Something something still getting caught up...
I keep wanting to think of something else to put here, but nothing's coming to me, especially since I'm working on some of these 'catch up' posts back to back without any time for interesting thoughts or personal news to break them up. Maybe I'll do one of the character builds I've got in mind between this one and the next one, who knows. (Here's Chris from the future, saying I went ahead and got fully caught up, as you may know by now.)
Anyhow...
We pick up with Lecht slipping out of the alley, the head of their victim (let's not dance around that, I mean, they really did just kill a guy) tucked into their robes and getting a room at an inn. There's someone outside clearly keeping an eye on the place as an informal guard, but not as one of the Leaves. Lecht asks the guard to keep an eye out for their friends, describing them before going inside to get a room.
They go up to the innkeeper and ask how much for a room, and the guy -- who looks tired and weary -- tells them there's no charge. Lecht is confused, and the guy repeats there's no charge and to just go on to room number such-and-such before someone thinks he's haggling. Lecht gets it, and clarifies they just got into town, and they shake the man's hand and palm him a coin for the room before heading in.
The others catch up pretty quickly, thanks to Lecht thinking ahead and having someone get their attention. They arrive in the room to find the head placed on the table, staring blanking ahead.
"Please tell me this person attacked you first," Wandering Dawn says immediately after closing the door.
"Well..."
"Well?"
"He was about to attack me."
"How did you know?"
"Because I baited him into an alleyway to try and attack me." Lecht takes a moment to fix the guy's hair.
Stray Dog chimes in. "Where's the rest of him?"
"In an alleyway a few blocks away."
Stray Dog's "Imminently find-able. Awesome." overlaps with Wandering Dawn's "You left the body?!"
With an exasperated sigh, Wandering Dawn then says. "As long as nobody saw you."
"It's okay," Lecht begins. "He was part of the gang, we'll deal with the conse--"
Lecht is cut off by the thump of Wandering Dawn just sitting down onto the bed and muttering "Sun give me strength."
Lecht just turns to the head and gestures eerily over it, using Corpse-Questioning Technique to 'wake' the head to talk to it. They ask the head's name, and he answers with "Misko." They start to explain that he's dead, and that if he answers they're questions he'll get to go back to sleep, and then they stop and ask themselves why they're explaining this. So then they get into it.
"Why do you assault the merchants?"
"To punish them for their greet and avarice."
"Were you forced to act against your will in doing this? Have you been enchanted?"
"I joined because of the purity of the cause, and the cause sharpened my focus."[0]
"And the cause is 'money is bad?'"
"Effectively."
That line of questioning settled, Lecht switches tracks. "Who is in charge of the organization?"
"The Lady Anica."
"Okay, Lady Anica." This name sounds familiar to Lecht. "Who is she, exactly?"
"Anica Liczka, the late Marku's daughter."
"You're shitting me."
"No."
"So the man died due to the ghost incident a week ago? How long has she been in charge?"
"The Lady has been speaking to us for weeks, for fear of her brother's greed should he be able to take over the city."
"Oh, she's a cult leader. Great. So 'daddy' dies and she gets ballsy enough to push her agenda?"
"She was encouraging us to act but grew worried when she saw Luca was about to step up."
"We've got a few questions to go over, I'll knock a few off the list..." Lecht thinks a moment. "Where is your base of operations?"
"We don't have a singular one. There is a place where we've heard her speak in the past but we mostly organize in smaller groups in our homes."
"Alright..." Lecht thinks a moment, as it might've been too much to hope this one goon knows everything. They turn to the others. "Do you have any questions?"
Wandering Dawn speaks up. "Did you follow this person into an alley in an attempt to attack them?"
"Rude!" Lecht says.
"Yes," Misko answers. "They had the look of a smuggler about them."
"Have you killed anybody?"
"Yes."
"There, are you satisfied?" Lecht asks Wandering Dawn. "That was very rude, by the way."
Dawn continues as if Lecht hadn't spoken. "Do you know why she started this cult, this movement?"
"She's seen what greed does to the city. That the wealth has turned her father's heart dark and will turn her brother's heart darker, and she fears he'll sell the city to the Guild if he gets the chance."
"Who is the Guild?" Lecht asks, not being exceptionally familiar with them except in passing.
Stray Dog explains the Guild's role as an organization of international commerce, controlling cities and sometimes the fate of nations through drugs and slavery and manipulations. Wandering Dawn says "Let's just say they're a group of smugglers, slavers, thieves, cutthroats... a very powerful one."
"Why have they not been hollowed from this plane?" Lecht asks.
"They work from the shadows and they buy politicians and know who to bribe..." I didn't get it all, but you all can see where Wandering Dawn goes from there.
"I will get to them later," Lecht says dismissively. "Stray Dog, do you have any questions for Misko?"
He does, and it's a very important one. "Is she Exalted?"
"That's a good question," Lecht observes.
"Not as far as I know. Her heart is pure mortal, not swayed by any divine forces."
"Sounds like she's just very charismatic and knows how to talk to people," Wandering Dawn observes.
"It should be pretty easy to put a stop to this, then," Stray Dog observes.
"After all, we know where she makes her home," Lecht adds.
Wandering Dawn turns to the head. "Does she have any bodyguards or has she laid any traps?"
"The Lady goes nowhere without protection. That's all I know."
"I was hoping to get a little more out of him..."
"He's a random mugger, he's not that high up!" Lecht says. "I thought I was going to have to go to his boss and leave quite the body count!" They turn to the head. "Do you consent to be the subject of an experiment I might perform later?" Then they remember this guy's actually dead and it doesn't matter, so they stop and wave their hand and cancel the Charm to put the head out again. "Wait, never mind, don't answer that question."
Stray Dog asks what they're going to do with the head. Lecht pauses and says they're just going to put it in their bag, and they do so. Wandering Dawn asks if they have a spell that can cause it to disintegrate or deteriorate? They explains that the spell is indiscriminate and will kill so many people. There'd be a lot of collateral damage. Stray Dog suggests developing a spell that will render a body into dust. Wandering Dawn starts to add that's better to hide the evidence, and he stops himself when he realizes the moral corruption that statement is implying.
Lecht goes over what they know -- Anica witnesses her father's death, screams like a banshee, and now she's waging war on the entire town. So they feel a little better about their place in all this. At first they thought this was all their fault because they killed the old man and that left a power vacuum and the cult acted up. In reality they just... missed a culprit. And it's a very easy correction.
Wandering Dawn does not like the way they say 'just missed one.'
Lecht says they didn't assume the entire family was super-crooked. Next time they know better, take out the whole family. They ask if there's a way the others would prefer to do this, because they know that sometimes they can be a little... direct in their approaches.
Stray Dog likes the direct approach. Wandering Dawn would prefer to give her a chance to surrender, to back down, at least at first. If she refuses, then... he trails off. But he does think the others are right, he likes the direct approach in this case. They can go in and if she sends whatever bodyguard she has at them, maybe taking them out will get her to back down.
Lecht points out that she has that Wanaasan exorcist as well. The others make a note of that, and Wandering Dawn says they'll cross that bridge when they come to it. Lecht asks if that's the group consensus, and they're pretty much in agreement -- as Stray Dog puts it, 'kick in the door and all that.' Lecht says they knew they loved the others for a reason. So, making sure not to leave the head in the room at the inn, the others go out.
We then have a short sequence of Stray Dog gathering his entourage and Wandering Dawn mounting up to ride Mollie, and the group just heads down the street for the Liczka Estate. Wandering Dawn reaches into his Cache Egg and pulls out that red jade artifact spear he found a while back and gives it a couple of test swings. A crowd has already begun to form on the sidewalks because they recognize some shit's about to go down, though the sight of the spear gets a few people scrambling to get out of sight. As they make their way down the street, Lecht notes Nadia's bodyguard in the crowd, and they give each other a nod.
They reach the courtyard where there are a bunch of city guard ready to defend the house from assault. One of them steps forward and holds up a hand and asks for a moment -- firm, but not provocative.
Lecht asks if their intention is to stop them from entering the building.
"Yes."
"Who are you protecting?" Wandering Dawn asks, curious as to the guard's exact loyalties.
"The Liczka family. There's a lawless gang roaming the streets."
"Sister and brother?" Dawn asks, confirming.
"Yes."
This gets laughter out of Lecht, because it's all so delightful. Wandering Dawn sighs and gets ready to explain, and Lecht tells him they're never going to believe him but he can try if he wants. Stray Dog says that's how it goes -- give them one try, and then start killing people.
"Lady Anica is the head of this cultish gang," he tells the guards. "She means her brother harm while you're out here. You can either step aside..."
Stray Dog finishes. "...or be swept aside."
Wandering Dawn's charisma shines forth, quasi-literally since he's backing this up with some social Charms, and that's enough to get the guards looking nervously at their captain, who can feel the ring of truth in Wandering Dawn's statements.[1]
"This is a serious allegation," he says.
"These are serious times," Wandering Dawn responds, meeting his gaze.
"Do we look like we're fucking around?" asks Stray Dog, replacing subtext with text.
The guard ponders a moment and offers a compromise -- he'll let the three of them in to address these allegations, but the others (the wolverine and goon squad) have to remain in the courtyard. He assures them that nobody will be harmed unless they initiate hostilities. Wandering Dawn just smiles at that, but agrees.
As the captain leads the trio towards the house, the Solar chuckles and says it's funny that the captain thinks his people could hurt them. The guy gives him a serious side-glance and mutters "Please don't make me regret this."
As they head inside, Lecht mentions to the others that it's funny that these are the people they said not to bill. "'Oh, they just lost their father, don't bill them, that would be rude,'" they say, mockingly.
Anyhow, there's a bunch of commotion from the guards inside and the servants given the small paramilitary force that just strolled into the courtyard and these armed strangers in their foyer. They rush around to take care of things, and Wandering Dawn catches the gaze of a wide-eyed servant. She's blonde, and doesn't quite match the curly-haired woman who told them about the Leaves, but the eyes are the same -- slightly too large for a normal human, but most people don't seem to notice (think like the MCU version of Mantis). He doesn't know the full details of whatever her deal is, but he does know he's just spotted the Tell of a Lunar Exalt.
He meets her gaze and raises an eyebrow as she looks back at him, but she doesn't respond even as she gets a read of his intention to try and settle this peacefully.
By now the captain has conveyed to the interior guards what's going on and informs the trio it'll just be a minute. And, after a minute, Luca Liczka comes downstairs bellowing about wanting to know what's going on and what they're being accused of.
Wandering Dawn clarifies he's not accusing him, but his sister is the leader of the cult that's trying to oust him.
"The Leaves?" Luca scoffs. "This slightly-too-angry rabble?"
Wandering Dawn tries to impress upon him the threat of revolution, and Luca explains that's why he's got a platoon of guards outside, who apparently just let these three strangers in. He then angrily turns on the captain to lay into him, and Stray Dog comments that it's dangerous out there -- someone was just decapitated in an alley. That completely breaks Luca's stride and he stop and looks at Stray Dog, pale and wide-eyed.
Dawn asks Luca where his sister is. He says she's probably talking to her bodyguard, as she hasn't been well since their father died and he's put everything into keeping her safe. The Solar says Anica's been playing him like a fiddle and has manipulated them all, and if Luca would like to remain alive then he should let the three of them talk to her. Lecht comments that came across as a little threatening.
"Are you saying she's the one who poisoned our father?" Luca asks.
Wandering Dawn has no knowledge of that, but if she's the mastermind of these riots, there's a likely chance she did. Luca looks upstairs and yells for her. Lecht says he wasn't poisoned, there was that whole thing with the hungry ghost. Luca says the Wanaasan examined the body and said there were signs of poison; it's why Marku was in such ill-health as to let his lower soul free as a hungry ghost to begin with. Stray Dog comments that that's interesting, given that she's working with the Leaves.
"But that's not right, she offered to stay..." Luca begins before he trails off. Then he and a couple of guards rush upstairs. Wandering Dawn yells for him not to confront her alone as he and the others follow.
They get up to Anica's room and that wide-eyed servant lets them in. Luca and the others rush in and see the room's empty and it looks like Anica grabbed some things and left. Luca angrily demands to know where the hell is she? Wandering Dawn asks if the exorcist is Anica's bodyguard, or otherwise assisting her, and Luca says the exorcist isn't Anica's primary bodyguard but has been offering her assistance free of charge.
Wandering Dawn asks if she had a favorite place to go, and Luca says there's a favorite teahouse, but she hasn't gone outside since their father died.
The servant mentions 'the old chimney.'
"What old chimney?" Luca demands.
She explains it's part of an old ventilation system for the salt mine that partially runs under the house and now holds the family crypt. The chimney's been sealed up, but it might be a passageway and there might be an access in the guest room at the end of the hall. Luca grabs a couple of guard and servants and heads from the room. Lecht, preferring something more reliable, gets one of Anica's hairbrushes and uses it to summon a Bone Lion to track her. It takes off down the hallway, heading downstairs, and Lecht and Stray Dog rush after it.
Wandering Dawn, about to be the last one out, stops and asks the Lunar if she's on their side. She says she's on the side of the peace and safety of the town. She's been trying to get to the bottom of this herself, but her allies cannot move openly. That's good enough for Wandering Dawn, and as he turns to go he feels her slip something into his pocket (though he doesn't stop to check what).
Meanwhile, on the way down, Stray Dog pauses to summon a pair of large ethereal dogs -- Hounds of the Five Winds -- to join the chase. The group also calls in Stray Dog's goons and Mollie from outside, and they all follow the Bone Lion down into the family crypt. Some of the torches have been lit, and in the first chamber there's Marku's body on the slab -- looking like absolute hell, given the circumstances of his passing. They follow the Bone Lion into a tunnel, moving past sconces of Liczka family bodies, many of whom are rather well preserved given the crypt used to be a salt mine.
They rush forward into a large chamber much like an auditorium, or perhaps an underground chapel. There are benches and chairs lined up, and the tunnel comes out on a little stage and the room continues on back. As the group gathers on the stage, they see before them a mob arranged -- a few dozen townsfolk with clubs and bludgeons and all of them wearing distinct scraps of green cloth marking them as Leaves. Standing in front of them is a muscular Northern woman with a glaive, presumably Anica's bodyguard.
Also with them is a woman Wandering Dawn mostly recognizes because of her build, since before she was wearing a mask -- Wanaasan Kaga, who isn't wearing all of the accoutrement she had before but is wreathing herself in that distinctive fog.
And we leave off there.
[0]-- I didn't point this out at the time, but this whole response, specifically the second half, definitely has a ring of "I wasn't not enchanted" to it. Just saying.
[1]-- In other words, Wandering Dawn got a bunch of extra successes on his influence roll, and put them into instilling an Intimacy of trust in the captain.
No comments:
Post a Comment