In The Same Room

[Arachnia of the Hour]

Resplendent Wood, 2-3

*the sky was long dark and the stars glittered in the night's tapestry. Arachnia sat in the seat at the head of the table in the meeting room of the Imperial Manse, waiting for the others to arrive. Sentinel and Zeriku were available at a moment's notice and she had the new Lunar, Wise River, with her already. She hadn't heard from Towering Oak in some time, but she knew that Lirimana and Dal'Lumen should be here as soon as they could. It would be a good time to discuss all of the information of the happenings in the empire and the case of Ress's trial and to come up with a plan etcetera. She had kept on the attire she chose before meeting with Wise River, though now she wore her delicate silver crown and her Moonsilver black widow razors were perched on her shoulders, the automata unmoving without an order from their mistress. The pendant of Moonsilver sitting against the snowy skin of her breasts. Soon, the meeting would begin*

[Lirimana]

Resplendent Wood, 2-3

*the Warbird touched down in the Imperial Manse's courtyard and the hatch opened. Lirimana climbed out and smiled at the pilot*

Thanks, Zeriku

*the Twilight looked around and, seeing no one, went inside the Manse itself. Since there wasn't anyone outside they must be inside, naturally. The last time there was a meeting it was in some sort of war room and thus this was where she was headed. Down the halls according to her memory, Lirimana eventually found it and as the doors opened she blinked, seeing the soft silver glory of the Empress. She stopped for a moment, forgetting that Arachnia hated her, and stared. She quickly caught herself and walked in, looking curiously at the other woman who was currently a stranger to her. Her brown eyes outlined the girl and she smiled before reminding herself internally that this was business*

Hey, Arachnia, I'm here.

*she winked at the new girl and smiled*

I'm Lirimana, what can I call you?

*Lirimana herself was tall and dark-skinned, her ebon hair falling in dreadlocks that held fairly close to her face. Chocolate brown eyes watched from her slender, almost feline face. She wore a shirt that had only one strap made from animal skin, and a skirt with an angled hem of the same material. On her ankles were decorations of various pieces of exotic and rare woods fashioned into anklets, her throat adorned with long, hollowed white elongated cone-shaped wood that greatly resembled bone, the tips dipped in gold. She wore simply sandals whose leather wove its way up her legs and tied at the back of her knee. These were just the sort of things that this Solar liked*

[Dal'Lumen]

Resplendent Wood, 2-3

The familiar form of the tall musclebound zenith warbled into a silver blue man at the end of the meeting table. He glanced around, showing his gleeful smile to everyone at the table. He nodded, happily acknowledging Lirimana. his eyes stopping a moment on the young girl perched next to Arachnia, and then fell back on shimmering dark, cold beauty of the Empress.

"Good evening Empress Arachnia!" *his eyes dodged around awkwardly* "Uhm... sorry I'm late?"

*his profoundly lion like voice echoed with a faint watery quaver.*

He looked around the group and continued into an excuse, hoping to break the silence with some facts.

*He cleared his throat.*

"As you probably know, Empress, theres was some trouble at the Marina, I got in a bit of a tussle with some sea food... and something much bigger. Sentinel said it was an experiment from his time of life, the Resplendent Undersea Line breaker Unit, and the Amphibious Ally Enforcer Mk 12 have been activated..."

*He shrugged, smirking slightly at hearing those names out loud again. Once again he looked over at the new girl and picked up a hand to give a sort of saluting wave hello.*

"Hi... I'm Dal'Lumen!"

[Arachnia of the Hour]

Resplendent Wood, 3

*Arachnia raised an eyebrow at the ever-lusting Twilight. Luna, she would be glad if Lirimana decided to go somewhere else for a century or two.. Now, however, was not the time to let her intense dislike for the loose woman get in the way of proceedings. And now that Dal'Lumen had arrived they were simply lacking Quar-Zagot. He, however, could afford a few more minutes since there really was no time limit*

Greetings, Dal'Lumen, please take a seat wherever you like. We are only waiting on the Elemental, though we an start now. I am assuming that it didn't go as planned? Why not call for me?

*The Widow raised a brow at the names but shrugged to herself, they definitely sounded malfunctional. Or at least some sort of prototype, the names of the First Age machines tended to be much more extravagant and well thought out*

[Ress]

Resplendent wood, 2/3

* The large muscular form of Quar-Zagot slinked in through the side door of the meeting room, trying to be stealthy and not interrupt, but his efforts were in all for naught, as his muscles would knock into the silk padded chairs, causing a few of them to rattle as he passed.

Despite the crashing of chairs, Quar pretended nothing had happened and leaned back against the wall, this time being careful not to ruffle the first age tapestries that decorated the walls*

" Oh, hello... sorry I am late. Please.. don't let me stop you"

[Dal'Lumen]

Resplendent wood, 2

Relaxing a bit in his stance, Dal'lumen made a punching motion through the air, and shook his head in response. Having a good vantage point at the end of the table standing in an open space where were he looked around the room, the chairs, the ground, none of which he could 'sit' on while projecting from Beziar. Sitting on the ground of course would make him look far less than professional, though in most cases he preferred the ground, it had a life to it that a chair or bench did not.

"I think I'll stand, but thank you Empress"

*He gave a belated, but no less gracious bow.*

He watched whimsically as Quar prowled in attempting to be discrete with all the subtlety, and grace of a bull attempting to perform ballet.

"Hey Quar." He jokingly added just as the elemental leaned against the wall.

Continuing his explanation of what had transpired at the docks, he took a solid, informed stance.

"No, things did not go as planned Empress, I did request for Zeriku to let you know what was happening, she and Sentinel were there when I was forced to retreat... uhm, perhaps because the device that was activated interfered with both of their essence signals and prevented that message getting through? Sentinel did say that the..." *He paused to think* U.L.B. and A.A.E. Mk12 caused some problems with his connection."

Dal shrugged, hoping that this would be enough of an explanation.

[wiseriver]

Resplendent Wood, 2
Wise River looked around the new faces. She was overwhelmed, she knew it was important for her to be with them. Not one for speeches she gave them each a response to their greetings. River was at a loss for response and did not want to offend, with her luck in social situations she had probably already done so.

Its nice to meet others from the towns. I hope I can help with your endevors.

[Arachnia of the Hour]

Resplendent Wood, 3

Dal'Lumen, Lirimana, Quar-Zagot, this is the new Lunar who found herself drawn to Imperveress. Her name is Wise River and I have a feeling that our little Moonbeam will be here awhile. She has offered her mind and skills to our cause. Yes, Dal'Lumen, I suppose that there was a breakdown around the Marina. Either way, now that we are all here, let us combine all of the facts that we have concerning Ress's upcoming trial and what we have to prevent a negative outcome

*The Empress gathered herself for the night's proceedings, calling to mind all of the information that they had gathered over the past while. Keeping herself focused, the Widow made eye contact with each of the other attendees, including Wise River, who had been seated next to her. It was this one that she kept her eye on discreetly, after all, this girl was new, her caste mark just fading and still unstabilized for her lack of moonsilver tattoos. She would have to go to the Silver Pact about this when they were through with Ress's trial*

Does someone want the floor or shall I begin?

[Dal'Lumen]

Resplendent Wood, 2

Dal'Lumen rose a hand to the Empress as if offering her something, obviously it was intended to say, 'go ahead'. He had been mulling over the clutter of information he had gathered ever since he had left Tari and Waves. Some new developments had arisen, but he would wait and hear what the others had to say, the connections were there, somewhere... Perhaps someone had some more information that would fill in some blanks.

"Please Empress, continue. I'm sure each of us will have something to add."

*Aranea, Kideshen, roaring wave said he felt essence moving between and from each.... Quar-Zagot had picked up the suspicious blond woman near Aranea, dropping her off at his journeys end, the imperial Manse. that was no coincidence.

[Lirimana]

Resplendent Wood 3,

*Lirimana smiled at Wise River, amused inside that this Lunar was making a play at shyness. She had never known any Exalt to truly be shy, or at least timid. When Arachnia gave others the option for the floor she shrugged*

Take your turn then I'll go next. Whoever wants to go after that, can

*It didn't seem likely that Wise River would know much about the situation with Ress, but that could be exactly what they needed, a mind unclouded by days of wrestling with this case. Maybe she could offer insight or notice something that they were missing..*

[Ress]

Resplendent wood, 2/3

* Quar shook his head, still leaning against the wall, careful not to move the ageless tapestry he stood next to*

"Nothing to say so far, go ahead"

[Arachnia of the Hour]

Resplendent Wood 3,

Alright

*Arachnia nodded twice, her midnight locks whispering gently against her skin*

As we know, Emperor Ress has been accused of multiple counts of murder on the townspeople of all four cities. No one has found the "murder weapon" Reign of Ress, though we still have not checked near each of the manses. If we could all physically check our respective manses that would be appreciated. Since Towering Oak isn't here one of us will have to either inform him or check it ourselves. If I have no volunteers by the end of the meeting I will take the liberty onto myself. There is a man with a purple scarf leading the rebellion and a drunk by the name of Boots who knows more than he is letting on. As material evidence we have the map of Imperveress that I took from the ground in the Imperial Manse's courtyard on that first day.

*The Widow took the parchment from her sleeve and unrolled it before setting it on the table*

I asked around from the Bloody Hands and found little from the younger ones, but the Elder claims to have been with Ress when he shot the arrows. The Old One said that he shot furiously all of his arrows and had to call for more before ending his tirade with the phrase, "Got 'em." I also spoke to Oce-Earin, the corn field god and he was even more useless than the young Bloody Hands. We also know that Bezair was one day ahead of the others in the attack sequence while the other three were on the same day. Quar picked up a passenger with golden hair who was light for their size and female and carried her past the Imperial Manse. I also submit the vial I have with that hair in it

*The Empress set down the vial she had in her bodice onto the table alongside the paper that was the map*

Also, while I was visiting Ress in his cell, thank you Dal'Lumen, I heard him speaking with someone I was unable to see who spoke in the sounds of bells. I regret to say that I am still unable to translate what was said, but that I am sure that it was some sort of an Exalt who Ress was speaking to. He was mocking it and once again placing his confidence in us to find out what is really going on. Both Ress and Boots are informed as to what is really going on, but neither one of them can tell us for their own reasons. At a house in Bezair, the home of Tari and Roaring Wave, the woman known as Tari had been possessed by her past and created crystals that function as essence batteries. Dal'Lumen, did you bring those for me?

*Arachnia's slender black brow raised as she looked at him in question*

Please put those on the table, I'm not sure if we need them. And if you brought that other stone that you procured from Tari, please place that on the table as well. I might be forgetting a few things, but I believe that is at least most of what I know. Please feel free to fill in any gaps and produce any evidence from further findings. I relinquish the floor to you

[Lirimana]

Resplendent Wood 3,

*Lirimana nodded as she listened to Arachnia, marveling at how many sides to a personality this woman could have. When it was her turn, Lirimana resisted the urge to stand and instead looked at everyone before clearing her voice a little and sitting up a little straighter*

Okay, when I was talking with Sai, she mentioned that the arrows arced before they came down in the city. She also said that they were following Quar as he ran through the city as per instructed by Ress himself. Ress had hit Quar with an arrow that managed to stay in a scale, which I have here

*Lirimana placed a frog crotch arrow on the table amongst the assortment of other evidence*

As you can see it's a frog crotch, usually only used if you know that you're fighting unarmored opponents. Ress is known to prefer broadheads. I still intend to ask around to see if anyone ordered a large supply of frog crotch arrows, so I don't know yet if they were specially ordered. Earlier today Quar Zagot and I went up to the Manse above Bezair. There we found star charts for everyone but Dal'Lumen, though I don't know if one exists or not, and cups with strong alcoholic remnants in them

*at this she put the stack of charts down on the table and pulled out the cup that she had done her best to preserve*

All I can guess for who the cups could belong to would be Boots, which means that he is quite likely connected to the star charts. I think that's it for me. Let me know if I forgot anything

[Ress]

Resplendent wood, 3

* Quar swiftly got up from his relaxed position against the wall and moved to the meeting table, once more knocking a few chairs noisily. Placing his hand upon the back of an empty chair, Quar spoke up, an incredulous look plastered onto his mineral face*

" But how could Boots get up there? I can fly and I can't even get up there. To say he can is to assume that A. He can fly faster than I can... or B. Has access to something that can fly faster. Either way sounds implausible to me, and on that same note, what good would star charts do to someone? At best, I would imagine that they could see your future... cheap parlor trick if you ask me... but even then, it is to assume there is malice present, which there just as likely is not... perhaps they are helpful... or even a hobby someone might have... I myself have a still standing collection of first age stones which I enjoy very much, and am still looking for new interesting stones, but that is not to say that I am planning to create a weapon out of them... which I possibly could, given the exotic nature of many of these stones.....

Oh! And I volunteer to check near the Ramoth Manse for whatever it is we will be looking for."

[Dal'Lumen]

Resplendent wood, 2ish

Dal'Lumen, Shimmering, and rippling silently at the end of the table watched and listened with full attention. His eyes scrunched up into a confused squint as the star charts and 'manse above Bezair were mentioned.

*So... that flying manse turned out to be sitting right over me this entire time.*

Being asked to present his evidence only caused Dal to shift his stance awkwardly and then look as though he were trying to remember something he had heard. He squinted and pinched his chin.

*Sentinel was able to carry these perfect boots I'm wearing from wherever they had been before, maybe..."

"Yes of course."

*He extracted one of the blue crystal shards and the blue half heart from a fold in his silk pants, the white pouch on his hip replaced by a pair of glittering serpent like hook swords which were hooked to his sash. He held up the heart and shard in either hand for all to see.*

"Sentinel, perhaps you could bring these to the meeting room for me?" *He didn't wait to see if anything happened, he just cleared his throat and continued*

"Ahem... Ok, so that covers most of it, I am unsure how I should be feeling about this news of the star charts.

What I know about boots however, is that he said he would be on call if we needed him, so I suggest we confront him. I also wanted to bring up something noteworthy about Quars passenger. Roaring Wave, a mortal who has had his essence awakened through martial training, was able to feel essence being channeled between Aranea, and Kideshen when he was present at the Imperial manse during the attacks. At the time Quar-zagot would appear to have been moving in the direction of Aranea when he picked her up.
Quar had been ordered to kick up sand clouds, which I have speculated on being used by Ress to reveal something that can't normally be seen. Perhaps that was intended to reveal Ress' unseen visitor that spoke in bell tones.

Dal took a moment to let what he said rest before continuing, he began pacing back and forth over a few feet of ground at the table end.

" We know that Quar picked up his passenger near Aranea before his loop was finished back at this Manse where the rider disembarked. Quar, you don't remember feeling that strange essence yourself at all do you? I also have another question to pose to everyone, if these strong essence forces have been here all along why haven't they been noticed before, has the owner of that essence been here all along, or are they new here in Imperveress? So I assume most visitors to Imperveress are accounted for at the gate by an AI like Sentinel... Sentinel, what say you about the comings and goings at our Walls in the last couple of months, anything note worthy?"


(blah sorry for convolutedness, I is tired)