” Even still he'd mostly succeeded in Phare, taking out the royals and most of the Quartet.

The question now was how could they turn up the heat further still? More pressure meant more sloppy moves, more mistakes, and unfortunately more death and destruction.
”Don't forget to tell your agents investigating to look into that soldier I mentioned to Mr Loire the other day.”

To Leon Morgan says. ”Well the offer of help is still open. I'd suggest you start with a cover story that doesn't include you being an Elernen. Much as I wish people had a better attitude, you may find the atmosphere a little chilly towards your countrymen.”

[Makenshi]

Originally Posted by Leon

"Search and destroy them?" Léon asked, "Or search and feed them false intel?"

"Investigate and report. Whether you'll report to me, the Ambassador or someone else remains to be seen, though you'll also be reporting to Vulcar - indirectly of course - on what you discover. It might also be useful to make contacts among the Children." He glances between the various Children before settling on Coiya. "Is there someone in particular who would be good for such matters?"

"For social matters, the Faces such as Cipher would be best." He pauses slightly. "Or Mockingbird, when he shows up again."

Didina looks more than a little surprised at the latter suggestion. "Mockingbird? Isn't he the one who calls everyone men and women?" She glances at Aldamil, who's expression has become frosty. "And the one who killed Aldamil's father and one of her brothers?"

"He is." Breaker answers. "If he spoke like that then you saw him as himself. He's an accomplished mimic. It's how he won The Games three times and gained his gilded cage. When it comes to assassinations, he tends to prefer the kill and replace manner, however we have used him for more traditional spying roles in the past and he has performed well." Aldamil's expression does not go unnoticed by the Child, who soon starts to change the subject. "Once we hear from him, we will let you know. Hopefully he will discover that Tasak is not with the Fiends sooner rather than later, especially as as good a mimic as he is, I don't fancy his chances at fooling the InvidiaLone Lord."

Lucien smirks slightly when Nevh asks if Leon is an Ambassador. "Leon, an Ambassador? As...enlightened as Elern might be, I don't think they would agree to making a man of his history an Ambassador. He'd just be a part of the entourage. Whether officially or unofficially."

On the matter of the Elernan soldier Marcell nods in agreement. "Yes, I've already got people looking for him. Hywel." He wrinkles his nose. "I never liked that one. He was always too..." He seems at a loss for the description.

"Combative?" Lucien supplies.

"Mmmm. More than that though. He caused trouble left, right and centre, and even upwards and downwards if he could manage it. If not for his talents he'd have been cast out as unfit for service during his training."

"How strong a Seer is he?" Vulcar asks.

"Stronger than Lucien, but not as strong as Morgan, though he has more control over his visions in a manner similar to Lucien. Given the situation it seems likely that he was stolen away by Zera, but we need to check. It would be a convenient time to disappear after all."

~MTWC

[Battlechaser]

So now we're sucking up, aren't we? Léon smiled back and shook hands with Nevh. "Me an ambassador? My mother would have been quite surprised." He noticed the Rudaa studying him and thought Trying to read me? Go ahead. I'm an open book. Written in code, that is.
He flashed Lucien a grin. "Although it would be funny, just to see some stiff upperlips choke on their moustaches."

At Marcell's orders' Léon nodded his head in acknowledgment. "Just one remark. Since this Zera fella can mindrape almost everybody, won't it make more sense if I reported to you or Lucien directly. We have no idea whose strings he is pulling. And since this clique is already into the scheme, won't it be better if I cooperated with them and of Vulcar happens to be at a meeting he'll be informed - indirectly off course."

Léon turned back to Nehv "Not really an assassin. More of a problem solver. In any way deemed necessary."

[Blue]

She remembered her own mother's face when she returned with the news.
"No doubt."

His return on his use as a potential tool of assassination made her scoff. The coldness with which he laid it out didn't impress her. Most would-be assassins overestimated the hardness of their heart when the moment of truth came, crashed down when they went through with it, or died a bit themselves along with their marks. She herself had been no exception.
"Assassins are problem solvers almost by definition. Do you have experience in that necessity?"
Not that she doubted his expertise... but he smelled fresh to her on the whole murder trade thing. Killing for survival was one thing, putting your feelings aside and killing because you're asked to was another. Though perhaps he was a cherry-picker.

[Battlechaser]

"A bit." How could you make someone who was used to riches understand what it was like to fight for survival every single day of you childhood. To beg, steal and threaten. To fend off mollesters. No one cared wath happened to a little street urchin from 7 years old, but they also did not care about the perv that was trying to hold his intestines from swimming out of his abdomen. No one ever tried to bother Léon after that. Off course, that was in self-defense. Commit a cold-blooded murder. Léon shrugged. Perhaps.

[Blue]

"Hm-hm."
She was disappointed, but she tried to reason with herself that it was a good thing. People didn't need that in their lives.
"If it comes to that I'd recommend hiring one. Don't do it yourself."

She paused.
"For this appointment though, I believe it will not be necessary."