The Shattered City: Chapter Four

[lostboy]

"Thank the misty lady" Nicolas said with a very uncharacteristic (and fleeting) turn of religious belief as Celeste comes round, one that causes him to look sharply at Nerit, in case he's due a clip round the ear for blasphemy. Seeing none was coming he refocuses a genuine smile on Celeste."Well done Cherie, well done indeed..." he says softly before deciding the best way to celebrate is a cigarette at the tent flap, allowing room for comforting and breathing.

"And you madame, how are you feeling?" He asks between puffs looking over at Inkeri.

[The Whistler]

Gradually, Celeste recovered--thankfully letting go of Tomas' arm in the process. There was still a good deal of sniffling, but she didn't appear to be actively dying anymore. So that was something.

"I...I declare... Madames and messieurs, I should never like to decease myself again for...for quite some time. ...Thank you...oh, thank you all for your gentle ministrations in the interim! Without your care, I should surely have been lost."

She swung her legs over to the side of the bed and began to lever herself to her feet, leaning on Tomas for support. "I...I trust the event was productive, then? Oh, let it be that we have discovered some manner of crucial intelligence!"

[NeoTiamat]

1 Days, 21 Hours, 51 Minutes
Inky's Emporium, The Midnight Market, Just past Midnight on April 23rd, 770
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"And you madame, how are you feeling?" Nicolas asks between puffs looking over at Inkeri.

“Well, this is not something I would like to do often.” The huldra said, then straightened herself and cast Nicolas an absolutely beaming smile. “But I'm fine. Mlle. Viardot was the one in danger, I'm merely... tired. But it will pass.”

Fortuitously, once Celeste had revived herself, the pressure in your ears lessened and dispersed.

"Oh, let it be that we have discovered some manner of crucial intelligence!"

"Oh, yes..." Inky assured, "but you are all standing on my map." She nudged a few of you to the side with her staff. "Please be careful not to move any of the runestones."

[DocBeard]

Considering his options, Tomas resolves to stand VERY still, allowing him to serve as both a convenient anchor for Celeste and to keep from kicking any of the runestones over. Goodness knows what might happen!

[yalenusveler]

"I'm assuming the locations on the map where the runestones are are the approximate locations we should be looking?" Kerrian asked, probably inquiring about the obvious, but clarification never hurt a bit. "Who wants to go after what?" He fidgeted for a bit, avoiding the runestones and map, but already brimming with a sort of nervous energy. "Because we are, unfortunately...under a pretty tight deadline."

[DocBeard]

"Perhaps we should let Inkeri tell us what they all mean, first!" Tomas says, a bit woodenly.

[The Whistler]

"Oh, yes..." Inky assured, "but you are all standing on my map. Please be careful not to move any of the runestones."

"Gracious!" Celeste had just noticed the runestone on her lap.

There followed an extremely delicate maneuver which was only executable through the use of Tomas as an anchor for balance purposes, and which was arrested for a good thirty seconds when Celeste realized that, in order to get off of the mattress without moving the runestone, she would have to leave it floating nine inches or so above the ground. It ended with the tile resting atop a lace cushion which Celeste had procured from...somewhere (handbag?), and with Celeste, woozy but victorious, standing outside the boundaries of the map. Blissfully, she had managed to not step on anything divinationally significant in the process.

"Perhaps we should let Inkeri tell us what they all mean, first!"

"Certainly! Oh, but that is to say, madamoiselle, only if you have not yet furnished my friends with all the analysis that you are capable of providing, regarding your divination. I am dreadfully ill-apprised of how such things work, but I shall not have you repeating yourself over again upon my account!"

[NeoTiamat]

1 Days, 21 Hours, 47 Minutes
Inky's Emporium, The Midnight Market, Just past Midnight on April 23rd, 770
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"I'm assuming the locations on the map where the runestones are are the approximate locations we should be looking?"

"Yes," Inky said. She tapped the two runes that had fallen outside the map with her staff. "It is these two that will be the problem. This one-" She tapped the rune Gebo, that she had said represented Ash, "-I cannot sense. Nor can any of you go there yourselves, or you will die."

"This one-" She tapped the rune Ehwaz, that she had said represented Breath, "-is moving. You must catch it, but I know no means of finding or chasing Death's last breath," she noted apologetically.

"Here we are. I've still got a small map of Port-a-Lucine, so I don't get lost in the city. It's far larger than anything in Mordent," Alice offered, retrieving a folded piece of parchment. "No need to depend on memory for something this important. If someone could kindly lend me a pen?"

"Perhaps we should let Inkeri tell us what they all mean, first!" Tomas says, a bit woodenly.

"Certainly! Oh, but that is to say, madamoiselle, only if you have not yet furnished my friends with all the analysis that you are capable of providing, regarding your divination. I am dreadfully ill-apprised of how such things work, but I shall not have you repeating yourself over again upon my account!"

“I have told you all that the runes can say.” Inkeri said regretfully. The huldra swept a hand above the map, her dainty little hand hovering above the runestones. “Mannaz. Fehu. Othila. Gebo. Ehwaz. Nauthiz. Haglaz. Kaunaz. Wunjo. Eihwaz. That is what you have to look for. Blood and bone, ash and dust and breath. Mind and flesh, soul and heart, that you seek. The name you have. You have the map, and such descriptions as the runes can offer. I can do nothing more until you bring them to me.”

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"The chamber of Death," Lia says in a musing tone. "I... might know someone who can enter it. Trusting him would be extremely difficult, however." She glances at Tomas, then shrugs. "We would need proper motivational techniques, after all, to get a vampire to do our bidding."

[yalenusveler]

Kerrian turned to Lia with a start after her statement. "I..let's just say I really don't think that's exactly a good idea. Or even a bad idea that looks remotely good. I mean...it's possible. But..really not a good idea." He shook his head, and then spoke again. "Ehwaz...I'm trying to think of ways we could track her breath. I mean, we've got one of her dolls, and they did sort of give a last message, but I'm not sure if that's what we should be looking for. I could try a vision my way to find out more...but I doubt we'll get the information we need. Or even where I should do it."

[Cronax]

Nor can any of you go there yourselves, or you will die."

"Then we will need to enlist surrogates." Agale said matter of factually. "If this 'vampire' can be convinced to achieve our objectives, then all the better."

Despite all you had so far encountered, the word hung irregularly in Agale's speech. It wasn't the idea of murderous undead which offended his sensibilities, but rather the idiosyncratic collection of myths regarding the creatures struck him as patently ridiculous.

"If haste is of benefit to our goal, then it seems we must split our forces thin. ten runes, and if all offers of assistance from within our household are genuine, I count our forces at sixteen, seventeen if our landlord is willing. I will volunteer to investigate the Nauthiz rune as endeavors cerebral are aligned with my strengths."

[Kaitou Kage]

Rex hopped off a small stool and made his way toward the door. "We have what we need," he said. "Shall we adjourn to the Chateau and make plans? I will handle the Wealth issue. Being a businessman, I may have some leverage in that regard."

And with that, he left.

[DocBeard]

Tomas nods, this being preferable to talking. He doesn't entirely trust himself in here. He'll thank the woman if they survive to take this oath of hers...

[Nathan of the FoS]

"Very well," Mercator says, bowing very slightly to Inkeri. "Many thanks for your assistance, mademoiselle. Are you feeling well enough to return to the Century Oak, Mademoiselle Viardot?"

[The Whistler]

"Are you feeling well enough to return to the Century Oak, Mademoiselle Viardot?"

"Certainly! Why, I expect that I shall be fit as a fiddle by the next striking of the hour." This put you in unfortunate mind of Celeste's last hobby, though, thankfully, she had moved on since. Regardless, the optimistic expression looked surprisingly legitimate. "'Strong of constitution and adamant under duress', so has been said of the Viardot family--at least, I believe that to have been said, and have never been disabused of the sincerity of the speaker! M. Eisenwald, if you would be so kind..." Celeste did need a supporting arm for the walk.