gideonpepys
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
Session 79a - Downtime Week Five - Everyone Except Uru
At dusk on the night of the Winter Solstice, two Vekeshi mystics, a gnome and a spryte, visited Leon at dusk and gave him ceremonial robes to wear. They took him to a waiting canoe and set off through the bayou beyond Pine Island. It was unclear whether they crossed into the Dreaming, but soon lights became visible - faerie lights in the mangroves. Ahead, on a tangled island of roots a gathering in celebration of the Winter Solstice was taking place - more muted than the hedonistic gatherings of the Vekeshi and the fey that Leon had taken part in previously. Here he was suprised to see Redcoat the talking bear and Dantes the satyr, who acknowledged him as he passed by and came before the Old Stag, who raised his scarred hands in welcome, and said, "Leon Veilleux, you are to be accorded a singular honour - one rarely afforded to any mortal, let alone to a tiefling of Danor. These you see before you are emmissaries of the Unseen Court who have come to pay their respects and grant you access to fonts of power hidden within the Dreaming which only the nobles of the court are permitted to wield." Dantes and Redcoat represented the River King, a slender dryad had come on behalf of the Birch Queen, and several eladrin had come express their gratitude for the rescue of Isobel Travers. From now on, Leon would be a full member of the Vekeshi, deriving power both from his oath to them, and his pact with the Unseen Court. The rest of the evening passed in musical revels, enhanced by the consumption of fey herbs and powders.
Leon devoted the following week to turning the bureaucracy of Flint against the machinations of Black Star Mining. His earlier investigations bore fruit when a contact informed him that the Danoran navy had not developed submersible technology advanced enough to produce a craft such as the Cachalot. (Leon was trying to work out how closely tied the Obscurati was to the Danoran government.) He spent his remaining time trying to find out how best to expose the fraudulent 'avatars' used by Khaled Valcheck to replace Rumdoom.
Matunaaga withdrew to the riverside dwelling he had constructed for himself and devoted all of his time to study of the Palimpsest, aided by the akashic memory stream he had tentatively revisited (following the trauma he experienced in the Vault when he tried to do so while bound to Ashima-Shimtu). The voices of his ancestors were welcoming as ever - he felt sure that Roshna and Tosin were wrong when they said he had no right to the stone.
Korrigan, having learned about the workings of the Flint Council from Deneric Jayce, devoted himself to study of its members - the mayors of the districts of Flint. It would be extremely important in the weeks to come - both to Korrigan's personal, political ambitions, and the unit's intention to prevent the launch of the mercenary fleet - to understand the workings of this body and how to influence its members.
Having spent several weeks putting the feelers out to find like-minded individuals in the upper echelons of the city, Korrigan used the influence of allies Heward Sechim, Benard of Glenwade and councilman Jayce to invite a select group to a dinner at a private members club in North Shore (access provided by Cezar Stainer, well-intention socialite and uncle to his wife, who nonetheless showed no inclination to join the gathering). The dinner went well. Korrigan used his considerable, and rapidly developing political skills to keep this group of strong-willed, independent-minded individuals from bickering and diagreeing too violently. They agreed that any influence they had collectively should be focused on publically and politically opposing the mercenary fleet. All were complementary towards Korrigan and happy that he had decided to broaden his influence in public life.
Not present at this gathering was Admiral Dawkins. Korrigan had learned from the bullish Admiral Rothcoe that Dawkins was a 'tree-hugger'. He had requested an audience with the admiral, and five days later received an invitation to join him aboard his flagship. (Korrigan recognised some of the crew-members from the time when the unit were trying to track down the fey golem Conquo, which had disappeared from RHC possession and ended up in the hands of the Vekeshi.) Dawkins was an unassuming man whose only idiosyncracy was that he wore leather gloves indoors and at his desk. Over a drink of brandy Dawkins told Korrigan that he felt it unwise for senior military figures to let their personal politics be widely known. (This could be construed as either a demurral or an implicit criticism of Korrigan, but Dawkins demonstrated no malice.) He said that such behaviour was the first step on the road to tyranny (although he acknowledged this was an melodramatic view). Dawkins did, however, comment favourably both on the article Korrigan had penned for the Courier and the paper Leon had released through the Battalion.
Korrigan also returned to talk with Luc Jierre, using the information he had gathered from Nathan. he managed to convince Luc to open up to him a little, however haltingly, and learned two important things over the course of several hours' of interviews: Firstly, Luc was convinced that there was no means by which his lantern could be weaponised, although he was aware of the Obscurati plan to create lighthouse-sized versions, and had never been told what they were for, he adamantly maintained that there was no practical, aggressive use. There were defensive permutations, but nothing more sinister. Following on from this conversation, Korrigan was then able to persuade Luc to demonstrate exactly how the Wayfarer's Lantern worked. (Without the appropriate oils, the Royal Engineers has been unable to delineate its precise function.)
One direct and dramatic result of the aspertions Rumdoom cast against the 'avatars' of Black Star Mining was that a ten-strong group of dwarven heavies showed up outside the meeting house of his Rumschatology group as Hildegaard and Harn were leaving one evening, threatened them, pushed them about and smashed a couple of windows. Rumdoom, when he returned, did not take the bait or behave as the old Rumdoom might have done: he convinced his two friends that this was a good thing - that they were clearly beginning to rattle the unprincipled Valchek; and he began putting together a security detail to be paid for from group funds. At their next meeting, numbers had doubled to sixty, and Rumdoom's growing confidence in the field of runic interpretation added much depth and authenticity to his oratory. The gathered eschatologists were impressed and word began to spread of this new, forceful and positive interpretation of the Heid Eschatol.
Malthusius spent the first few days of the week studying Governor Stanfield's book on deva reincarnation. Stanfield would not let him take the huge tome, but had agreed that Malthusius could come back to the Governor's mansion whenever he liked and access his library. Needless to say, there was some cumbersome bureaucracy involved (of the kind Leon was now wielding against the mercenary fleet), which Malthusius was able to neatly sidestep: he spent several hours with the book on the day he visited with Stanfield and committed the entire work to memory, to retrieve for later contemplation. He learned that there were methods through which a deva could predict the rough location of a reincarnation, making it easier for friendly agents to track down. This would enable the reincarnation to step into the shoes of its predecessor and even recover past memories. Another chapter covered the meditative process through which the memories and skills of lost lives could more easily be accessed.
A few days later, Wolfgang von Recklinghausen returned to tell Malthusius that he had once again been contacted by the Ob: They established that he was interested in joining them, and said they would set up a meeting place later in the week. Malthusius said that he would put Uru on Wolfgang's tail in case the Ob tried anything funny, and advised him not to attend the meeting alone. Only later did Malthusius discover what had happened to Uru...
At dusk on the night of the Winter Solstice, two Vekeshi mystics, a gnome and a spryte, visited Leon at dusk and gave him ceremonial robes to wear. They took him to a waiting canoe and set off through the bayou beyond Pine Island. It was unclear whether they crossed into the Dreaming, but soon lights became visible - faerie lights in the mangroves. Ahead, on a tangled island of roots a gathering in celebration of the Winter Solstice was taking place - more muted than the hedonistic gatherings of the Vekeshi and the fey that Leon had taken part in previously. Here he was suprised to see Redcoat the talking bear and Dantes the satyr, who acknowledged him as he passed by and came before the Old Stag, who raised his scarred hands in welcome, and said, "Leon Veilleux, you are to be accorded a singular honour - one rarely afforded to any mortal, let alone to a tiefling of Danor. These you see before you are emmissaries of the Unseen Court who have come to pay their respects and grant you access to fonts of power hidden within the Dreaming which only the nobles of the court are permitted to wield." Dantes and Redcoat represented the River King, a slender dryad had come on behalf of the Birch Queen, and several eladrin had come express their gratitude for the rescue of Isobel Travers. From now on, Leon would be a full member of the Vekeshi, deriving power both from his oath to them, and his pact with the Unseen Court. The rest of the evening passed in musical revels, enhanced by the consumption of fey herbs and powders.
Leon devoted the following week to turning the bureaucracy of Flint against the machinations of Black Star Mining. His earlier investigations bore fruit when a contact informed him that the Danoran navy had not developed submersible technology advanced enough to produce a craft such as the Cachalot. (Leon was trying to work out how closely tied the Obscurati was to the Danoran government.) He spent his remaining time trying to find out how best to expose the fraudulent 'avatars' used by Khaled Valcheck to replace Rumdoom.
Matunaaga withdrew to the riverside dwelling he had constructed for himself and devoted all of his time to study of the Palimpsest, aided by the akashic memory stream he had tentatively revisited (following the trauma he experienced in the Vault when he tried to do so while bound to Ashima-Shimtu). The voices of his ancestors were welcoming as ever - he felt sure that Roshna and Tosin were wrong when they said he had no right to the stone.
Korrigan, having learned about the workings of the Flint Council from Deneric Jayce, devoted himself to study of its members - the mayors of the districts of Flint. It would be extremely important in the weeks to come - both to Korrigan's personal, political ambitions, and the unit's intention to prevent the launch of the mercenary fleet - to understand the workings of this body and how to influence its members.
Having spent several weeks putting the feelers out to find like-minded individuals in the upper echelons of the city, Korrigan used the influence of allies Heward Sechim, Benard of Glenwade and councilman Jayce to invite a select group to a dinner at a private members club in North Shore (access provided by Cezar Stainer, well-intention socialite and uncle to his wife, who nonetheless showed no inclination to join the gathering). The dinner went well. Korrigan used his considerable, and rapidly developing political skills to keep this group of strong-willed, independent-minded individuals from bickering and diagreeing too violently. They agreed that any influence they had collectively should be focused on publically and politically opposing the mercenary fleet. All were complementary towards Korrigan and happy that he had decided to broaden his influence in public life.
Not present at this gathering was Admiral Dawkins. Korrigan had learned from the bullish Admiral Rothcoe that Dawkins was a 'tree-hugger'. He had requested an audience with the admiral, and five days later received an invitation to join him aboard his flagship. (Korrigan recognised some of the crew-members from the time when the unit were trying to track down the fey golem Conquo, which had disappeared from RHC possession and ended up in the hands of the Vekeshi.) Dawkins was an unassuming man whose only idiosyncracy was that he wore leather gloves indoors and at his desk. Over a drink of brandy Dawkins told Korrigan that he felt it unwise for senior military figures to let their personal politics be widely known. (This could be construed as either a demurral or an implicit criticism of Korrigan, but Dawkins demonstrated no malice.) He said that such behaviour was the first step on the road to tyranny (although he acknowledged this was an melodramatic view). Dawkins did, however, comment favourably both on the article Korrigan had penned for the Courier and the paper Leon had released through the Battalion.
Korrigan also returned to talk with Luc Jierre, using the information he had gathered from Nathan. he managed to convince Luc to open up to him a little, however haltingly, and learned two important things over the course of several hours' of interviews: Firstly, Luc was convinced that there was no means by which his lantern could be weaponised, although he was aware of the Obscurati plan to create lighthouse-sized versions, and had never been told what they were for, he adamantly maintained that there was no practical, aggressive use. There were defensive permutations, but nothing more sinister. Following on from this conversation, Korrigan was then able to persuade Luc to demonstrate exactly how the Wayfarer's Lantern worked. (Without the appropriate oils, the Royal Engineers has been unable to delineate its precise function.)
One direct and dramatic result of the aspertions Rumdoom cast against the 'avatars' of Black Star Mining was that a ten-strong group of dwarven heavies showed up outside the meeting house of his Rumschatology group as Hildegaard and Harn were leaving one evening, threatened them, pushed them about and smashed a couple of windows. Rumdoom, when he returned, did not take the bait or behave as the old Rumdoom might have done: he convinced his two friends that this was a good thing - that they were clearly beginning to rattle the unprincipled Valchek; and he began putting together a security detail to be paid for from group funds. At their next meeting, numbers had doubled to sixty, and Rumdoom's growing confidence in the field of runic interpretation added much depth and authenticity to his oratory. The gathered eschatologists were impressed and word began to spread of this new, forceful and positive interpretation of the Heid Eschatol.
Malthusius spent the first few days of the week studying Governor Stanfield's book on deva reincarnation. Stanfield would not let him take the huge tome, but had agreed that Malthusius could come back to the Governor's mansion whenever he liked and access his library. Needless to say, there was some cumbersome bureaucracy involved (of the kind Leon was now wielding against the mercenary fleet), which Malthusius was able to neatly sidestep: he spent several hours with the book on the day he visited with Stanfield and committed the entire work to memory, to retrieve for later contemplation. He learned that there were methods through which a deva could predict the rough location of a reincarnation, making it easier for friendly agents to track down. This would enable the reincarnation to step into the shoes of its predecessor and even recover past memories. Another chapter covered the meditative process through which the memories and skills of lost lives could more easily be accessed.
A few days later, Wolfgang von Recklinghausen returned to tell Malthusius that he had once again been contacted by the Ob: They established that he was interested in joining them, and said they would set up a meeting place later in the week. Malthusius said that he would put Uru on Wolfgang's tail in case the Ob tried anything funny, and advised him not to attend the meeting alone. Only later did Malthusius discover what had happened to Uru...
