"Because I am the last of my tribe who isn't dead, buried alive, or pregnant with some baron's bastard who'll grow up in chains.  And the merchants who did it were Vissian soldiers.  They've been trying to hunt my people out of existence for generations."  She tries very hard to keep the anger out of her voice; that much is obvious.  But more obvious is that there is more anger buried out of sight than she can really suppress.  "The beasts of the waste are the shame of our ancestors, and we have kept them under control for a thousand years.  We have survived on what little can be scraped from a poisoned land for a thousand years.  And for what we must do to stay alive, Vissio would destroy us all and free that land's poison to wash over their fields."

  She shook her head sharply, not that the blind man would notice.  He might have felt the vibration from that one leg she kept bouncing on her toes.  The self-control was going to other tasks.

  "Because their leaders cower behind walls and demand that others pay the price for their comfort.  When there are no walls, will they stand between me and their people?  Will they repay the lives that bought their safety?  Sarnai is right, but a chief has responsibilities, too."

  She takes a heavy breath, and her tone briefly shifts to a more relaxed one.  "The farmers and potters and netfishers, they'll be free to run away.  I'm not some clock-hearted monster, to wipe out a people.  But their soldiers, their great clans, the merchants who bought my family..."

There is no answer to Gaja's comments, and the people gathered are silent in response. Whether they agree with it or not, none are willing to confront her.

  Embarrassment quickly overtakes anger, and she pulls back, lowers her hackles.

  "I'm sorry.  I forget I am fearsome now.  Sarnai, you can follow me as far as you like.  And you can start with a horse, but maybe something faster eventually.  Relax for now; I won't go far."  She rises from her chair, stew forgotten.  The music fades back in, but its spell doesn't grip them.

  She frees the musician himself, too, while she's at it, to make sure he doesn't miss her point.  'Think about whether you want to be able to do this again,' she says to him alone as she turns to leave. 'I'll find you after some time.'

The musician, a heavy-set well-dressed (for a tavern musician) bearded man in his early middle age, laughs, fighting the tears in his eyes as he lays aside his instrument for a moment to pay his respects to Gaja.

A number of the patrons did not bother hiding their tears, the odd mechanical sounds filling their hearts with memories of home or their loved ones. Others had rose and swayed with the music.

"Of course I do! Amazing experience! I felt as though I was channeling the heavens for a brief time.

 I don't suppose I could buy you a drink or a wedding ring?" He winked playfully from across the room, to a few good natured laughs.

Gaja finds she is no longer charged for drinks here, courtesy of the musician. Odd that he never introduced himself.
This message was last edited by the GM at 06:28, Wed 07 Nov 2018.

  "Saucy" is probably the best word for the smile she flashes back before slipping out.

  Gaja's in early, today.  The sun had barely passed mid-sky, and the place was uncommonly empty.  But she finds a seat along one wall of the grand room and "borrows" a familiar hurdy-gurdy from, well, wherever it was a moment ago.  She takes a while warming up to it.  Not as though she could actually fail to make it produce the sounds she wanted, but it's best to let the instrument suggest its own vocabulary.  The result is only a little entrancing.

  She doesn't really explain to the staff what she's doing, but free entertainment sells itself.

Increase had made his way back to the Arcship to perform inspections and make sure that the ship was holding up well in harbor. He had grown oddly attached to the behemoth of a ship since its existence had served as the backbone of his budding ascension. All the same he lost himself when he caught sight of Gaja.

Even from the distance he was at she stole his attention. He watched as she entered a tavern and his mind absently informed him that many of the crew were frequenting that tavern. Deciding that it was best to touch base with his ally he left the ship and headed there.

Entering he made a quick survey of the room before heading towards Gaja.

"It's good to see you again."

  Her head comes up quickly, though she stays leaning over the instrument.  A smile blossoms quickly.  "Increase.  Come, sit.  Haven't seen you in a few days.  How is life on retainer?"  She keeps playing as she talks, soft enough to not drown herself out, but her melodies actually grow more complex the less attention she pays them.

  "Are you ever not working, lately?"  She still doesn't quite sit up.  It keeps her looking up at him impishly.

Increase gave his own smile, albeit far less expressive than Gaja's own.

"As one might expect. House Lorenzi seeks to maximize their own advantage while keeping me within their employ."

He moved to her table and took a seat as he spoke. Once seated he continued.

"A Lommites life is his work. What of you Gaja? I find it hard to imagine that you have simply been delighting the locals with your talents."
This message was last edited by the player at 14:54, Wed 09 Jan 2019.

A while after Increase and Gaja had arrived, Claire stepped into the tavern, following the word of many of the arksmen. As she saw Gaja and Increase at the table, she walked over with a slight smile on her face.

"Gaja. Increase. It has been a while."

Increase turned and gave Claire a polite nod. Her alien appearance still catching him off-guard slightly even if his face did not reflect it.

"Ah Claire. It's good to see you again as well."

  "Pffsh.  I think you mean a Lommite's work is his life.  But if it makes you happy..."  She glances up when Claire enters and sits a bit straighter in her chair.  Reaching out to clasp the republican's hand in greeting means letting go of the wheel powering her instrument, but it keeps turning regardless as she roams the keys.

  "And now we are almost all here.  A pity Plaga seems to have vanished.  I might have to leave before we find her again."  She looks down again, hiding her face in her focus on the strings.  "I would like you to come along for part of the trip, Increase.  That is, if you are not so loyal now that you cannot abide another family coming to benefit..."

"I fail to see the difference" he said with a slight smirk. It faded soon after and his face became its normal neutral mask as he considered his response.

"Loyalty is subjective. So long as it does not violate the tenets of my contract or work against my interest you will have my assistance."

Claire smiled over at Gaja and Increase, shaking Gaja's hand firmly. "It seems you've been busy. Just as I return here I find that you're planning a journey of your own, Gaja." A cybernetic ear rotated slightly to listen better. "Something you wished to have me around for?"

  "Mmh, there was talk about violence, but I still think I'm being underestimated in that way." She pouts lightly, but clearly isn't invested in the display.  It breaks almost immediately back into warm and relaxed.  "I've been planning to head up the coast since before we even made it back from our get-fished trip.  That thing must be ancient, so some of the coastal tribes will have to know how to drive it away, at least.  And if I knew how to direct a herd before, I think I can pick up their techniques, as what I've become.  No?"

  She looks quite pleased with herself and bounces her instrument into the air to cross her knees the other way.  It works into the percussive part, anyway.  "I really do love these things.

  "So I have been delayed in leaving a few times.  This time, it is to solve a mystery, and I have already caught a spy who can lead me to the solution." Okay no, now she looks pleased with herself.  "But in between, there is a lock with no door, and such dangerous guards as can match even my spy's magic.  And so—"

  She stops even playing, then, and leans in toward them each in turn.  "I need to find someone who can solve an impossible puzzle - and someone who can face terrible danger alongside me - to solve my mystery."  Finally she sits back.  The hurdy-gurdy had disappeared at some point while she had attention on her face, and it was too large for any nearby hiding spot.

"A bit ahead of you," said Claire. "I was on a scouting mission from the air. The coast is marginal terrain, with a small population of the poor and desperate, who are being preyed on by the local dark entities." She smiled just a bit. "Marginal, of course, for those who don't know how to irrigate the desert, build sea-walls, and moderate storms. And the Dwellers in Darkness will take powerful fighters to defeat."

"Sounds like an interesting quest you have, though," continued Claire, "and one where a combat automaton might prove useful. What is this mystery that you must face?"

  Gaja shrugs and takes a pointed look at her fingernails.  Some political business for politicals.  I don't need to know why it's important; I only have to report what the last survivor says when I ask him what he thought he'd do with his toy.  Which will then be my toy, and leverage on two of their chief houses."

  "This is the part that really matters," she confesses with a smile.  Then she looks up at Claire again.  "I'll help you make your land into land for farmers.  And I'll probably go into the darkness just to see what's on the other end of these stories.  Fair?"

Increased nodded as he listened, his mind somewhere else as he balanced the pros and cons of assisting them in their endeavors. In the end he resolved to assist his allies and made his position clear.

"You will have my hand in any impossible tasks and setting right any pieces of land. The only question will be the order in which we address them."

He looked to the pair in hopes that they would determine that among themselves.

Claire nodded. "Done," she said, face impassive. "We should probably handle your mission first - the Dwellers aren't scheduled to be a problem for three months."

  "Perfect.  We should leave tomorrow, right after the hottest part of the day.  We'll be heading north, so try not to look like you want trouble.  I'll handle the locals if it needs to happen.  I'll let our guide know—he's met Plaga and I, may as well send him your way too." 

As if summoned by the mention of her name, a familiar masked person stepped into the tavern, looking around.

Plaga walked up to Gaja and the others, and made a light bow as a form of greetings. What had the necromancer been up to?

"Greetings. I hope you haven't missed me while I was gone. Something came up, but I'm now fully available shall you need me. May I join the table?"

  Gaja gestures toward a nearby empty chair and takes another look around at the group.

  "All of us, then.  Except the Patrians, of course.  Well, it might be overkill, but it's also a guarantee."  She actually taps her chin while she's contemplating.  It's over the top.  "Plaga, I think I will need you, and especially you.  I have been collecting favors!  And one of them comes from a very old man who found me a very scary toy.  And the people who have it also have all the information about how they got it.  And some people who want to act like older cousins to all of Vicino Alla Sabbia want that information."  She slowly leans closer while she's explaining, eyes wide and chin coming up proudly.

  "But you know how Claire and I can be.  What if they all accidentally die and take their secrets with them?"  Gaja gives Plaga a pointed this-is-where-you-come-in smirk.

Increase nods to Plaga.

"Greeting Plaga."

He then listened to Gaja's explaination as to what Plaga's role would be in their upcoming journey. Necromancy was something that Increase had only read about in books and heard about in tales, at least before his uplifting. Now he was acutely aware of its nature but not of its mechanisms. In fact all magic was outside of his reach at the moment.

For the moment.

Plaga takes a sit at the table, listening attentively to Gaja. She was pleased to hear that the others didn't stand idle while she sorted her own personal matters.

"I see. I'll be more than glad to help. I myself have been investigating what has come of my former allies, but I'm afraid none of them are around to help us. It seems i have been "sleeping" more time than I hoped to. But more on that later, right now I shall focus on aiding you on your matters. Where would be heading to retrieve this "toy" that you wish to retrieve?"

  "There is a cave in the wastes north of here," she explains with more gesturing than is really necessary.  "Several days walk, at least.  And that tells me the thieves did not walk, because the former owners have been begging all the thieves in a day's ride to turn it in for ransom."

  Gaja peers out a far window.  She'd taken a spot facing the ocean.  "My homeland does not need more dangerous magic in mysterious hands.  My spy friend is not lying, but we may still be going into an ambush.  They did notice his magic, he says.  We will meet tomorrow?  The too-dangerous toy was stolen from one of their buildings, and I will know more about them with a clearer look at their path.  Just after the sun has passed overhead; most of you will want to travel around the temperature."