Sorana

We found a whole cave full of Atium geodes. And who knows how many more are here. She sent him a picture of the cave, of the beads in her helmet, so that he could see for himself. So I think, depending on how this ends, it can be a pretty large scale conflict. I suggested that the DA takes them, to remove them from the game, but I have no idea if someone else agrees. For a moment she was silent, turned her head when Wes replied. The Underling stepped away from geodes Adren was dumping on the ground, looked at them reverently. "I doubt that much of it will end up on the open market, but yes, of course it can upset the economy. Easily." Although they might be lucky if it only came to some economical problems. That still would be enough to cause conflict, but you could deal with economical problems, at least you had a chance with them. If people started killing each other outright - you hadn't. She looked at the boy seriously, tried to figure out if he understood the danger they all were in. She couldn't ask him to stay close, not without the other Wes and Adren listening, so she only hoped that enough sense to watch his back until this was settled.

Lena shrugged and lifted a hand. Waiting was way too boring. If they were holding a lesson of some sorts, they might wait for hours. "I like the sob story idea." She replied, "We can always use some of the things happening around the Forge. That should be enough." She tipped her fingers against the door playfully, then knocked. The sound echoed through the hallway and she took a step back, packed the remainen pancakes away. Good thing she had made them. A heist without a pancake was like chocolate cream without chocolate. "I'm curious to see, if they are as nice as the one who greeted us." And as oblivious to our plans she ended her sentence in her head. "I suppose we'll find out soon." @ShadowLord_Lith

Althea looked at the geodes for a moment or two, then she bend down, picked up one and rolled it around in her hand, then hit it on the ground and broke it open. The Atium bead was small, so small and at the same time to dangerous. She touched its surface and then moved it to her other hand, before reaching out for the next geode. Taking off her helmet she used it to place the geodes inside, in open view for every, save for a few she stowed in her pocket. You never knew, at the moment Adren was right. As long as there was no agreement, there was no agreement. She could talk to Karin, convince her. That had could maybe help. Take a geode, crack it open. The money, the possibilites on the ground in front of her. It was tempting, so tempting to take the helment and leave. Secure it somewhere. And yet she didn't. She took a deep breath and stayed. Accept her emotions, but don't let them control her. And greedily securing a part of the atium, was the worst road to take. She looked at the wealth, at the power and then focused her thoughts back on the matter at hand. The spren she had felt earlier. It had shown the future, so it was connected to all of this somehow. Maybe it had been attrackted by the atium, or maybe, maybe it belonged here. It was a secret, a riddle, something she could find out. Something she had discovered and she didn't need to fight for Atium to keep the knowledge. Her eyes moved over to Jethro. She would touch him, later. Once this was sorted out, she would accept Adren's offer and touch him. The thought of a new voice in her head, if only temporarily made her skin crawl but at the same time she wanted to. She wanted to step beyond her past, beyond her fears and the panic that grabbed her once someone tried to play with her mind. Jethro was a risk, but he was a calculated risk. Maybe she could finally move beyond.

Hey Xino, I would be glad if you could explain that. It you can't put it into a thread, feel free to write a pm, but I can't approve/ rate a character without understanding them and their abilities.

"People like me?" Ophelia asked and then looked at her dress, felt a pang of sadness at the dark spots covering its surface. And yet, it was a nice dress. Better than Ana's. "I see." She said quietly. "I don't have a job. I don't have money and I don't have a place to sleep." She summed her situation up and forced a smile on her face. "But I still think, that you can try to look nice. That's everything." She lowered her eyes, followed Ana's thoughts. Not to go out at night. Blushing deeply when she understood what they wanted she burried her face in her hands. "That was so obvious. And I didn't understand, I, I'm wrong here. I can serve tea and cut hair and keep a house clean - but here, I have no idea what I'm doing." Swallowing she tried to banish all these thoughts, took a few steps back to Aoryen, so that he could hear her next question. Well, if he had listened he maybe had heard her anyway. "Okay. I won't do it. But what do we do, if I don't?"

Althea looked at him, how he stated that he feared for everyone involved, and then turned to look at the wall, at the cracks. As if he was searching for a way up there. "It's Atium." She replied to Wes question, continued to keep a gentle touch on him, to be able to act should it be possible. At the moment, there were seven people in the intermediate area, including her and Wes. All of them would know what was going on by now. She look up the wall, wished that she could simply destroy it with nothing but a thought, considered to bring down the whole cave. She reached out for the stone, chatted a little with the spren and then filed the possibility away from later use. Possible. But the consequences for those living above were a black box. So she would resort to that should people start killing each other. Her eyes rested von the wall with it's holes and she was tempted to elsecall up there, and get as many as she could, to get them out and away, to secure them for the ghostbloods, for herself. It was Atium, it was rare. If they owned a larger stock, it would give them an edge in a possible conflict and they could secure their place, they could maybe finally be save. No. Althea swallowed and forced the thought, the greed aside. She had three people she didn't know exactly where they belonged to and suspicions aside, she could only act based on facts. So three wild cards. The Underling and herself and two belonging to the DA. The DA. An idea formed in her head and she evaluated it. She would give up the possibility of power, but she would avoid bloodshed. The ghostbloods, they had their place just like TUBA. At the moment nobody was actively trying to oppose them and if someone tried, they could always deal with it. The atium would help to secure their place, but to risk fighting over it. The greed returned, urged her to ask for a share, no to take a little share. Lusk worked with atium, he could use it. They all could use it. She fought the greed, her curiosity, this possibility and looked at the facts. She could take a part. She doubted anybody would stop her, and she could get away, take the the Underling and flee. It would be good for the ghostbloods but if she looked at the situation in a long term way, then it would upset their balance, and that might cause a lot of trouble for everybody. Slowly she accepted her greed and then pushed it away. She took her curiosity, and then feeling raw she placed it aside. "I think you should take them." She said quietly to Adren. "The DA. If you have the stock, they are out of reach for everyone else." The DA could already wipe all of them out with nothing but a wave of hand of some of their members. Atium wouldn't change that. Add one to infinity and you still had infinity. And yet there was this part of her, that wondered, if she was making a mistake. If this was the right way, if she could give all of that up so easily.

The woman finally stopped and Shepard was finally able to lower his hand, waited for her to switch of the light, when a small, panicked part of his brain realized that there was no light shining towards him. Well it was, but it was the woman. "Who..." he stuttered and then shouted. "Come back!" and took a step backwards, tried to level his pistol. His hand shook, but he had to give his partner some time to return, and he wasn't there. "Get back here." He yelled again, his voice tumbling over itself, jumping from highs to lows. "Run!" Panic made him squeeze the trigger and he cursed, realized he had forgotten to switch security off. Hastily he made good on that and then fired at the figure, his aim off by his panic, and his retreat. ===================== Wita shrugged. "I don't know about teenage words." She admitted and leaned forward, traced the symbols he had carved with her fingers. She looked at the wall, compared them to the other seal there and found that nearly none of them were the same. It was logical, she decided after she'd considered the thought for a moment. They were supposed to do different things. "Condition is the outer ring." She said and tried to remember what was next. "Now it's what will happen if that condition is met?" She asked him, her voice uncertain. She wasn't sure if remembered correctly. "The finishing mark, that looks like islands has to go in the middle." Her words were quickly after each other, when she tried to make up for the fact, that she had forgotten about the two middle rings.

"I like stubborn you." Sagitta said and removed her arm, suspected that he didn't want his guard to see him like that. It would undermine his authority, but then - in the last place they had been it had seemed like everybody was expecting her to share his bed, so maybe they simply wouldn't care at all. "It's a good you. All yous are good, but stubborn you -" She sighed. "Stupid me only wishes to finally hold a sword I can use and ram it through their chests." She gave a small gesture with her hand to show him, that she didn't really mean it, that she wasn't sure what to do what to think. Fighting always had been her first impuls. But if it was good - who knew. "Although if I could exchange the tomahawk for a sword, I would be grateful." It would be nice to have a sword on her back again. Maybe a second, a shorter one by her side. To fight as she had trained to do, ideally also with some armor.

The barkeep hands your glass back and you take a moment to carefully check it for spots and then move it a little to make the red wine inside swirl around. Not much, just enough that it can get some air and breathe. You always liked the gesture, as you found that it makes people focus on your fingers, on the wine and you always imagine that if someone took a picture that moment, you would look splendid with the dark red of the wine contrasting your cloths. The man also places another drink in front Sloane and you eye this glass as well before paying. It looks clean. At least as clean as you expect in this place. "It's rare that you can meet some sophisticated company in a place like this." You agree when you realize that your inspection had taken a little time. "Most are like -" you secretly roll your eyes towards the loud man asked for alcohol, make sure that he can't see it. "I always have trouble to find a connection to them, or a topic to talk about. I'm simply not sure how to approach someone like that." You lift your glass to your lips and taste the wine, grimacing a little at it's sour taste. A good wine, how you miss a good wine. Your eyes rest on his face when you try to see how he reacts to your words, to your manner. He seems reserved, careful, but in a place like this, you would be concerned if he wasn't. "Have you been around for a while?" You ask Sloane jovially. "I only arrived in Sanctuary a couple of weeks ago and I have to admit it's severly lacking a few nice places to go for dinner."

Shana shrugged. "If I still live to the end of school, sure." She said dryly. Right now she wasn't really sure about that. "If I even finish school and they don't throw me out before that. I mean, if I'm bad enough then in the end, maybe I'll never pass the final exams?" Not if it meant that she had to understand maths, or physics. Which she didn't. Be logical. Wise words, but so unfitting for herself. The moment she had to try to look at some fact to act on something else but her gutfeeling she tended to make the wrong decisions. Which in the end, led to her not making any decisions at all. Or trying to avoid them, or simply being wrong. And honestly. Who cared if she knew where two imaginairy lines met, when she knew how to block an actual blade?

"I'm not hungry." She replied tonelessly, but walked over, followed him back to the room. "It's alright. Finish your tests." They were important, tests. To learn. To see what they could do. "You'll really do it?" She asked, her voice rising a little when she started to chuckle. "You'll test a god? A being that doesn't even care about you, no that actively wants to keep our war going." She turned to him and shook her head in a wild mixture of emotions she had trouble to name. "You'll really try to test a god." A laugh escaped her lips and she started to laugh out loud. "You are crazy. You should bow in devotion, try to get their favor, or maybe a boon, but you'll test them." Lifting a hand she wiped away a tear from her cheek. "Do it. Just do it. Whatever they do, at least one of us doesn't bow to a being that only wants to see them destroyed." She slung an arm around his shoulder. "You're a wise man, Price, a lot wiser than me." Her laughing subsided and she only shook her head again, feeling empty. "Let's go. Do some tests." Whatever consequences that would lead to.

Grinning Shana pushed some cereals over to him. "Breakfast?" She asked and emptied her bowl, placed it in their dish washer. Leaning against a counter she grabbed an apple. "I feel a little like spider man. Fight the evil guys and then it's back to school and play nice and be a good girl." Except that she had to be a good girl. And that spiderman never had worried, never felt guilty about what he did. Hastily she placed the apple on the table and turned to the sink, started to wash her hands. She was about to use them to hold the apple, they had to be clean. If she accidently ate some blood. They felt raw and when she stopped they were red, hurt a little and she left the apple where it was, hid her hands behind her back.

Ophelia hesitated. It was nice, that he left the choice to her, but in the end, it wasn't like this was dangerous. Throw her in, hopefully they weren't talking about actual throwing around, because she had no idea how to climb, or to land on the ground without spraining her ankle. "I wouldn't mind cutting their hair?" She said looking at her feet. Somehow she felt as if this wasn't about cutting hair, but she wasn't good at anything else. Probably they had seen her hairstyle and realized, that she was a hairdresser. Confidence seeped into her voice when she came to the conclusion that this had to be it. "I'm a bad cook, and I doubt they are interested in Make-Up?"

"Hey Rob!" Shana greeted. "Ready for your debate?" She asked and continued to eat breakfast. "I'm sure you'll do great. Just image that you're better than them and don't let them cow you." And may be a little more passionate she added silently, but only smiled at him. She doubted that Rob would ever be a brilliant debator. "Use logic and arguments. Just let them run against a wall when they get emotional." Maybe that could work for him. And if not - hopefully her arguments were good enough that he still passed the class. Who cared if you knew how to debate later on anyways?

I agree, that one was a little weird. But then I told myself, that if I were basically forced to participate in some kind of Union while I have superior tech, I maybe wouldn't share it openly either. It's an ace I have and as long as only I have it, I have an edge. In general we don't know that much about the figments (especially if the majority of them shares Vapor's view on humans and the current situation and would support her working with Cuna), but I wouldn't rule out the possibility, that they "not actively" supported the Superiority, or maybe even tried to work a little against some of it's structures.

After sleeping a night over the book I have to admit, that I still don't like that the slugs are used to engage a hyperdrive(s). That they scream, and I don't want to start a discussion if they can feel pain or not, but in the end to me it feels like this, and I'm not too happy with that. I mostly feel sorry for them and they would stop using the poor slugs. Apart from everything, I really, really feel sorry for them and it left a stale aftertaste for me. It's not out of nowwhere with the hints we had regarding how important Doomslug might be, but that they appear to be in pain, I might be too softhearted for that.

I love it!

Hello and welcome to the Shard! We're glad to have you here! Have os much fun reading his other books as well, they are fantastic

"Then it's settled." Lena grinned at Eve, Zyn and Alask. "Let's head to the teachers and see what they have." She lifted the blueprints and concentrated on them, took a moment to figure out where they were. "We have to cross this hall." She said after a while and held the blueprints in a way, all of them could see them. "We walk through there, around that corner and then they should be and the end of that hallway." For a moment she memorized the layout, then offered them to Zyn. "Maybe you should take them." She said and added without changing her voice. "If I remember correctly you like maps of all sorts." It was crap, but if Zyn talied the teacher, the map might be useful should he end up in a trap, on in an unknown place. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a box with some pancakes offered them to the others. "I have some with powdered sugar, some with jam and some with chocolate cream." She took one with chocolate and grinned at the taste. Few things were better than a little snack when you were working. Slowly she started down the first hallway, it would be suspicious if they stood in one place for too long.

"That doesn't change the fact, that I'm failing a part of my classes." Shana started to eat breakfast and shook her head. "Actually it changes nothing. Not that I killed, not that I fear that know about the hospital and might wonder I'm back to walking, and definitely not that I'm sure I messed up maths completely." Cassie entered the room and she looked about as bad as Shana felt, picked up an apple. "Good morning Cass." She greeted her and forced a smile on her face. "I'm actually surprised by how many made it downstairs. Maybe we should wake the rest up, we can't excuse half of the house can we?" Her attempt to add a little light heartedness to the situation feeled forced, but she felt better for trying. "I heard, today they have cheesecake in the cafeteria."

Adren. She liked him, but in the end he was DA. Althea ran some possible replies in her head and then finally nodded. "I fear, that it will to fights." she replied, her voice projecting a careful calm she didn't really feel. "Depending on how we react to it, it is entirely possible that some will start a war out of greed or because they hunger for power." Slowly she touched the wall again, partially elated, this was a treasure and you could do so many incredible things with it. It was pure power and money - and at the same time she knew that everybody would feel like that. They would see the treasure and they would try to get a part of it for themselves. She soulcast a part of the wall, to create a little platform for stand on and then elsecalled up there, reached into a hole until her fingers touched something in the middle and she broke it out. The stone cut her skin open, but she ignored the pain, the shallow cuts immediatly starting to heal again. Calculating she considered her next action, then she repeated the motion, plucked another one before returning to the ground. Her arm had healed completely when she was back with Adren, Wes and the girl. "Here." She handed Adren one of the two, and then took a close look at the one she kept for herself. She had seen it before, but it was rare, so rare that to hold it in her hand was elating. The thought alone what she could learn about it, what they could do with it. "The last invasion is six months past." She said after a while. "And now we find that cave full of one of the few things able to upset our delicate balance." It was a balance between all guilds except for the DA. The DA could kill them all and that kept the others in check. At least it had more or less since the seven day war. Pondering she looked back up at the holes, pocketed the bead. If she wanted to keep the balance she had to change the equation. And there were only two ways to do it. "What do you think?"

Temeria looked down and resumed eating. Aln obviously was more interested in the other worldhopper and their attempts at small talk, with a sigh she tried to come up with a good response, that didn't sound snappy. She had spend her last years trying not to die in a war. What did Aln think that they did there? Have freetime to go drinking in some pubs. She notice herself getting irritated and closed her eyes, took a breath. "We gambled in the evenings. I enjoyed that." She finally said and pushed her empty plate away. As good as they had seemed to get along - maybe it was enough. "What do you think about meeting tomorrow evening?" She suggested, hoped to wrap things up. Then she could go and tell Mac's friends that he was gone and then she could return to his Boarding House. Her boarding house. Yes. Given the awkwardness they had refound, it was probably better if they spend some time apart and sorted themselves first.

"I agree." You continue to smile at him, although his face remains stern, no smile lighting up his features. A pity. Most people look better with a smile and you are sure, if he just spend a little more time caring for his appearance he would cut a striking figure himself. It's not that he's unkempt, but like most people another hour or two daily would do wonders. Your eyes flicker down to his empty glass when you try to guess what he drank. A liquor of some sorts, maybe a whiskey or a rum. It's hard to judge from the color you saw earlier, and as you can't determine what it was you decide to keep your order vague. "Another drink for my friend." You lift your hand and order it without looking at the barkeep. "And make sure the glass is clean." Slowly you push your glass over for a refill and add coldly. "Another wine, if you can spare the time. Don't add water, and don't touch my glass with your fingers." For a moment you wonder who he is, apart from an allomancer and why he is here. You chose him - because he is different, because the way he behaves is making him stand out and his reply immediatly made him sympathic. A good conversation needs a drink or two. And it needs someone able to keep up. You look at the man again, finally turn towards him completely, focusing on him, while keeping only a part of your attention on the room. Slowly you extend a hand towards him. "I am Raphael." You pronounce your name carefully, enjoy it on your tongue. A great name for a great person. "It's a pleasure to meet you." You enjoy the way your nails gleam in the light and you move your hand a little to make sure the man has a chance to enjoy that sight as well.

Definitely a worthy sequel. I loved how Spensa changed more, and that we finally got some glimpses on the universe beyond her planet. With the different types of aliens and their cultures, how they were described. Like Alanik or Cuna (and the others). Really liked to learn more of the history and the reason why they are trapped on their planet, as well as the different view on Superiorities actions and past action's of humanity. I love when there is no white/black for your main character, but when they have face facts and then deal with them.