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Message: <blockquote data-quote="gideonpepys" data-source="post: 7411766" data-attributes="member: 79141">Session 51, Part One - The Debauched BrotherhoodUru immediately threw up a cloud of darkness to defend himself.  One of the satyrs gave an order and another piped a charm, causing Uru to dance and jerk uncontrollably.  Little Jack responded by manoeuvring to keep Uru seated, but this took him out of the cloud.  At once, the other satyrs began to fire arrows, though they failed to find their spiralling, air-borne target.Meanwhile Korrigan continued to pound on the ice-wall and cracks began to appear even on the outside.  One of the satyrs pointed this out to the others, but it was too late: the wall came asunder and the satyrs were swept away on a sudden flood of sea-water.  Redcoat the bear (for it was he) planted his feet firmly and remained standing.  Quratulain, Korrigan, Kai and Gupta (still in tiger form) were washed out of the tunnel and struggled to regain their footing.  (Nyves clung to the roof of the tunnel and stayed there until the coast was clear.)With the piped charm at an end, Uru took aim at Redcoat and fired a warning shot.  Uru’s idea of a warning was an agonising shuriken between the shoulder blades that caused Redcoat to cry out in pain and give in to the flood. Uru demanded that the satyrs surrender.Their leader was already back on his hooves. This black-clad satyr was far more menacing than the rest.  In response to Uru’s threats he snarled back, “Listen to that! The little one’s trying to throw a scare into Nbed. Stick ‘em, boys.”  Two satyrs sprang at Quratulain and Korrigan, who had yet to stand back up. Quratulain dispatched her attacker before he could land a blow.  The satyr was not dead, but perilously close.  “You cannot hurt us,” said Quratulain.  “Just stop it.”Gupta rose, not as a tiger, but in a hybrid form that the others had not seen before.  She greeted the mercenaries with threatening snarls.  Redcoat shouted to Nbed, “I thought this was supposed to be an easy job?”Korrigan rose, warding off blows. “A keen observation. How about we stop this madness and talk?”  There was a cautious impasse, weapons still drawn.“Is this the first time Beshela has lied to you?” asked Gupta.“Beshela has no sway over the Debauched Brotherhood,” answered Nbed. Korrigan knew something of Nbed, thanks to the insight of the Humble Hook and threatened to report their actions to the Rowan King (under whose banner they now fought). Nbed became angry at this and flecks of his spit landed on Korrigan as he shouted back, “The Rowan King promised our arms to Darbony. It is for him we fight now!” It was evident that Nbed feared Darbony and how the Gruff Goat would react to their failure.At this point, Redcoat, who had been sniffing the air, suddenly recognised the unit. He immediately launched into a complaint that they had tricked him out of some mead, before remembering that they had also freed the River King from the pernicious influence of Jenny Greenteeth.  In the end, they managed to persuade the Brotherhood to admit that Darbony had sent them. Darbony had ordered Rock’s execution himself and now wanted to cover up his crime. (The story went that he was jealous of Rock. The satyr mercenary who had carried out his orders had died on the battlefield just a few days ago.)  They confirmed that the ice walls and the sea water had not been part of their plan.They allowed the Brotherhood to retreat, and promised to help them avoid Darbony’s wrath, using their influence with the Unseen Court to do so.Though they were smarting from their last fight – and unbeknownst to the satyrs, perilously close to defeat – they decided to return to the palace immediately and confront Darbony (relying on the fact that he would not attack them in public). Mista Nyves led them straight back without taking a roundabout route (he was, they knew, no fan of the Hedgehog Court). On the way, Uru attuned himself with the spirits of the city and learned that Andrei had set off with Rambylon when the ice walls went up, trying to find them at the other exit. Uru sent an animal messenger to Andrei and told him to go with Rambylon to keep watch over Sly.Outside the Hall of Mayflies, the crowds had thinned, but Darbony was still engaged in court business.  He barely seemed to notice Korrigan at first and when he finally did he seemed perplexed and far from guilty-looking. When confronted with the accusations, Darbony denied them and Korrigan was convinced that he was telling the truth. Korrigan put in a good word for Nbed and his followers and Darbony said he had no interest in punishing them for failing to carry out orders he never gave. Then he dropped his voice to a whisper and offered to bear false witness against whoever they chose as their prime suspect. Korrigan asked if Darbony thought Beshela might be behind the murder of Rock (given the nature of the first attack in the tunnel). Darbony immediately confirmed that she was a very likely suspect and that he had heard her threaten Rock’s life on many occasions. He gave a melodramatic wink and Korrigan withdrew, favouring the truth over a fit-up.So: rest! They returned to the cottage Sallin had made available on the palace grounds. Everyone awoke fully refreshed, except Gupta who was extremely nauseous: When she took tiger form it was necessary for her to consume a living thing, but she had neglected to do so. (Even if she had been able to eat a whole killer whale, the whales were summons and had vanished when they died.) Quratulain had also suffered some external damage which rest could not heal and for the first time she allowed Uru to fix her.  He did quite a good job, but Quratulain did not thank him.Sallin came to visit them while they breakfasted. They exchanged pleasantries and Korrigan said he had some questions about Rock’s body, but Sallin said she had not seen it. When asked why no attempt had been made to establish the truth, Sallin said that it did not concern her; she regretted the conflict but saw it as a means to deal with the vexing Hedgehog question once and for all. She did not like human machinery any more than they did, but thought their fixation on it was ironic – making the very thing they despised the focal point of their lives and elevating it to a greater importance than it would otherwise have.  “Machines have come to dominate their lives too,” she said.Uru quizzed Nyves about the nature of the Webway. It ranged throughout the Dreaming and could be accessed only by ‘spidery fey’, or those who entered and exited in their company. They ruminated on who that pointed to, but could think of no one obvious. (Except Uru! )</blockquote>

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