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Neville is in the safety zone. There are no elders present. The person who did the inviting isn't there - just a bunch of people. He's not the highest ranked person present, but is definitely one of them. He gathers the highly ranked people and tries to figure out what is going on. The general response is that they are fleeing for their lives, and that House Cara is about to destroy them all. They don't know anything useful politically. Less than one-third of the ones with whom Neville is familiar are present here, and there is nobody here that he doesn't know, at least in passing.
They seem to be of the general opinion that the elders blew it by attacking House Cara long before the demons started filling Chaos, and that Cara is finally counterattacking. A few people have heard rumors that Helgram created the demons and lost control, that they have had high political allies that are now laid low, that Hendrake is behind it, and that Hendrake is dead. They've all seen large numbers of people around the house recently that they don't recognize. There have been very few out-House passes recently - Neville is the exception.
Neville tries to acquire speculatory information, and is informed by a low-ranking individual that one of his friends was caught speculating and was hunted down and killed by the elders. Neville tries to fill some of them in some more - the king is missing, presumed dead, some of the guilds have risen up against the houses, some of the houses have risen up against each other, and things are generally confused. He says that House Cara seems to be in control of a number of the other houses now, but that their reasons for joining Cara are unknown.
None of those present know of any allies outside the house - Hendrake was their only known ally, except for one member of House Jesby, and Jesby is currently missing. Neville points out that he saw Jesby and her daughter recently.
Cassandra gives instructions to Cailin, including don't get in the way of the cats, and questioning orders during combat will probably get you killed. Peekaboo and Atalanta are there, as well. Atalanta runs off and starts playing a game of retrieving corpses and dropping them off in front of Cassandra.
[Hunter always starts before the game begins]
Jean's saucers are playing tag in large circles around Amber and Chaos.
They reach the black zone kingdom. Ilk can perceive a zigguraut with a figure on the top, but the attack is coming from beyond the zigguraut. Ilk tells the others and puts up an image. Atalanta zips off, chats with the person briefly, then zips back and tells Cassandra.
[An army of Dzurlords with Morganti weapons? I have a birthday coming up.]
Ilk, then Cailin examine the area. The only thing of interest is the ziggaruat, which appears to be anchored in place by something, and there is also something built into the zigguraut that is is penting the person on top in place.
They continue to approach. The guy asks Atalanta if they could help him off the pyramid. Atalanta returns, and relays to Cassandra. One more relay, name's Blake.
On their closest approach, Blake waves. Cassandra sends Peekaboo off to take a look at what is holding that guy there. Peekaboo walks through the wall then up through the roof. Peekaboo returns, looking hurt. Cassandra tries to interrogate Peekaboo, with minimal success. They discuss getting the guy off the zigguraut. Cailin lofts him off the pyramid magically. Blake starts flailing. Cailin plays with him
Simultaneously:
Blake - "To whom do i owe this rescue?"
Cailin - "Do you have any idea what was
holding you there?"
Cassandra - "Who are you?"
"Starvation and gravity." He bows to Cassandra.
Do you have a patronymic? Where are you from?
He looks puzzled at the word patronymic, and points at the zigguraut.
He says that's the last thing he remembers.
Maybe he was a yeti in another life.
Blake looks puzzled.
"Why are you here?"
"I don't know."
Blake is confused.
"Then where are you from?"
Cailin - "That's not easy to answer"
Ilk - "Many different places"
Jean - "Chaos"
Blake admits that he was just asking to be polite.
"So was your name just something that you made up on the spot?"
"Well, technically, it was."
"Do you have any useful memories?"
"Not that i can rely on. There were giants here a while ago, but they melted."
Blake looks worried about if anyone knows who or where he is.
Ilk examined him with Logrus. He looks like some powerful psyche impressed itself on the flesh and then went away again.
Cassandra offers him a drink of water.
Cailin takes a closer look.
Cassandra takes a ring off her hand and hands it to him. He puts it on, and starts visibly healing.
Conversation happens as the group continues. Ilk offers food, and pulls in a meat beast.
They approach a grassland. Cassandra notices massive lifeforce. Ilk notices power, possibly tied into the attack. Cailin doesn't notice anything unusual. Cassandra trumps Celeste. She doesn't reach. She hands the trump to Ilk. Ilk tries.
Celeste has woken up, bathed, and is about ready to deal with food when she receives the trump call.
Ilk, REN, Jean, Celeste, and Norton are in the trump contact. The grass looks like someone took the life force from a planet and stuffed it into each blade.
[You're not a scholar - you're a vampire!]
Jean walks a demon over to the grass. The demon falls over dead, and the first blade touched grows slightly. The mattress ejects.
Cassandra draws her Morganti. Celeste yells at her over the trump until she puts it away.
Jean tries to bud into the grass, and the life is sucked out of that mattress.
More discussion occurs. Celeste tells Cassandra to Morganti it. She asks bodyguards, and is told not to.
A Dzurlord Morgantis the grass. A few blades die, the Morganti turns into plain steel, and the Dzurlord dies.
Norton asks Ilk for the Dzurlord and is given it. Norton manages to puppet the Dzurlord, and tosses it back to Ilk.
Cailin levitates the demon body over the grass. Long tendrils reach up, snag it, and convert it.
The flame itself seems to become dimmer and weak until the weight of the air itself puts out the flame. The Dzurlord is no longer animated, and ...
They move to a nice safe distance out in shadow. Ilk bums power off the Jean pool, Cailin, and Celeste. Celeste's life power is difficult for Ilk to pull into the Logrus, so he asks Norton to filter. Norton flips the polarity.
There is contact to Celeste over the god channel. "Hi - I don't know if I'm doing this right." "Who is this?" "I'm Sethra LaVode." "What can I do for you?" "I was told by my goddess that if I was in trouble that I could call out in this way."
Conversation happens. Ilk sends tendrils in after her. Celeste trumps Sethra out.
Conversation happens. Temples to white statues are mentioned as being the focuses. Celeste becomes suddenly interested in the problem.
Celeste starts shapeshifting into a male form. She is annoyed, and wakes Norton in her head. Norton splits in two in her head and wrestles with himself. She stops shapeshifting. Celeste mentions that she should find Flora.
"Hey mom?" "Yes, dear?" Grab. Flora enters the trump contact. Celeste chats with her.
Flora is pulled to Amber, Sethra and Celeste are pulled to the mob in shadow near Chaos.
Cassandra noticed that at the shadow before this one, Blake went missing.
Blake is discussed. Doom is discussed.
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