eldest

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

It is a deep and fierce joy, cresting as the fight continues just like always, but Piripiri's never lost herself to it. She's quietly proud of that, when's alone and doesn't have to play out any role. So she notices as soon as Lotus starts to move forward. She's got a moment to plan.

Han clearly hasn't had anybody to dance a duel with before, nobody to answer this roaring need to question, see who's better and love the asking. There's techniques taught, meditation tricks to bank the fires or step aside from it, but she needs Han to trust her and stepping away from the dance would break that, bring everything back to the spy instead of the peer. So. Lean in. Breath in. Breath out. Let the essence dance and the song of the heart play on. Dragons are greedy. Dragons want the best fight, want the best victory, want the best kisses.

She goes on the offensive for the first time, a two step rush into a slide kicking up more dirt and dust than it should. The smokescreen covers a tossed net, wide open and clinging, and three satchets of flash-powder, unlit. She's trusting Han's next step in the dance here, burn the net wide enough and the blinding should buy her a moment more.

Enough time to kick off from the dust-screen slide, taking the five steps to Lotus and making her move. She picks up the demigod and twirls her into a dip, before setting her back on her feet with another wink and walking towards Han again, unhurried. The braided silk cord she'd wrapped around Lotus tightens as she tries to take her next step, but it won't trip her unless she fights it. She's watching Han's reaction closely here, making sure the liberties taken aren't going to break the fragile trust. But the grin hasn't stopped under the mask, and she still feels the joy of the dance. Your move, my dear.

Asking her question: What are your feelings towards me?

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

There is an old koan. "Dragons have no word for peace."

Han slams blow after blow at the umbrella, and she doesn't dodge the first one, it knocks her umbrella wildly out of line and the masked lady is looping in close with an elbow aimed for Han's chest. The best defense against a blow is to not be there. She's inside Han's reach and is circling, forcing reactions by getting closer and closer. Elbow-blow into shoulder block into feint her-left-Han's-right into fingerjab, and she's laughing and laughing, joyous, green eyes flaring bright behind the mask.

How to get her to kiss you? Fight, and win. Fight, and lose. But fight like you are, and be interested, and she wants to already, she's in your space like it's a threat and a promise both that's coming due.

But you're good with that sword of yours, Han and while you don't have the formal training you've been in brawls with the N'yari. The opening passes and the woman in the mask dances back out of reach, with a few singed edges, but no fresh injuries inflicted or received.

And she is still carefully, deliberately leaving Lotus equidistant from you and her, still laughing. It's a dance you two are playing out, who is the stronger, better, faster, tougher, and she doesn't mind losing. But she's not going to throw it. Earn your victory, or know you tried your hardest and still lost, Han.

There's no word for peace, but there's words for balance, harmony, dancing, and duels.

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

"No."

She twirls out of the way, sword-tip tracing a line through her sleeve and leaving a bright red line behind as she tosses her umbrella high up in the air and throws a packet to the ground, which blooms into a cloud of thick smoke. It doesn't sting your eyes Han, but you've never had that problem, now have you, dragon-child? And then she's exploding out of the smoke, inches away from you and circling towards your sword arm, close enough that you don't have the angle.

"This is not surrender. This is a truce."

Piripiri feints towards Han's eyes and commits to the sword-arm, rooting her stance and dragging Han along and off your feet. Han, you've been thrown before, you can recover midair, but she's not chasing you down. She reaches up to catch the umbrella and settles into a willow-style swordstance, umbrella out and across her body.

"You have no reason to love the Dominion? I encourage you to test your strength against them." Them, and not us, an astute listener might hear. "Win. Prove yourself. I want you to gather yourself, plan, learn, recover. I am your enemy, I cannot simply give you those things, only trade them."

That was no N'yari gloating, and no Dominion objective focus here: she could have gone for Lotus and booked it. Instead, her eyes are aglow with excitement and the ground around her has bloomed into a riot of colors.

She wants this fight. Or maybe, instead, she wants you to have it. And she's staying still, letting you get ready and make the next move.

I am picking to take a string on Han, and taking Angry as the condition from the fight. Not so much fury as the heat of passion of a duel here.

In return, she's rolling an Entice and got a 12.

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

"No, she did not." Piripiri agrees easily. She's a good ten paces away, and has stopped, turning her head to look around at the forest. "The mask means a whole lot of things. Right now it means I am not my own creature, and have orders and a role to fulfill. And you know that. But I do want to talk, first, because I'm hoping here we can agree on something that works for us all."

"I want you two to be happy. Genuinely! Come with me, quietly and willingly, and we'll simply be off the map for a few weeks, maybe a month or two. Lot of places three people can disappear to. You two won't have to worry about anybody hurting either of you while you're with me, and after the needed moves get made you both can simply be on your way. I can also make sure to teach you both some dragon-lore that I suspect neither of you got from your upbringing. Take a vacation in comfort, under my protection, and not directly in the Red Wolf's custody. There's hunting lodges aplenty that nobles use only once every few years, I'll make sure we're burgling one of the jerks. Get to spend quiet time together, get to know each other better, with nobody after you, no pressure, no soldiers, nobody there you have to hide your true hearts from."

Her eyes are burning jade, locked on Lotus's as she takes a step forward, hands out to her sides in a question, an offer and an enticement. "I can make sure nobody gets hurt, and you both are safe and happy. All you have to do is kneel and obey, just for the moment. I promise. It'll even end up fun for you both." One eye winks at Lotus, and that, Han, is when you realize that she might not have aimed that offer at you.

Enticing Lotus with the promise of a good time, 8.

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

"We need them both captive, quiet and unhurt. Ideally they agree to come along. You know your capabilities better than I do, so act as you see fit, I won't command you to fight your friend. Please don't abuse the long leash." The literal leash in question is tied loosely around a tree, with plenty of slack for Giriel to be able to enter the clearing from where they're standing, but draw up short of Lotus and Han. The knot itself is a formality, and the Golden Banneret is keeping you company.

It's a short set of orders, but she's working as she goes, setting up a few things of this and that out of her bag, a snare here, a net there. Powdered yellowfire extract, a set of darts dipped in queller's sleep, and some very expensive rope. She's hoping none of it will be needed.

And with that, she steps out into view, mask on, umbrella in hand but resting on her shoulder, a threat that isn't currently threatening. "Han, Lotus. I was hoping to talk."

Hard Wired Island: The Future is a Foreign Country

The office is a two room affair, and it's pretty easy to see why. The first room is a polished, minimalist affair, with a few framed photos of Mrs. Piper, the face of the operation, accepting various runner-up awards mixed with a few stills from documentaries. A black and white retro-minimalism, two chairs in front of the desk, a slightly nicer chair behind it, and a mini-computer on the desk next to a small framed photo facing away from everyone but the desk's owner.

The room is also very empty. So Elodie steps in and knocks on the wall, gently, tap-tap, and gets a "CUMIN!" from the other door in the office. The back room shows the other side of the partnership. It used to have a kitchenette, that much is clear, there's a small counter with a microwave, sink, hotplate, and fridge that's been condensed down to about half the space it normally would because the rest of the space is cluttered as hell. A rats nest of cables, scavenged servers, a couch duct-taped to patch the holes with a rainbow pile of blankets and pillows heaped on it. The blanket pile shifts a as black-furred head pokes out of it and peers through neon green AR goggles. "Ya the replacement? M'Priyah."

Priyah, it turns out, has no idea where Bechemal 4-550, aka Bessie Piper, is. "Diva, m'yeah? Dragged herself up, ambitions. Here for showtime and bits'n'bobs. Mad't Bigsby. Doesn't want you, needs a camera. S'yeah. You're shiny, take the shine from Pipes." She's wearing a ragged band shirt and black jeans, and Priyah generously offers to share her instant ramen, or at least that's what Elodie tranlates "Noods?" as when she emerges to make herself some... breakfast? Probably? "Bigs'smart. Doesn't want the trouble. 'M staying here, work remote, good gig. You'n Pipes go in person, earpiece f'you'n'her, call for deets. Stay safe, m'kay?"

There isn't another place to sit and Priyah has shamelessly taken the entire couch to eat her noods, so it's almost a relief when the front door beeps. Elodie emerges from the computer cave to a frigid stare from Mrs. Piper. "Ah, good, Bigby's replacement is here. Don't sit on the chairs, you might break them."

Oh this is going to be a peach of a job.

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

Piripiri sputters and shakes her head. "Wait? When the fates give you a chance to leave, you take it." She isn't so crass as to tug on Giriel's leash, but she's walking away into an alley and it's a "follow now or get tugged along very shortly" situation here.

As they take another short stride across the world, standing on a rooftop near the edge of town, Piripiri turns to Giriel, serious. "I don't want to involve anybody I don't have to. If she sees us leave with Han and Lotus, I have to take her along as well. The options there are keeping her with us, which complicates my life and makes this less likely to succeed, or to hand her over to the Dominion's tender mercies, which I strongly do not want to do, and makes my life politically difficult." She gestures out at the town. "They're all innocents. Her sister is an innocent. Hell, Han is almost one. I'll do bad things to innocent people if I have to, but I don't have to right now, and I want to keep it that way."

She doesn't ask if you have any questions. She's set parameters, she expects them to be followed. And another step forward, towards her quarry.

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

Puns. She goes out of her way to treat you politely and you repay her with puns. She's tempted to stoop to Giri's level to respond, but some of us must stay civilized or nothing will ever get done.

More importantly, the priestess is, ah, not useful, to put it politely, not for her current job of capturing Lotus. She'd be a font of information about the moderate priesthood's opinion on anything and will cheerfully spill the beans on all of it during an ordinary day.

But for the moment, she'll be polite and leave.

"One is heartened to see your recovery, tea is a wonderful thing. We must be on our journey, I am afraid, but I wish you the best of luck with peace and coexistence."

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

Piripiri pauses. Adds up names and people that were at Kingkiller Castle. Puts name (Zhaojun) to face (cute, bookish) to probable-but-not-certain fake identity (Iselsi Shae, All Seeing Eye) to injury (firewand burns on side). Continues on, with barely a hitch. "Yes, we ran into the two of them at the castle. Unpleasantness ensued, which thankfully I was able to escape with only a light scratch for the efforts, but both Zhaojun and the Vermilion Beast of Lanterns did parts to ensure Hell didn't gain ground here." We will carefully not say that they would have gained ground by kidnapping Lotus, daughter of the priestess's patron, because that's what Piripiri is here to do as well, after all. "I've also heard stories in my travels of that same beast descending on n'yari raiding bands, bandits, and Dominion soldiers that have strayed from the Immaculate and done wrong to your land."

"What has the Vermilion Beast done to earn your ire, in the face of the good done? Burned villages? Eaten whole herds in an afternoon? Stolen away a princess for ransom?" She looks earnest and guileless. Priestess, give us your guidance. Tell us what this beast has done, to deserve such scorn. It must be a great sin, and not some petty squabble, after all.

Zhaojun shot her, though, so she'll leave that one be. Petty revenge, ha ha.

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

Piripiri catches up the end of Giriels leash quickly, hiding the motion from Han's relative (Cousin? Sister? Wrong age for a generation jump.) behind the witches back. It wouldn't do to give the wrong impression and have repercussions land on anybody else for something done at her command.

She bows low and formal, mask concealing a grin at the poor priestess's condition. "We are on errantry, and greet you, priestess of the veil. Further, one would be most honored by if the priestess would allow this one to prepare you tea." She's getting out her tea set, firepot, and herbs as she says it, a quiet glance at the door or the steps asking if tea should be inside or outside.

As for the tea itself, options abound. A strong sedative would neatly remove both the priestess and Giriel from play, the Golden Banneret would be an unknown, and she'd have another hostage, but it'd be rude and gauche. So instead a simple jasmine tea.

"One wonders, if one could be so bold, as to what one of your prestige is guarding the door against? One would think if there was a great danger, more of you might be about, or perhaps a daughter of dragons, if there is one in your priesthood?"

Take the bait, priestess.