[IC][Exalted 2.5] The Emerald Labyrinth

[wonderandawe]

Zarah looks pleased and says, "Oh, I don't meant to impose, but we appreciate the offer. What time do you want Orca, the Unrestrained Lover, and I there this evening? Do you want us to bring anything?" Perhaps she can find a place to buy some wine.

"A blacksmith," Zarah taps her finger against her lips and thinks. "I was directed to a Foundry here in town, run by the Ironsong Family. There should be blacksmiths there that can help you with your boiler."

"I was headed there to acquired materials for renovating the warehouse. If you have time right now, you can accompany me to the Ironsong Foundry. "

She thinks to the Lover's other request. To acquire materials such as poisons and explosives, she would have to find a less savory merchant. Though such items might be legal to acquire her in the North. Zarah considers asking the guild and decides not too. Better not to risk detection.

[Wise Old Guru]

"I do have time."Nergui nodded. "And I would enjoy your company."

[wonderandawe]

Smiling, Zarah leads the way out of the Guildhall and out into the snowy streets. She shivers as the wind picks up. Thank the dragons that the Labyrinth is warmer than here.

"Why are you in such a rush to head out into the Labyrinth?" she asks, as she adjusts the sleeves of her coat. Zarah's own life was in danger, but she was in no great rush to head out into the Labyrinth unprepared. I promised the boys that I'd set them up in the warehouse. I need to do that before I go court with the King of Hoof.

[Wise Old Guru]

"There is a disease that is killing people here." Nergui frowned. "The healers have studied it for generations, but have not found a cure, only ways to ease the pain of passing. It turns the flesh to brackish water and plants sprout as you die. They say it comes from the lands of the Forest Folk. I suspect some spirit or curse is at the root of it. A day wasted may be a life lost, and I have no urgent business over the next few days to keep me from going out."

He shrugged.

"I owe the people of the League a great debt. If I did not help when they were dying, what kind of man would I be?"

[wonderandawe]

"What kind of man would you be? Probably just like everyone else who would live their little lives without a thought of changing from the way things have always been. Though you are far from a common man, Captain." Zarah stops in the street and turns to face the Lunar.

"I know you think me a greedy woman, Captain, but I have other reasons besides profit as to why I need to go out in the Labyrinth and reasons why I can not go soon." Zarah takes a deep breath. "In my first day here, I am somehow managed to offend one of the great creatures of the Labyrinth. Not only that, but this beast, Rehhanz, has been devastating the local economy, even before our arrival. It is the flow of the resources out of the Emerald Labyrinth that keep this town alive and Rehhanz sends his children to kill any adventures who enter the Labyrinth. "

Zarah continues with steel in her voice, "This beast will not keep me from my responsibilities. I promised Orca and the Unrestrained Lover that I would help them set up shop here. If my daughter does somehow reach me here, I want there to be something for her here... even if I am no longer in this life "

"I might not live until the end of the month, but I have been living in the shadow of death for the past year. " Why would I expect it to change, Zarah thinks to herself.

"I will not let this creature cower me into abandoning what I came here to do. And I will not let this creature destroy this town. "

[Wise Old Guru]

"Hm. A great beast is offended, hm?" Nergui smiled. "I will help you with this once I have helped with this disease. Perhaps the beast can be reasoned with, and if not...well, we apparently have more than one warrior around here who enjoys feasting on raw flesh. I would help you first, friend, but I know you can take care of yourself, and sadly the sick cannot do the same."

[wonderandawe]

The idea of the bird eating woman and the Rehhanz facing off brings a smile to Zarah's face. Let's see her eat the King of Hoofs alive.

"Perhaps we can rendezvous somewhere within the Labyrinth after you are finished with your business," Zarah said, not really sure how she will accomplish this. "It is not my intention to delay you from your task. If you have an opportunity to cure a terminal disease, then you should take it. " She continues walking down the street, looking for a building that fits the description of the Ironworks. This place desperately needs street names and numbers.

"The beast does read and write. He sent his message via Old Realm. I do hope it is a reasoning creature. Though I suppose I better not refer to him as beast or creature. Though perhaps he likes being called that."

Zarah gets a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Tell me, Captain, how would you think the King of Hoofs holds court? Would he be surrounded by his bleating couriers?" Remembering all the courtiers that inhabited the Imperial Court, she imitates the baa of sheep.

[Dietaku]

(Xisa)
Sala waves to you as you dash off towards the loud noise. You see a crowd gsathering around a sharply dressed young woman, but pay it no mind. Your mission is at hand. You track the disturbance to an alleyway, where a small gathering seems to be happening. Surely, these gentlemen would know what was going on.

(Prodigal/ Alleyway with the Loud Noise)

"Ash, eh? Very well, then. Mr. Ash. I look forward to your successful hunt," the unhealthy-looking man bows, until a whole parade of new characters burst in: A pirate ripped seemingly from the Western Seas, an exotic man seemingly made of gold and iron, and an immaculate monk in the disheveled robes of a mendicant. Prodigal recognizes the pirate and golden man as Orca and the Lover, but the Immaculate is unfamiliar. The unhealthy man looks at you with fear and surprise.

"What is the meaning of this? Ash, are these people with you?" he asks, as his followers all begin to hoot to one another in wailing voices.

(@Magnusar: You find a series of books. Some are part of the long-running "Sweet Snake" series that romanticized the Outer Sanctuary Conflicts, a series of bloody wars in the threshold nation of Outer Sanctuary, a notorious hotbed in the Summer Mountains where for over a thousand years, the Anathema Joyous Cobra and her notorious "Kobra Unit" bedeviled the Shogunate with their beastman armies and series of siege striders. Even with Joyous Cobra's death, the place was notorious for revolt, resulting in several other Anathema taking up Cobra's cause. Others are part of the 'Scarlet" series of young adult novels, a retelling of the emergence of the Scarlet Empress as the ruler of the Realm in the early days of the Dynasty. Steamy romance and intrigue are marks of the series, as is the unparalleled sexual tension between Scarlet and her main antagonist, Raija, the Dragon-Wolf Princess, a powerful Fae aristocrat that sought to finish what Balor started using her experiences along the Time Stream, as her narrative denoted her as being her own mother, sister, and daughter, granting her eons of experience to draw on. Literature is a strange thing, even in Creation, it seems.)

[Dietaku]

(Guild Offices)

"Hohoho! What a lively group this one is!" a creaky voice, filled with the wisodm of ages and the pep to ignore it, boomed. With that, an unassuming old man wearing a series of blue vests bedecked with brolnze bells appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

"Hello, hello, pleased to make your acquaintance. I am Eztoro of the Blue Bell, third ranking terrestrial god of both the Yellow Barque and of the Bureau of Humanity. I am also the master of this Guild franchise. I had heard a certain young lady questioning the charity of my house, and a young man foolishly declaring to jump into the Labyrinth. Of course I must see this courageous, brilliantly foolish people. What may I know you as?" he asks, bowing with a flourish.

[wonderandawe]

Zarah was surprised by the god's sudden appearance, but hid it well. Facing the god, she bowed deeply. "You may call me Lin Zarah. I did not meant any offence back in the Guildhall. I am a newcomer in this town and was not expecting such a welcome."

[Belkra]

"The one that looks like a sailor and his companion booked passage on the same sky-ship that brought me here. I wouldn't say they are companions of mine." Prodigal glances at Orca and Lover in turn as he mentions them. He purposely attempts to look like he is annoyed that they have arrived. "The Immaculate I haven't seen before. Not the kind of person I would care to make angry if I were you, though." The Abyssal nods respectfully in the direction of the monk in question.

With this he will casually begin to step away from the group that has gathered. It could be possible that he could get the Lunar and the other to help with a plan that was beginning to form in his mind if he could talk with them later away from this lot. He had to be ready for them to do anything from questioning to attacking the ones looking for Merciful or even him. The Daybreak was not a fan of the last option. Not one bit.

[dreamking89]

"By the Sun, deathknight!" Orca says to Prodigal as he looks at the horde of creatures in the alley, "Not even in the city for a day and you already manage to make friends with the walking corpses here?" The usually friendly pirate scowled. If he had wanted to deal with the undead shambling about, he would have kept pirating in Skullstone. "They better not be staying at the warehouse...."

[Magnusar]

Unrestrained Lover look at Orca with a puzzled look on his face. "A walking Corpse ?! What in the great maker are you talking about ? Corpse don't walk on their own when they are dead !!!" Unrestrained Lover look at the creatures in the alley with a strange look of disgust and interrest.

[dreamking89]

There's a long silence as Orca gives Lover a look as if he suddenly sprouted three heads.

Nothing really to add, I just like playing up how baffled Orca is by Lover's lack of basic knowledge about Creation.

[The Revenge of TV Head]

Cautiously Xisa returned the nod. "I heard the...wailing I apologize, am I interrupting something?" Between the strangely familiar pirate, the man in gold and the dozens of walking dead people, even the seasoned Monk was at a loss for how precisely to proceed.