Water Hornet watched the exchange between Swift Fox and Dusk Rat and then turned his head towards Shining Peacock, his look inquiring.

Shining Peacock smiled, clapping his hands togheter.

"wonderful! So now that we have settled that, I think all that remains for me to do is to answer your questions, Sun Snake."

Peacock sat down atop the small bastion separating the group from the Maakengorge, his cloak spread behind him and dangling slightly over the chasm in the breeze, but for the precariety of the position, he seemed comfortable with it as he focused his gaze on the man he'd called his equal and asked:

"So, what parts of my reasoning are clear enough that you do not need more explanations about them, Sun Snake, and what ibnstead is leaving you baffled? If you tell me, it will be easier to help you see how I filledn those particular blanks."

"Assume I have no understanding of your thought process at all," said Sun Snake, "and then perhaps I have one final question."
This message was last edited by the player at 18:50, Thu 19 June 2014.

Water Hornet narrowed his eyes and cleared his throat, but otherwise remained silent, deciding not to interfere this time.

OOC: Hmmm, seems Shining Peacock ignored Hornet's comment about a master and his student travelling together on purpose.

Yup, that would be correct, Hornet. If you want to butt head with Peacockl because of it, feel free to! ^_^

I'll assume you meant "I have NO understanding", Sun Snake, right? If you meant differently, let me know.

Shining Peacock let out a sigh, but then smiled genially and started to explain, in a lecturing tone:

"Alright, so we should start by pointing out the data we have, and go from there. We know five things. Valador was behind the toran disapparition, and planted clues that might imply him, but also that he could easily counter, to try and gain a political advantage over the Order. Secondly, he sold our brethen to the Nadziranim, so that they could be used to create these hybridized abominations."

The Magnakai gestured at the boat containing Fall Lobster's unconscious body, ansd Silver Raven let out a shiver, but the man didn't reacted to that and continued, instead:

"Additionally, he opened a secret path for the Darklanders so they could launch a surprise attack on the Monastery. He also stated his belief that the war with Naar will never be won, and his wish for the Brotherhood of the Crystal Star to become a cultural centre of the world, to guide all the people in Magnamund to an happier life under such a guide. Lastly, and most importantly, he proved his ability to use Magnakai disciplines, something he should not know how to use."

Shining Peacock let his gaze move across his audience, making sure everybody had gotten this, before going on:

"Now, if he merely wanted to remove the Kai Order to give more prominence to the Brotherhood, such a complex scheme would not have any sense. Giving the Nadziranim a chance at a sneak attack would have been more then enough, since those creatures would jump at any chance to strike back at us, and would not ask a compensation for it."

He seemed disgusted as he spoke of the dark sorcerors, but then shrugged and continued, his tone now returning more conversational:

"So, he accepted the creation of the hybrids, and collaborated to it by helping them capture our brethen, for a different purpose. As se have seen, the process the Nadziranim use, while crude, accomplishes a very important thing, and that would be to confer the powers of a Kai on creatures that no longer are even human at all. And thus, Valador having knowledge of the Nexus discipline enlighten us on why he would have allowed such a monstruosity to occur, so that he, too, could learn how to give the powers of our order to people others than a Kai Monk. And he succeeded in that."

Peakock let out a breath at that, before going on, more serious:

"And so, when we take into account his stated goal, we see that he did not let the attack happen because his goal is to destroy us, but rather the opposite, which is also the reason he let us find all those clues, why he hoped we would confront him politically. He wants to absorb the Kai Order within the Brotherhood, andthat would be very easy fro him if we were short on manpower after the attack, with a precaerious political position after he destroyed our accusations in a public court, and most importantly of all, after he proved that the powers of Kai couild now be thaught, as he would put it, to anybody willing to learn them."

The Magnakai eyes narrowed in what might well have been outrage at the idea, but then he shook his head, as if to chase the thought away, and went on with his explanation.

"Of course,all the talk in the world would not stop the Brotherhood from being used as a weapon by King Ulnar once the Kai were absorbed into it. the only reason that does not happen at this time is that we mantained our nominal independence, but the Bortherhood is a sommerlending institution, and so it would not look bad for the King to use it as he wishes the same way it would if he tried to force us Kai to join the army. However, the situation in Toran is unique in Sommerlund, in that the city is the only one not under the command of a Baron. It mantains a small presence of sommerlendiong troops, that is true, but it is the Guild Council, and mostly the Brotherhood itself, which controls the city and actually issue orders to them. Beside, most guilds have private militiaes of their own, and the Brotherhood itself is, of course, more than capable of enforcing its own will if it so wishes."

Shining Peacock steepled his fingers together and then concluded, dead serious:

"And thus, if Valador wants to share the power the Brotherhood with all the nations in the world, he will need to free it from the grasp of Ulnar,n because no self respecting monarch would ever freely give away that much richness to his competitors when he could use it to enrich his own kingdom. And, since Toran already mostly self-administrate, is the economic center of all Northern Magnamund, and will have, once Valador completes his plan, the whole Kai Order under his command, there is only one way in which he will be able to accomplish his final objective. Secession."

The Magnakai let the word hung in the air as he concluded his speech, waiting for any of the others to comment on it.
This message was last edited by the player at 19:48, Thu 19 June 2014.

Indeed I did mean that, and corrected it but obviously not soon enough before you started that monster explanation :)

Sun Snake apparently either agreed with the logic as presented, or simply didn't want to argue with Peacock over it. He instead looked around to the others.

However, the did seems to be a lingering crinkle on his forehead, as if he had thought of something unpleasant.

OOC: Hmm, intriguing plan...  :)


Swift looked back towards Peacock as he started his explanation.
Her arms unfolded from in front of her chest as she hooked her thumbs into her belt and resumed leaning against the rock wall, apart from one moment when Silver Raven reacted to the mention of the Hybrid Kai when she quickly reached for his hand and offered him a reassuring smile.

Looking back to Peacock again, she remained silent throughout his explanation.
When it was done, her gaze flickered briefly towards Sun Snake, then Sun Fox and back to Peacock again before she returned to impassively looking out over the Maakengorge.

If the details of Valador's plan had provoked some thought or emotion within her, she was keeping it well hidden for now...

Water Hornet let out a long breath, the act producing a quiet hiss. He looked at Sun Snake and internally thanked him for making Peacock explain all that.

Seeing no-one reacted, he spoke: "And so, since we cannot, even should not, confront the man openly, the best way now seems to be to remove the man aside from the eyes of any Sommlending. Maybe even coming with a story that would present him as a loyal servant of our homeland." Hornet's voice revealed he was thinking aloud not having reached any decision at that moment yet. "So as not to start any more discord in the kingdom."

Hornet paused as if to process the words he had just said himself. "And if we fail at that, then we doom the Order of the Kai - no amount of explaining would save the Order from disgrace." Hornet looked at others and rested his gaze on the form of Sabre Fox. "Unless everybody was convinced we actually went rogue and were acting contrary to the Order's intentions."

"We should come up with a really good plan for the eventuality of meeting Valador," concluded Hornet, "otherwise all will be lost..." The young Magnakai rubbed his eyes and then covered his face with both hands; he looked to be engrossed in deep thought.
This message was last edited by the player at 20:38, Thu 19 June 2014.

Sun Fox seemed troubled as well by what had been said, and she looked up at Hornet saying, in a tone that seemed more of a plea than an assertion:

"Come on, surely there's another way to go about it? There... there has to be one, right?"

She glanced at the others, her eyes finally focusing on Swift Fox and then widening.

"Swift, you said you found some evidence, didn't you? Something he didn't planted himself, something you think might help us turn the table if we confront him lawfully, with Banedon's help?"

"Valador's challenges need to be sidestepped not dealt with. Just as Peacock has shown many times," said Sun Snake.

"It is true, we have proof that links to Valador. In open court, though, it would not matter. However, if would be enough if presented one on one to key. Wol-Dumar, for example. A reassurance to Banedon."

Sun Snake tapped his lips. "If it was revealed the Darklands tunnel - without any blame assigned near the man....if it were revealed, and a rumour were firmly established that because of it the King was going to put the Kai and Brotherhood directly under the crown...it would spring Valador's trick too soon, in the wrong direction. He might have an excuse to succeed Toran, but the support would not be there. He would not have the order. Any attack on the order could be spun as an attack to stop the Brotherhood doing their duty. Or even be hinted at an attack upon the king himself. If he tries to attack the validity of the Darklands threat as a plot, he treads dangerously close to being seen to cover up that which he has started himself. We need to sidestep his plans, as an order. In appearance if not in fact. Make his own plans be the thing that suddenly puts him in a poor position."

OOC: Hmm, this is where my memory lets me down.  With everything that's happened recently, I've probably forgotten something...


Swift looked back towards Sun Fox at the mention of her name.
For a moment, she didn't reply, seemingly thinking.
"Well, other than the tunnel through to the Darklands, which was likely created by Valador working with Nadziranim, as well as the Crystal Explosives stolen from the Brotherhood that he supplied to the Darklands forces to destroy the Monastery with, there isn't much.  He's done a good job of clearing up after himself."

She glanced towards Frost Ferret.
"The hybrids themselves would likely carry some evidence of his magic, wouldn't they?  Frost Ferret retained the head of one we killed in the Darklands, and we also have the eye of a snake-like creature that Dusk Rat defeated in Toran, possibly one of Valador's initial experiments in combining the magical disciplines and using them to warp living things into monstrous forms.  If we could get these back to Toran and allow Banedon to examine them..."

She frowned slightly, glancing towards Peacock and then back at Sun Fox.
"There was an item that was given to me when we met up again that was crafted by Valador, a green marble that could drain the magical energy from anything it came into contact with.  I didn't know it at the time, but it seems as though Valador loaned it to the rogue Vakeros Haxadrom along with various other items which he has recently been out recovering, perhaps to prevent any link being made between him and Haxadrom's activities.  I don't know if anyone else has anything they took from Haxadrom, other than his sword, but they too may be useful, if only as a means to lure Valador to a particular location, as he can track them and will probably seek to recover or destroy them."

"With everything that's happened so far, I may be forgetting something though".
She looked towards Sun Snake, as if waiting to see if he would add anything, but then she looked back towards Peacock, as if something had just occurred to her.
"I too have something to add" she said to him, "something that Valador said to me in the temple back there.  I didn't mention it before, just as there are many things I never mentioned to anyone before."
Her gaze travelled across the rest of the assembled group before returning to Peacock, meeting his eyes steadily.
"Valador knows about me.  About what I once was.  If he wished to discredit the Kai Order, my very existence may help him with that.  So if it comes down to one of us being condemned as a rogue Kai and a killer, I'm probably the best option, don't you think?"

Water Hornet dropped his hands that had been covering his face, revealing bloodshot eyes, and looked at Sun Fox. For a moment a hint of annoyance could be seen in his look, but it quickly disappeared and he focused on others' words.

"No," Hornet said when Swift finished, "I think Sun Snake is right that we should not try to win at his game - we should not attempt to play it first of all. I mean: I'm not sure what secret you're talking about, but since Valador knows of it, he will be prepared for you assuming the role of a rogue Kai, I'd say. What could catch him off guard would be if the role was assumed by Frost Ferret or Silver Raven...or me." Hornet looked at his two Kai brothers and then at Sun Fox. "But let's go back: I think presenting the...," Hornet had obviously trouble finding the right words, "...our turned brethren and explaining how the infusion with Kai powers works would severely interfere with Valador's plans."

He looked thoughtfully and then suddenly asked: "What evidence...I mean other evidence did you find about his plans?"

"The ones he planted, you mean? The giant snake hidden near the Tor river, the presence of the Vakeros in the forest that only I can testify about, the bounty hunters he hired to hunt us down and then all of whom he had killed, the traces of magic in the monster's head which match what we found near the tunnel, and the Nadziranim comment on having a left-handed mage as an ally. Other than the head, nothing that would hold in court."

Frost Ferret's tone was very matter of fact as he spoke, and Shining Peacock nodded at that, as if he'd expected such a comment.

"Indeed, all those things are clues that point to him, but do not prove anything. And, considering how carefully he disposed of the bounty hunters, and how he is hunting down all traces of his connection to the Vakeros Haxadrom, I do not think he would so sloppily leave all these clues around. No, he left them because he wanted us to bring them up, and so we need assume he will be ready to counter them."

He then turned to Swift Fox and offered her a friendly smile as he added:

"And I would not consider your past a stain, Lady Swift Fox. I told Moon Shadow that helping you turn your talents toward the fight against darkness was one of her greatet accomplishments, and I truly do believe you are a credit to the order. You use your skillset for the light now, and that is a much greater boon for the Order than you taking the fall for the actions of others would be. So please, do not talk like that again, your talent deserve better recognition, and not to be downplayed and reviled in any way."

Rather than being reassured by Peacock's words to her, Swift frowned slightly, looking distinctly uneasy for a moment before her outer calm seemed to reassert itself.

"If I'm careful enough in my dealings with him, he may believe he can turn me to his way of thinking.  He knows my past, and he made an offer to me in the temple."
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she met Peacock's gaze again.
"Speaking of which.  He spoke of like-minded people he could introduce me to.  'Kindred souls' were his exact words if I remember right.  Do you have any idea of what he may have meant by that?"


OOC: Forgot to ask about that before.  This seems like the best time :)

Peacock shook his head.

"None whatsoever. I know not the man at all, after all, and all I said of his plans, I divined from what you all told me of him. In fact, it surprises me he would know of your past, since Banedon would not have told him, and other then him and Lone Wolf, who would not have told him either, there is literally nobody else in the world he could have learned it from."

He seemed intrigued by the puzzle, if his wondering tone was anything to judge his opinions by.

"The man is well traveled, and now possess the ability to cram research and tracking that would take us days and weeks in to mere moment's of whim. If he is seeking to taregt the order, or looking for new volunteers, it is likely he would target those most inconvenienced by the order. I would look to your own past, Peacock, to ensure there is nothing he could use against you." Sun Snake did not say it accusingly, it did simply sound like a neutral warning.

He looked to Swift Fox. "Valador may have planned for your genuine curiosity, or trickery to aid the order. In all ways, he seems to seek our divisions. Allowing us to stand with you, Swift Fox, may be the way to sidestep anything he would do against us."

Swift continued to peer at Shining Peacock, giving no outward hint of her inner thoughts.
"You seem to know.  Perhaps Valador too has his ways of gaining information that others assume to be hidden."
She shrugged lightly, looking away towards the Maakengorge again.
"Of course, perhaps he was simply a witness back then.  A direct assault on the Crystal Spyre would have been difficult to conceal after all."

She looked towards Sun Snake as he spoke and gave a hint of a nod to him as though acknowledging what he said, though she didn't say anything further for now...

Because she's still going to lone wolf it - non-capitalised of course :)

OOC: Maybe...  Maybe not...  Who can tell what lurks in that sneaky foxy mind? ;)

Shining Peacock shook his head.

"There is a substantial difference between connecting you to the event at the Spyre, and learning the full truth of your past. And it is no mistery why I know, I was told by Lone Wolf, same as Moon Shadow was, when the two of us where considered as your potential mentors, once it became clear you had Magnakai potential. I and she are the only ones who can truly appreciate how much you bring to the Order, but she had apparently already took an interest in you before then, so I was happy to let her have you as her pupil, as she wished."

He then smiled softly.

"You should feel honoured, Lady Swift Fox. It is a rare sight for Moon Shadow to fight me over anything at all, that she did for you is remarkable, I feel. I think half the reason I let her win it, as well, was because it was a novel experience for me."

Something in Peacock's words seemed to strike a sour note with Swift, as her gaze moved back to his and hardened noticeably.
But the moment passed quickly as she looked away out over the Maakengorge again.

"Well someone told him.  And he may not be the only one either.  Not that it matters anyway, not any more" she said quietly before lowering herself into a sitting position at the base of the rock wall she had been leaning against, pulling up the hood of her cloak and closing her eyes, apparently no longer interested in further conversation...

Shining Peacock seemed puzzled at Swift Fox's last comment, but then he shrugged and turned to look toward Sun Snake.

"You said you had something else you wanted to ask of me, Sun Snake?"

Sun Snake seemed concerned when Swift Fox pointed out that her confession earlier should not have been known to Valador. It took him a moment to note Peacock's question was directly to him. It took another moment to recall what the Kai meant.

"Oh, that," said Sun Snake flatly. "It seems facitious now, given the way the talk has turned." Sun Snake seemed about to shrug off the question, then shrugged. "I was merely curious. How did you think all this was going to turn out. If we did not disagree with you. If I had not pushed and pushed to continuously make contact with you, and then press questions to you. What would we be doing now? What would you be doing now? How much of anything would we now right now? Would Dusk Rat be with you or not right now? I just wondered how you thought your plans would go."

Shining Peacock looked surprised at the question, but then shrugged and answered:

"I would be doing just the same, departing to complete my own mission, although I would likely be doing that on my own, and you would have had the good luck of having Dusk Rat quite impressive skills on your side for your own mission, which you would have been goin on as well just the same. If you had wanted to support me from the beginning, you would have told me everything about Valador even sooner, so I fail to see how things could be much different."

He paused, then added, his tone now curious:

"Unless there is something else you have yet to tell me?"

"It's probably not what you meant," Hornet, who had been silent for a moment, joined the conversation again, "but Valador managed to deactivate magic items the High Priest of the Acolytes of Vashna carried on his person." With this, Hornet fished out a ring made from bone and of spiral shape out of his pocket. "Perhaps its some basic magic ability...but I think it might be useful to keep in mind." The young Magnakai nodded towards the Deathstaff at Peacock's back and added: "Although I don't expect you relying too much on magic trinkets instead of Kai skills."