main plot The Taste of Death

[Fatebreaker he/him]

The Stranger raised his voice and said, "Let it be known the DA has offered to end this with speed and efficiency,  but the other guilds have declined the most efficient option. Any collateral damage that results due to this decision rests on your shoulders."

He turned his one-eyed gaze towards the two representatives from the other guilds that had been speaking.

"So I hope you have something worth while to go off of. You are the ones who need another plan, we have no need for further strategy."

He grinned almost lazily, like a well fed crocodile. "So you had better come up with some good information,  or we might just opt for some topographical rearrangement."

He Soulcast the nearest plate of TUBA cookies into smoke, then produced a platter of cookies from thin air, which he set on the table.

[AonEne he/him]

8 minutes ago, Fatebreaker said:

He Soulcast the nearest plate of TUBA cookies into smoke...

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Now that's just rude.

 

[I think I am here. he/him]

1 hour ago, Fatebreaker said:

The Stranger raised his voice and said, "Let it be known the DA has offered to end this with speed and efficiency,  but the other guilds have declined the most efficient option. Any collateral damage that results due to this decision rests on your shoulders."

He turned his one-eyed gaze towards the two representatives from the other guilds that had been speaking.

"So I hope you have something worth while to go off of. You are the ones who need another plan, we have no need for further strategy."

He grinned almost lazily, like a well fed crocodile. "So you had better come up with some good information,  or we might just opt for some topographical rearrangement."

He Soulcast the nearest plate of TUBA cookies into smoke, then produced a platter of cookies from thin air, which he set on the table.

Let it be known the DA has offered to destroy the city in their usual demeanor, but the other guilds have declined the offer, actually caring about of the subjects of the city, Lusk said in his internal monologue, but didn't think about repeating the phrase out loud. He'd already stretched his luck in a gamble that had paid off, no need to double dip.

But still, Lusk had to keep in his notes that the gods were impossible to negotiate. So disconnected from the world. Sure, they may have created it, but was it anything more than an experiment, like you would observe a baking soda volcano. What did they know of friends, family? Perhaps when one had lived as long as them, empathy became a foreign concept. Where matters threatening the city could be solved with a simple 'Ctrl Alt Delete', where the only thing to get your attention to the issue at hand was an angry forty-one ear old man.

"Listen," Lusk said. Now was not the time for anger. "We don't need a change of plan, because we already have a plan. We shut the Vortex down, because if you didn't notice already, it's a ticking time bomb that's about to destroy the city anyway. We take care of the remaining abominations, and we rebuild what has been destroyed. That's our plan. And all we ask for is assistance."

He sighed and looked to Lita and Laurelai, the tiredness in his eyes showing. "Would you be willing to give it?"

[MacThorstenson he/him]

1 hour ago, I think I am here. said:

Now was not the time for anger. "We don't need a change of plan, because we already have a plan. We shut the Vortex down, because if you didn't notice already, it's a ticking time bomb that's about to destroy the city anyway. We take care of the remaining abominations, and we rebuild what has been destroyed. That's our plan. And all we ask for is assistance."

Mac leaned forward in his seat. Trying to figure out a way to avoid starting a guild war. Then, standing up, he looked at lusk and started speaking. 

“Lusk, unlike my colleges I do think that cleaning up the city is a worthy goal, and I know that personally, when the situation is stable, I would be willing to assist in that, however I think that your assessment of the situation is rather poor. And a decision to clean up the city rather premature.” He paused briefly to remember the last few days. “Your plan seems to rely on plasmacore being destroyed, but I haven’t seen anything to support that. 

First off, they appear to already have vast amounts of resources. When they asked the guilds to fund them two days ago, it was likely a ruse because clearly they already has started building this vortex and laid out their plan thus far. 

Second, from their letters they appear to be a large inter universal force, even though they appear to have abandoned their building they most likely have sent information on how to build the vortex to another base. Possibly in the alleyverse. 

Finally, their upper command structure appears to be alive, you have given me no indication that you have found lord Ajax or anyone other higher ups in the organization, so unless you are intending to try and clean up the city mid crisis so that it can be destroyed again I would suggest focusing your efforts on stoping those with the potential to destroy the city before attempting to clean it.”

Edited June 23, 2019 by MacThorstenson

[I think I am here. he/him]

20 minutes ago, MacThorstenson said:

Finally, their upper command structure appears to be alive, you have given me no indication that you have found lord Ajax or anyone other higher ups in the organization, so unless you are intending to try and clean up the city mid crisis so that it can be destroyed again I would suggest focusing your efforts on stoping those with the potential to destroy the city before attempting to clean it.”

Lusk nodded. Finally, some strategic conversation.

“I agree,” Lusk said. “These images are from mere hours ago, and while I agree that attempting to clean up the city may be a premature notion, I still think that together the guilds will be able to accomplish what needs to be done.

“Take, for example, finding any higher ups or Lord Ajax himself. Ghostblood scouts are numerous and widespread but not nearly as much as we need. DA and TUBA assistance would also be very much valued in providing troops for exploration of the PlasmaCore building, to find any other clues regarding the operations there.

“Assistance would also be appreciated in aforementioned scouts, Investiture scientists to study the Vortex, something I am sure the DA has in abundance, and more evacuation areas, as the Canton, Ghostbloods and TUBA have not yet fully evacuated the civilian population. As you can see, I fully agree it may be too early to try and clean up the city, however I and the Ghostbloods believe an allied guild force can accomplish more than individual guilds working in disharmony.

“That was the purpose of the information, to not only show that the Ghostbloods are willing to try out an alliance and trust the other great guilds, but also to ensure everyone is on the same page about PlasmaCore.”

Lusk had to say, out of all the three gods it seemed Mac was the most sensible. Wasn’t Mac the youngest god of the three? It made sense then, though Lusk could be wrong, he hadn’t brushed up his knowledge on Alleyverse celestial beings since grade school.

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I just like the idea that in school students learn about all the famous people in the Alleyverse like they do in our world , and that of course includes the gods.

 

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Lita stared at the pictures of the letters the Ghostbloods had found. These were far more interesting than their picture of the Vortex. She had no idea what to do about that thing, but she did know how to tease a secret out of someone.

When the Ghostblood leader looked at her and Laurelai, Lita wondered what, exactly, he expected of her. Still, she took his tired glance as allowance to speak.

“Sir, with all due respect, I don’t think an alliance is the best idea,” she said, pleased that her voice didn’t shake. “Or, well, I don’t think the appearance of an alliance is the best idea.”

She stepped forward, pointing to the images of the correspondence. “The point of the party two days ago was to ally with one of us, then turn the Guilds against themselves. PlasmaCore wanted a Guild War - they wanted us to do their work for them. So, perhaps we give them what they want - in appearance at least.”

Lita chewed her lip, mind turning, still worried about Laurelai, worried that Voidus might decide to kill them all, worried that she was speaking wildly out of turn. But the time for self-doubt was over. 

“The easiest way to get a secret from someone is to give them exactly what they expect,” she said. “If we suddenly band together, who knows what PlasmaCore will unleash on this city? If we make them think their plan is still going forward, then we can predict their moves. Make them look where we want them to look,” Lita smiled a tiny smile, “instead of where we really are.”

Edited June 23, 2019 by ZincAboutIt

[kenod]

KanMien nodded at Lita's words. "There's something else we should consider," they said. "Specifically, what we'll do with the Vortex. It might be better to wait with closing it, at least until we've managed to study it some more. While the things it creates are dangerous, they're only so against people without any training, or people caught on their own. If we've managed to evacuate the entire city it would minimize any danger to leaving the Vortex active, allowing us to study it and make sure we shut it off safely."

They looked at the DA leaders, and continued. "Also, if additional help is needed for the evacuation, we could probably use the alleys for that. We should be able to setup a network separate from the main alleys. As long as everybody follows the directions guides give them it should be save." They shot a questioning look towards Mac and Voidus, to make sure this was indeed possible.

Aylitha threw a look at KanMien, and then at the others present. She suspected at least some of them would be opposed to the suggestion. "If you prefer we didn't do that, you could also withdraw from the building and leave it to us," she said, sounding vaguely annoyed. "As long as we limit our creations to only that area there shouldn't be much in the way of collateral damage." She smiled, looking at the TUBA members. "I could even do it myself," she said, "as long as you put a leash on that ... Thing of yours."

[xinoehp512 he/him]

Quote

*sigh* As usual, my characters do nothing of importance.

 

[Silva]

Eiran sipped his tea. It was the perfect temperature. Warm, but not to the point it would burn his tongue. He'd been pretty sure that would be the case, though some futures had still appeared and shown him having to hide his pain from the heat. It had been a gamble that paid off. The math had been in his favor and it had worked out. 

He wished all things were that low risk. Unfortunately, they weren't.

"KanMien will not be restricted. They are as equal as any of us here," he said to the DA member who'd wanted to put them on a leash. "That aside, we have no way of knowing for certain we aren't being watched. Don't be naive enough to think this Lord Ajax hasn't been watching us. He has. Doubt it if you'd like, but you," he gestured to Lusk, "should know that they have forms of spren that have never been seen before. The one who negotiated with your people for instance."

He knew there was no logical way for TUBA to have known about that. Revealing it was a risk. Another risk he hoped would pay off. "We're pretty sure there's an invisible type of spren hanging around as well. Anything said anywhere to anyone is something we should assume has been seen and countered by our enemy." Eiran thought of the spot on the ceiling back in TUBA HQ. While they had never proven the theory of being watched, it seemed the most likely explanation to that vision. 

"Do you understand what kind of enemy we're facing? Truly?

"Lord Ajax is like that spren. Always changing forms and able to appear as anything. If he gets through that Vortex, there's no stopping him. The frying pan creatures will look cuddly in comparison. Almost no possibility of saving this place. First chance we get, closing the Vortex needs to be a top priority. Research will need to come second because at the end of the day, it's more important to most of us here to save lives

"You asked us what information TUBA had," Eiran said to Lusk. "This is it, for the moment."

For the moment. Those were the key words. They were going away from some of the paths that led to destruction, but more opened up every moment.

Eiran looked back at his tea. A swirl of steam rose up from it.

He blew it away.

Edited June 23, 2019 by Silva
Content fix

[kenod]

13 minutes ago, Silva said:

"KanMien will not be restricted. They are as equal as any of us here," he said to the DA member who'd wanted to put them on a leash.

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Um, Aylitha meant Sudiov.

Aylitha looked at Eiran, confused. "KanMien?" She asked. Looking at the woman Eiran looked at her face lit up as she understood what was happening. "Ah, I didn't mean her, I meant Sudiov." Her voice grew irritated. "You know, that ... Thing you TUBA people have got in your basement?" A small chuckle came out of Aylitha's mouth. It had been a long time since anything had last managed to confuse her, she felt glad Mac had invited her along.

***

KanMien look at the girl, feeling confused. They tried to figure out why they had to be locked away, but couldn't find anything. Besides, that girl was clearly a DA member, with the way she looked. When she explained the misunderstanding they sighed, feeling relieved. They looked at the girl again, curious about her. It seemed as if she ranked quite highly in the DA, given that she entered together with Mac, Voidus and the Stranger, but they had never seen her before. It was also obvious she wasn't human, with her skin and eyes, but they wondered to which extent she wasn't human. They found themselves wondering about eating her, curious about what they might discover. They quickly shook their head. It wasn't smart to think those kind of thoughts about someone who was likely a superior.

Edited June 23, 2019 by kenod

[Silva]

Quote

That makes much more sense.

Editing now.

 

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Lita stared, dumbfounded, at the TUBA member, feeling her shock slowly curdle into fear, then anger. 

“Surely,” she said quietly, upping the burn of her tin unconsciously, staring at the man blowing the steam off his tea, “surely you can’t have been stupid enough to call a meeting of the leadership of this city’s three most powerful guilds, let us discus what might be our best and only chance to mitigate unbelievable ruin, and then disclose that there could be an invisible spying force in here right now?”

Her voice had lowered into a cold, furious whisper. Lita stepped towards the man, focusing on his breathing, his heartbeat, the color of his skin, the minute dilations of his pupils.

The lack of subtlety, of skill, of any kind of forethought of espionage, was almost more distressing than the terror of being discovered and killed by their enemy. 

These people, she thought, sniffing contemptuously. If this is what amounts to their knowledge of spycraft, it’s a complete mystery how they haven’t been murdered down to the last baker already.

”If I were this Lord Ajax, I would indeed be quite keen to spy on my enemies. And if what you say is true, and he can take whatever form he wishes, then this is precisely the place I would think to look for him.”

Lita smiled at Eiran, all teeth. “I think you’d find it very wise to tell us everything else you might know about these spren, lest we start to ask you some more pointed questions.”

@Silva

Edited June 23, 2019 by ZincAboutIt
More internal monologue

[kenod]

2 minutes ago, Silva said:

 

Quote

Not necessary, added a response to clean up the confusion.

 

[Silva]

Sparks. 

This was what he'd wanted to avoid. Hoped to, at the very least. 

"And say, if Lord Ajax wished to convince you he weren't there, do you think he would be the one tell you what he could do?" he said. His heart rate sped up. Except, he knew that would only raise her suspicions. Psychology wound in circles and there was no way out of this one. At least, no dependable one.

"The reason I led you here anyways despite the risk of being seen," Eiran said, standing up and moving back a few paces. "is because I hadn't seen a big enough risk to not do it. And I don't quite feel I have the authority to say not to meet simply because of a possibility." The pounding of his heart echoed through his entirety. "I see danger," he said trembling. "and I only saw three futures in which the danger came in the form of spren. Three out of thousands, millions, billions - however many are out there. The risk remains, but it's tiny. Miniscule. Enough to be noted, but not enough to kill someone over. 

"There are not here at this moment. And if they were and were planning on reporting back or doing anything that would wind back to harm us, I'd know they were here. Everything said so far in this building has been secure. Your conversations elsewhere do not have that certainty. Anything you've said to anyone since this began is able to be in their hands. 

"But here, here is fine. And mostly safe. For now." Eiran met her eyes, almost begging her to look and see the honesty laying right there. 

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

2 hours ago, Silva said:

"But here, here is fine. And mostly safe. For now." Eiran met her eyes, almost begging her to look and see the honesty laying right there. 

Lita watched the man for a full minute, tin allowing her to hear every flutter of his heart, see the way his eyes widened slightly, pleading. She twirled her pen in a lazy way, directing the message to Mac, KanMien and Laurelai.

He's either telling the truth, or he's the best liar I've ever seen. Quite a talent he has, if he isn't lying about that, too. 

It was remarkably difficult to fake the level of terror rolling off the man - she could hear it in his voice, see it in his eyes, smell it on his skin, and he showed few of the more common tells of someone attempting to lie. Accelerated heart rate was a predictable one, though with all the stress of the day, Lita disregarded it. No, the main feeling Lita could pick up from the TUBA member was desperation, not duplicity. In any case, if he really was Lord Ajax, he was certainly wasting a lot of time talking, instead of killing them all.

"Well," she said finally, leaning forward to slide the newly-manifested plate of cookies across the table and grabbing one, "let us hope you're right, for the city's sake."

She bit into the cookie, once again marveling at the perfect balance of flavors. By the Survivor's spear, I have got to get my hands on this recipe. 

[AonEne he/him]

Quote

11 hours ago, I think I am here. said:

Lusk had to say, out of all the three gods it seemed Mac was the most sensible. Wasn’t Mac the youngest god of the three? It made sense then, though Lusk could be wrong, he hadn’t brushed up his knowledge on Alleyverse celestial beings since grade school.

Quote

I just like the idea that in school students learn about all the famous people in the Alleyverse like they do in our world , and that of course includes the gods.

 

I like that idea, though I didn't know some people considered Mac to be a god.

5 hours ago, xinoehp512 said:

*sigh* As usual, my characters do nothing of importance.

At least they do things instead of hanging out and being inactive *glares at self*

*has a very strong urge to destroy her computer, which just deleted a lot of writing that she did not have saved anywhere* *then gets ninjaed* *deletes a ton and goes away to die in a corner*

Deteca took a step forward, cursing herself for not doing so sooner. "We are not 'leashing' any TUBAists, as they can control themselves. Out of politeness's sake, I've been assuming the same for your guild, but if you continue to vaporize our materials and needlessly threaten our members, I may have to rethink that."

[overlord stick]

1 hour ago, AonEne said:

At least they do things instead of hanging out and being inactive *glares at self*

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Yay i'm not the only who does this!

[AonEne he/him]

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Yeah, I glare at myself all the time.

 

[Voidus]

Voidus leaned back in his chair, allowing the other members of the DA a chance to speak for themselves rather than speaking for them. He tried to remain impassive as they spoke but inwardly he was smiling. It served him well to remember that the problems he faced were not his to bear alone. The Stranger was as eager as he was to just deal with this problem without needing to appease the bleeding hearts, Mac focused the efforts on prioritization of the root cause. Even Lita, by all accounts incredibly new to the DA, had pointed out the importance of misdirection. Though apparently her point was not well taken as issues continued to be discussed aloud.

He sent a somewhat sympathetic glance her way and focused inwardly for a moment. It was a little harder than it had been back in the Alleys, some reflexive interference from Sudiov no doubt. But in short order he spread another blanket of Voidmaking over the building, the lighting universally dimmed a fraction as it settled, but it was barely noticeable.

That should take care of any Spren. Not much point allowing them to continue listening in if we've lost the chance to deliberately mislead them. Though it's possible that TUBA's precautions may have been enough to secure the area even without assistance I suppose.

He spared a contemplative glance towards the various TUBA members present, eyes lingering a little on the one who claimed to have some form of foresight. Was it true foresight? Prediction? Or simply guesswork?

Puzzle for another day. Maybe he'll die during the fighting and we can recover the body.

His eyes drifted back to the corner where Laurelai sat, just a little way behind Lita. She was watching the room carefully, gauging reactions, studying. His cheeks spasmed again as he fought to keep himself from smiling, proud of where she'd ended up but disappointed that he couldn't have been more of a part of it until now. Then he noticed the dilation of her pupils, the paleness of her skin. She was afraid of something?

The burgeoning smile twisted into a frown as he examined the rest of the room, trying to find the source of it.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Laurelai had managed to ease her breathing, glad that tensions in the air seemed to have calmed as much as could be expected. She didn't like her chances of survival if a fight broke out in the middle of this meeting, not if she was already in some form of trouble.

She leaned back a little, trying to avoid speaking up and drawing any more attention to herself. Lita had already addressed the concern she'd had about this meeting, no need to risk anything to say the same thing again.

A cold shiver went down her spine as she was glancing around, her eyes snapped back to the most likely origin of any threat and sure enough she saw Voidus with a deep frown on his face, turning away from her.

Oh rusts, what did I do now?

She tilted her head down, trying not to say or do anything that might make things worse, she quietly tried to maintain her breathing in spite of feeling like a blade was brushing against her neck, threatening imminent danger.

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

That's enough attention for a bit, Lita thought, watching as Deteca stepped in, giving her a glare.

She could glare all she liked; Lita had seen worse. Rusts, she'd seen worse today. She sent another look towards the three DA leaders, hoping she hadn't spoken too out of turn. They seemed as inscrutable as ever, though none of them were glaring at her, or vaporizing her, or turning her into a plate of cookies. She took that as a tacit approval, but didn't want to push her luck.

These people lack any semblance of covert organization, she sent to Laurelai, hoping to distract the woman from what seemed like dark, worried thoughts. Remind me how this guild is still in operation? At least the Ghostbloods seem to understand the gravity of this situation.

They'd kept those photos a secret for at least a little while, though if what Eiran said was true, very little escaped the notice of PlasmaCore and this enigmatic Lord Ajax. It was lucky that they'd found a scientist with access to such crucial information on-site. More than lucky, really. The chances alone had to be astronomical.

The easiest way to get a secret from someone is to give them exactly what they expect...

Lita bit her lip, shooting another glance at Mac, and began moving her pen again.

Sir, all this talk of misdirection has me on edge. Does it seem as though this PlasmaCore information has fallen into our lap a bit easier than it ought to? If they have a legion if invisible spren floating around this city, they have to know that someone has captured one of their researchers, and that the Ghostbloods, at the very least, have found these documents. We might be safe in here, but what if this information has already been compromised? We could easily be playing into their hands in the exact same way we are currently discussing.

@Voidus @MacThorstenson

 

[AonEne he/him]

Deteca went back in time with the help of mimes who wanted to keep continuity intact and glared at Lita.

Edit:

8 minutes ago, ZincAboutIt said:

These people lack any semblance of covert organization

Quote

Oh you think so do you?

 

Edited June 24, 2019 by AonEne

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

1 minute ago, AonEne said:

Deteca went back in time with the help of mimes who wanted to keep continuity intact and glared at Lita.

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I assumed she was glaring - it seemed like the appropriate facial expression to guess  Though I can change it!

 

[AonEne he/him]

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It's fine as is

 

[I think I am here. he/him]

Lusk stood silent, watching as communications between the guild began to increase and more information and discussions of tactics began to spread around the restaurant. Lusk smiled. At last, the meeting was getting somewhere. He listened to Lita, about how she told that the appearance of an alliance could make things worse, and it was better to do it covertly. Another high-ranking DA member said a private alley network for evacuations could be possible. Great. Alleys were all around the city anyway, using them as a way to evacuate would mean more refugees could evacuate, faster.

TUBA seemed to have information beyond what Lusk had expected, and it all seemed to be due to that future-seer of theirs. A powerful resource indeed, and Lusk made it in his notes to update the Ghostbloods’ knowledge on TUBA’s arsenal. The information was sparse, but it was new, and Lusk appreciates that. The talk of spren spying got him slightly nervous but the future-seer again relieved his worries.

“So, to conclude,” Lusk said, as the center of discussion had begun to shift from tactics to who needed to be out on a leash and who was or wasn’t lying. “The DA will assist with evacuations, the Vortex must be shut down at highest priority as the future-seer said, and we must keep our alliance secret to misguide Lord Ajax. In fact, if their spren know about this meeting, it might even be in our best interests to pretend that it went terrible. Furthermore, we will need scouts in other cities to search for Ajax, and more researchers near the Vortex so we can learn how to shut it down in a non-destructive way.”

He clapped his hands together.

“Is that all?”

[MacThorstenson he/him]

1 hour ago, I think I am here. said:

Lusk stood silent, watching as communications between the guild began to increase and more information and discussions of tactics began to spread around the restaurant. Lusk smiled. At last, the meeting was getting somewhere. He listened to Lita, about how she told that the appearance of an alliance could make things worse, and it was better to do it covertly. Another high-ranking DA member said a private alley network for evacuations could be possible. Great. Alleys were all around the city anyway, using them as a way to evacuate would mean more refugees could evacuate, faster.

TUBA seemed to have information beyond what Lusk had expected, and it all seemed to be due to that future-seer of theirs. A powerful resource indeed, and Lusk made it in his notes to update the Ghostbloods’ knowledge on TUBA’s arsenal. The information was sparse, but it was new, and Lusk appreciates that. The talk of spren spying got him slightly nervous but the future-seer again relieved his worries.

“So, to conclude,” Lusk said, as the center of discussion had begun to shift from tactics to who needed to be out on a leash and who was or wasn’t lying. “The DA will assist with evacuations, the Vortex must be shut down at highest priority as the future-seer said, and we must keep our alliance secret to misguide Lord Ajax. In fact, if their spren know about this meeting, it might even be in our best interests to pretend that it went terrible. Furthermore, we will need scouts in other cities to search for Ajax, and more researchers near the Vortex so we can learn how to shut it down in a non-destructive way.”

He clapped his hands together.

“Is that all?”

Mac spoke up “The DA can shut down the vortex and study it to see what it’s purpose was. If we discover what the vortex can do we will be able to better predict what plasmacore was intending to do. Also, if anything goes wrong, DA scientists are most likely going to be able to handle it due to our enhanced durability   

We will look into using the alleys as a method for evacuations as well, though it may take some time for the alleys to be set up in a safe way.”