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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lylandra" data-source="post: 7311902" data-attributes="member: 6816692">Mr. Black PantherNow Auryn knows that she has to sell Carlyle's plan to the Vekeshi first so she dons her Barn Owl garb and travels to the border of the Dreaming where she's already been expected. Three other Vekeshi elders are present at their secret meeting point: Old Stag, the Wolf and the Ursa who Auryn knows to be the druid Eilean. They demand an explanation for the incident with Rock Rackus as they clearly didn't order the execution of the “loud boy”. Auryn explains that she's clearly not responsible for the attack on Rock and even used her powers to save him and call the attack part of the show to avoid a panic and more questions.She then tells the whole story from her perspective, starting with Old Stag's joke about Rock's music (which she totally understands) to the letter she falsely ignored as she thought it a crude joke of one of their fey brethren to the attack on Rock Rackus by a Simulacrum, a creation of very potent magic. She adds that Old Stag had nothing to do with all of this and if someone should be to blame, then it would be her for ignoring the letter and not acting more proactively. Nonetheless, Wolf and Ursa insist on following the rule that a mentor is responsible for his student, so she and Old Stag are given a full solar cycle to clean up the mess. Auryn thinks about the incident for a while and then objects to the sentence as she's reminded of the intrigues and betrayals that followed her over the last weeks. She assumes that this outcome might be exactly what the real culprit was planning and that he'd either want her and Old Stag occupied or executed. She goes on to say that the magic of the Simulacrum is not easily recreated and even less mundane, so someone put great effort into this plan. She also knows that not all Vekeshi are d'accord with Old Stag's “gentle” course and might envy his influence on their circle. Auryn then muses that whoever did this might have seen her, Old Stag's student as his weakness to either discredit him or get rid of him completely. The two female Vekeshi cannot really find arguments against Auryn's logic. They take back the ultimatum, but still order her to solve this mystery and to bring the culprit to justice. Auryn replies that she wanted to catch whoever did this anyway and that she'll be more than capable to do this on her own.(Yep, Auryn really wants to keep her mentor out of this mess as she feels responsible for what just happened. She adores him and sees him as family, so she'd totally fight for him and his good name with all available means.)   Next Auryn brings up the issue of Mr. Carlyle. She explains that her revelation was at least partially due to the Vekeshi's interest in him and his powers, so the assassination attempt was simply the last straw needed to get him involved as well. She adds that her telling him the truth was maybe premature but that she had no other choice as she needs him to solve the case and lying to him would have made the whole mission even more complicated. She says that Carlyle himself had an idea how to solve her conflict and would like to propose this idea to the council. This is where Old Stag intervenes. He draws upon the magic of the Dreaming to transform them all into their respective animal spirits (Wolf, Bear, Stag and Barn Owl) and then calls upon Carlyle whom he also leads to the clearing. Carlyle appears in the guise of a spiritual black Panther who looks a bit confused at fist but then quickly realizes what's going on. (Having a Panther as spirit form was Carlyle's own interpretation and he started liking his alter ego after this encounter. Black Jaguar could have been fitting as well, but Leopards/Panthers are slightly more lithe and Carlyle is an agile and elegant man)Once he realizes that he's on Vekeshi grounds, Carlyle half-jokingly asks whether he's been called here to get tried and executed now that he knows about their secret society. They all share a quick laugh as they all know a Deva would simply be reborn if they killed him and chances are that he'd somehow retain his memories of their encounter. Auryn/Barn Owl stays quiet while the other three try to explain the Vekeshi ways and purpose to Carlyle. They make sure to focus on their spiritual responsibility to fend off creatures like Sijhen - a job that was given to Auryn - or to soothe malevolent fey. They say that they can feel a strong presence of the Goddess Srasama inside him which would make them follow the same spiritual course as well. Carlyle however is surprised that the Vekeshi pay so much attention to a dead Eladrin goddess as she wasn't really involved in Risuri affairs and the Eladrin population of Risur is rather small. He then reiterates his fear that the Vekeshi as they are now are pretty much without any kind of control and thus susceptible to manipulation. He explains that organizations like the RHC, for whom he decided to work, have someone superior to report to and to be held accountable by. The Ursa acknowledges the value of the RHC but adds that even official instances like the police of Flint are often incapable and inefficient and that its members are more than often corrupt and more likely to serve people of power and wealth than the general populace. She adds that the Vekeshi often use the jobs and positions they have in their “real lives” to serve justice by going the official way. Carlyle replies that he welcomes this approach, still he criticizes the uncontrolled decision-making and the illegitimate means by which they obtained critical RHC information. They go on to talk about the idea to have the King know about the Vekeshi operations in Flint. Not like Aodhan doesn't have his secret special forces who surely do more severe stuff every day...Carlyle says that the King should be informed about the external information that are given to and discussed by the Vekeshi and also suggests that whatever problems can be solved by the RHC should probably be delegated to the RHC. He says that Delft, their new Chief Inspector, is a fair and capable man who serves all of Flint and doesn't pay favors to anyone. After a while all of them can agree on Carlyle's proposals. As Carlyle is able to recognize his colleague even in spirit form, he says that he and the Barn Owl will contact the King as soon as possible and inform him about their plan. He then promises to help her with her assassination case – after all the wanted person could very well be one of their enemies. After the conference of Spirit-Animals is concluded and Mr. Panther has vanished, the four Vekeshi are transformed back to their humanoid forms. Old Stag almost collapses afterward as he used up too much of his power to make this meeting possible. He seems so weak that Auryn feels the need to gently support him as they cross the border back to the material world. While she's really worried about his current state, Old Stag says that he's fine and simply needs some rest. He then uses what's left of his magic to transport her directly to the hedge of her garden. When we meet up in our office the next day, Carlyle is extremely dismissive of Auryn. Margit senses that something must be amiss, but neither of them seems content to talk about their problem.  Both simply explain that they need to contact the King via light-messaging and go on to do so. Fortunately for us, we almost immediately get a respond from Slate which says that King Aodhan invites the two of us to an audience in his palace. Both constables are eerily quiet during their train ride to Slate and it seems like they've been never more distanced from each other. While their initial meet-up at Nymeia's presentation and in the club might have been awkward they've never tried to actively avoid each other. Getting to Slate and into the palace seems to take an eternity even though only a few hours pass. After a short waiting in a salon in Torfield Palace, we are summoned to a private meeting room where King Aodhan and Prime Minister Lee are already waiting for us. (Guess what? They just finished dinner. Seems like these two are really close... even if Mr. Carlyle would surely scold Auryn would she muse about King and Prime Minister maybe being "more than just friends")We quickly explain our mysterious problem to the King and his first man. Auryn says that whatever happened falls under her responsibility which includes every misstep she might have taken. She confesses that being part of two organizations sworn to secrecy could easily lead to conflicts of interests and also lists every occasion where she gave information to the Vekeshi or to the RHC. She then defends the Vekeshi of Flint as people who try to uphold Risuri ideals and who try to protect the common folk. Auryn also mentions that this group is very old, has maybe been around for centuries and brought justice way before the RHC was even founded. Carlyle then intervenes and adds that this kind of “justice” can quickly lead to vigilantism, which is why there is a judicial system and a police force in the first place.King Aodhan says that he understands the problem and conflict of interest. However, the Vekeshi of Flint are actually tame from what he's heard compared to those who operate in other areas of the world. He's also never heard of any official complaint about vigilantism even if some sensationalist reporters try to link common murder to the Vekeshi. The King also sees reason in Carlyle's opposition, so having some contact inside the organization seems like a sound plan, especially if the Vekeshi already agreed to have an observer. So he'd like to make us both observers who report serious Vekeshi activities as well as any transferred information to him. Both men then ask for a little time to set some things into motion.  After a while, we are summoned to the meeting room again only to find Viscount Inspector Price-Hill and Stover Delft sitting right in front of King and Prime Minister. Once we sit down as well, King Aodhan declares without beating about the bush that the constables Mr. Gabriel Carlyle and Auryn, daughter of Galadin, will be reporting directly to him in some sensible cases. Both our superiors look pretty surprised, but Aodhan asks them to not inquire any further. This surprises them even more, but they surely don't try to talk the King out of his decision. (So we really didn't expect that. We tried to make this a rather “intimate affair” and now Price-Hill and Delft probably think we've been elevated to very special royal black ops agents or be his personal eyes and ears in the RHC or something crazy like that...)Our journey back to Flint proceeds without any incidents. Still Mr. Carlyle and Auryn barely exchange any word and it seems like both feel deeply hurt by the other's actions and stances. Carlyle, because he trusted her and because she was the first person he'd open up to after losing touch with Nathaniel Vantrys. And Auryn because she knew she had to make tough choices and decisions every day and now that she tried to share this burden with a person she trusted, she got pushed away as if their friendship was nothing but a lie. (In a hindsight, there is even more to that rift than I thought when I first wrote the recap. From what I know now about Carlyle's character, I'd also guess that he might have feared that Auryn's “vigilantism” might defect him and lead him back to his old ways of his previous life and this time he was desperate to always play by the rules. So he had to make sure to shut her “corrupting influence” out. Auryn on the other hand placed her trust in Carlyle, and even tried to understand his oftentimes “alien” conventions and views. She expected him to do the same for her but felt like he hadn't changed at all. She's also a bit stubborn what it comes to her decision-making skills as she insists that she's been prepared and raised to be a ruler, not a servant. And while she knew that she maybe made a mistake, she surely didn't feel remorse or guilt as she was still sure that she'd be able to balance the interests of the Vekeshi and the RHC. There was also this short exchange between them during this episode, and I guess it was shortly after their return to Flint where Auryn said something like “I've stripped naked in front of my King and offered him my throat, yet he chose to wrap his mantle around my shoulders. Are you going to defy his judgment and shred me to pieces?” to which he replied “So you'd have taken any sentence of King Aodhan and just lived with it?” to which she then replied “Of course, he's my matriarch!”. Even if both knew from the issue with the Duchess that the King's sentence wouldn't be too draconian anyway.)  Nevertheless, we immediately proceed to search for the culprit behind the attack on Rock Rackus once we get back to Flint. After all, he could be a compromised Vekeshi and therefore a possible member of the Obscurati. So we first wrap up all information we have: The culprit has to be quite new to the Vekeshi or alternatively needs another reason to have no knowledge of the mentor-student relationship of Barn Owl and the Old Stag. In addition, he or she needs to have access to powerful magic and have had means to find out the true identity of Barn Owl. Thinking about their past meetings, Auryn remembers only two Vekeshi who openly criticized Old Stag's decisions: One who wore a goat mask and another who was completely disguised but had a scythe as a weapon. We also have to consider the fact that the attacker might not work alone. As we know that summoning the Vekeshi to a new gathering might take some time we decide to search for people involved in creating the Simulacrum first. We search Flint for possible registered or unregistered sales of a scroll and find that the only ones capable of obtaining and selling one are RHC and government officials and the Familia. None of them sold such an item however. Still one scribe can give us hints on where to search next as he knows the addresses of Flint's most talented ice and stone sculptors. Time to ask whether one of them got hired to work on an icy double of Auryn over the last weeks.</blockquote>

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