SoS B1 C7 X4: Sellinus and The Crow
Allarah and Synna returned later than a simple clothes change could have warranted, and with a notable mood change as well. Allarah bore the strain of her duty on her brow, but there was a new flush to her cheeks that was only accentuated by the crimson red of her dress - a brilliant shade compared to the drab setting they were used to; the dusty golds, varnished bronzes, and brilliant velvets helped to offset, but only by so much. Her hair had been done as well, woven into a complex head-wrapping braid with the rest left to weave down her exposed upper back.
"You cut it to the wire," Ijin said, tapping her wrist in the ageless symbol for time.
"Don't rush perfection," Synna said, smirking at Allarah.
"They'll be along soon, what's the plan?" Ijin.
"We'll go to dinner and I'll do... I'll do what I have to. Any other plan should be discussed out of my hearing. We don't need Sellinus knowing what you're up to. If I can manage, I’ll simply avoid that particular activity entirely." She clasped her hands together. "Tskhan, you look dashing, as do you Immuena."
Immuena let out an awkward chuckle tied to a thanks. "To dinner then?"
She gave a small nod. "If anything, I'd like all of you to watch your backs. Perhaps establish buddy system. If things become too dangerous, head back to the Trundler. I don't want any of you getting hurt tonight."
They did not have long to wait before one of Sellinus' servants, a Parisan with a smirk that said he knew something they didn't, came to collect them and escort them through the winding halls of the manor to the feasting chamber.
The manor was marked by signs of age and half-hearted keeping - dim lights illuminated floral patterned crimson rug over hardwood and cloth wallpaper walls decorated with portraits and treasures. If they were cleaned and kept after it would have been quite the dazzling display indeed. The high roofs of the dining chamber were painted in frescoes browned and blackened by the heat and ashes of ages of candles, fires in the hearth and smoking.
"You'll have to excuse the delay," Sellinus said, standing from his carved wooden throne at the head of the table as they arrived. "My servants weren't expecting such a formal affair, so need a little longer to get ready. I hope it wasn't a hassle." He gestured around, then made a point of tapping the chair to his right in invitation to Allarah.
The great table was made to seat 16. 7 along each side with a person at each head. None of his cohorts were present to speak of, though along the walls there stood many of the lean, hooded figures, so silent and still they passed as statues; in fact, the only other guests aside from themselves was a figure garbed in black at the opposite end of the table to Sellinus, and a slightly less ominous figure sitting to his right.
They both glanced up as the party arrived, but only the less grave one held their gaze for any amount of time. He was sapien, with a rough-hewn face like wood left in the sun too long. The other one was uncertain in age or gender, notable only for the fact that every inch of them was covered in cloth, and their face was hidden by a white mask with big round eyes and a long beak.
Allarah bowed and took the seat next to Sellinus. As she approached, every movement was measured to appear more elegant, proud. Her eyes scanned the room more than once to take in each exit and count each person. She also spared a moment to appreciate the building. Old as it was, it was still beautiful. "You're too kind. You needn't have gone to so much trouble. Already you've done more than enough lending us clothing and rooms. You are a very generous host indeed." She smiled. "May I ask who our companions are this evening? I would hate to offend."
Tyodor took the seat to Sellinus' left, with Lev to his left and Dmitry to his. Just like Allarah he was glancing around, though his gaze often fell on the strangers at the other end of the table.
"That would be Doctor Crow and his apprentice, Guil. I pay them in food and board when they help to keep my guards in good health. Don't pay them much mind, and perhaps give Crow a little berth." He punctuated the point with a nod to Ijin, who had been about to take a seat next to Crow. Ijin's expression might have been apologetic to crow as she moved closer to the rest of the party, and wound up sitting next to Dmitry to even out the table settings.
Crow nodded his greetings to the newcomers, a fascination only apparent by his sweeping view of every soul who sat at the table. In the near silence of scooting chairs and glasses being filled for the dinner. A small thoughtful rattle, beastial in nature, could be heard coming from behind that white-painted, avian mask to those who listened closely.
His mask reared up to look at the Venuan, taking in the woman behind soulless and opaque windows. There was a nod of understanding, perhaps appreciation even for her apologetic look. He leaned in to Guil, words may have been exchanged but it was hard to tell with how quietly they came as they were meant only for Guil's ears.
"It's a pleasure Dr.Crow, Guil." She bowed her head to both, eyes resting on Crow, perhaps longer than could be considered polite. She looked to Synna, then back. "Perhaps it's a strange question for dinner, but are you familiar with a type of ivy that feeds on a host's blood?" She asked, eyes grave.
Crow turned his attention from Ijin, feeling Allarah’s eyes on him. The mask seemed to travel down and up, observing her and the rather taking garb she wore. There was a nod in greeting and a likewise appreciation.
That question of vines was met with a silence, before the doctor leaned in once more to his apprentice. The apprentice leaned in kind, nodded, and gave an apologetic glance to Sellinus.
"Vampire ivy. They grow around here. They're not much trouble if you keep moving, it's the dead and dying that need to worry. Anyone slow."
"Apologies. We arrived from Dessir where a..." She caught herself before saying a subordinate of mine. "a good friend of mine was recently attacked." Not exactly a lie. Looking to Sellinus with concern, she continued. "It was awful, truly. He spoke of a skull on a pedestal, and the meta was so tainted. I've never encountered anything like it."
Sellinus' gaze sharpened, though the rest of his expression remained light. "Skull on a pedestal? A grimoire out in the middle of nowhere? That's strange."
Servants arrived with bottles of wine to fill their goblets with. An early course of some creamy soup soon followed.
"A grimoire?" She asked genuine curiosity bubbling forth, pulling her slightly closer. This movement accentuated the bust of her dress, and the curve of her collarbone. As she realized this, she pulled back to nurse a glass of wine, embarrassed by her display.
After nursing a spoon full of the soup Tskhan chimed in "Sorry to interrupt but isn't a grimoire an ancient tome rather that some form of altar?"
Sellinus gazed sidelong at Allarah at that, eyes roaming over her burn scars.
She draped a hand over her arm, shame boiling in her chest. Eyes fell down and away, then flitted to the food before her.
The Crow watched Allarah, with no blinks or sentient features to give away his thoughts through his coverings, his gaze was simply blank and unwavering. After a long moment, he leaned in to his apprentice once more, but his attention seemed to be torn by Allarah as he spoke.
Guil's comment cut into Sellinus' casual conversation with Allarah. He had just launched into asking about her scars.
"So," Guil said, voice cracked as Sellinus looked at him. "What brings all of you to Gorshi. Come to visit on recreation or business."
"Business," Tyodor responded. "Delicious soup Sellinus, thank you. We've come through Gorshi en route to go north. We're on an expedition funded by parties in Karim to find and aid abandoned cities."
So that was the half-truth they were settling with? Synna nodded.
Crow straightened at the explanation, tilting his head quizzically to Tyodor as if just noticing his presence at the table. His stare was only broken by the animalistic rattle emanating from the beak of the mask.
He leaned in to Guil, but his stare held Tyodor now.
"This city is not abandoned, does that mean you will not aid us as well? What point is there for helping an abandoned city?" Guil asked.
Guil's eyes were more focused on Sellinus, who was downing the rest of his current glass of wine. He tapped the rim for a servant to refill it.
Their plates were taken away as Tyodor answered. "Abandoned not by its people, but by the larger cities. Vien's generator, for example, was cut off, and so Dessir, Voshurr, and Gorshi's power grid have all been deactivated as a result. Now that Vien is back online we can re-power Gorshi."
"Ah, I'm afraid that won't be possible. The grid here was destroyed long ago, and is either submerged, covered in vampire vine, or entirely lost," Sellinus, sounding entirely unapologetic.
Allarah looked to Crow and Guil. Thank you. News of the grid sent a spike of electricity through her nerves, making her heart seize. "That's unfortunate." She commented casually, emptying her glass.
Even the smallest movement of Crows head was exaggerated by that mask. The glance down at the table looked like one of defeat, with the tip of his mask scraping once against the wood of the table before snapping back up.
"It's a shame, but there's nothing we can do." She touched her knee to Synna's, an implicit request. "Do you know which part of the city it used to inhabit? Our first run in with the Vampire Vines is something I'm sure none of us wish to repeat." She asked, worry lacing her tones.
Tskhan watched the two out of the corner of his eye. He may have been the one to destroy it. He thought to himself. Taking out the power isolated the city, probably making it easier to take over and rule. He stayed his tongue, not sure how to communicate this to the others.
Crow held his head low in a silent gratitude to the servants who brought the meal to him. There was a swift poke of the greens, grasping one with his fork and observing it as if it were a fine specimen.
There was no chance to devour the morsel, the question of Allarah's heritage driving the doctors rapt attention as well.
"You probably never have heard of my family. I'm not native to Saumai. I only met everyone else when I landed. It was a bit of a crash. I'm straight from the Haimarchy. Well, not exactly, but I was born on one of their homeworlds. Perhaps our great grandparents knew of each other before the colonization." She smiled. Her series of half truths making the information flow from her tongue with more ease than would come of a blatant lie. This was a decent answer to the origin of her burn as well, if one chose to connect those dots.
The unwavering stare on Allarah never faltered during her explanation of her arrival on the planet. It was hard to tell why he was staring so intently, or even if he truly was behind that opaque mask. Crow leaned into Guil to speak.
The doctor froze, and in place of his words a soft krrrrr could be heard, muffled by the protective shell. The rattle was thoughtful, rather than intimidating. Leaning back up, he finally averted his gaze back to his meal. However, the occasional peek up was impossible to hide with such a mask.
Tskhan turned his attention to the soft noise that the chittering creature made, he was concerned by his interest in this friend that seemed to be stuck in the spotlight of the evening festivities. With his intentions unknown he couldn't judge him too harshly especially compared to Sellinus.
Though there were no other guests to lend to it, a deep silence fell over the room all the same. Sellinus' eyes dilated as they locked onto Allarah's, and his lips twitched in the direction of a smile, or a scowl.
"Excuse me... you mean to tell me that the Haimarchy still stands among the stars," He scoffed and shook his head. "You think I would believe that the Banners just left proud Saumai to die a planet at a time? The Haimarchy would just leave Abisk alone with how crucial it was, or even the Somnolent?" He spit the latter word as he scanned the crosses around Tyodor, Lev, and Dmitri's necks. Lev's brow fell an iota, Tyodor's and Dmitri's went further.
"The Pact stood by while Lady Venistasia gutted their infrastructure and put up her crosses? Hedon didn't care that their floating cities were knocked to the ground? After all this time the only reason they break silence is to check up on some half-dead, plague-rotten towns?!"
His voice was falling, growing sharp. "What kind of fool do you take me for. The stars are silent because the Banners killed each other long ago. We are the maggots in their corpse, and you're delusional or, worse, sent by Venistasia to sow discontent."
"I'm not lying Sellinus. The Haimarchy has abandoned so much more. Too busy marrying off their sons, grooming their daughters." Malice dominated her tones. "They don't care for their people in the stars. They're too busy trying to keep them close to the sovereign. My own parents were murdered because I wanted to travel off world!" Her voice echoed off of the walls. Quieting, she realized her stress had gotten the better of her. "My apologies, but people like us no longer matter to them." She held his eyes readying herself. For what, she wasn't sure, but she wouldn't back down. This was her truth. "If you need proof, I will provide." She held out her hand, palm up. An offer.
Crow listened with an almost statuesque stare to Allarah, only once flitting his head back to Sellinus as he talked of being a fool. The admissions continue, and Crow has to break his attention.
He craned his neck down and reached for a pocket in the breast of his suit, trying to conceal what he held. Whatever it was, the sounds of tightening leather testify to just how hard he was clutching it.
He pushed himself away from the table in a forced calm, before rising and giving a curt lowering of his head to Sellinus. He whipped himself around by his heel, before rushing out of the room.
Immuena couldn't handle Sellinus berating Allarah, "We have 4 banner members here, Sellinus. What do we glean from lying about happenings off this planet when leaving doesn't seem to be an option for you?" She had to hide the distaste of speaking to such a foul creature, thus opted for a more cold, logical tone. To follow suite, she measured him with a deathly gaze, attempting to further how serious she was.
Guil shot a pleading stare at Crow as he charged out, then wolfed down a few more bites, grabbed his chicken leg, and inclined his head. "I'm sorry Master Sellinus, you... well, you know how Crow gets."
Sellinus nodded, contempt blossoming in his eyes as Guil ran after Crow. "How rude." His attention turned to Immuena, about to chide her before Allarah cut him off.
"Immuena!" Allarah rose from her seat. "This is his home, his food, his clothing. We will not disrespect him further. He's been abandoned. How would you react?"
Sellinus irritation was suddenly tempered with a smile as he looked at Immuena, then Tyodor, to see their reactions. Tyodor was stone faced, Dmitry was exasperated.
"I meant no disrespect. I do mean to inform I won't tolerate you yelling at my comrade when she did nothing more than answer your question." Immuena kept her stare with level eyes and a more expressionless, unamused face. "My apologies Allarah."
"And mine to you." She said taking her seat once more. She looked to Sellinus, once more offering her hand. "If you don't believe us, then take my hand, otherwise, please don't insult us."
"If you're lying I'd say much the same," he muttered. He glanced to the thin hooded figures around the room, and they nodded. He took Allarah's hand, she felt his mind probing outwards, impatient.
She showed him flashes of her youth.
Massive buildings, sparkling to a child. Her father, tall with hair that fell to his hip, holding her small hand. <We'll visit the museum today before I go to work. I'm sure you'll learn a great deal.> Older now, she runs through the city square, dodging between a crush of marble bodies. <I'm late! She's going to kill me.> Pain. <What a disgraceful display. You need to hold yourself higher if you are to succeed this family.> <Father, I wish to see the Federation. I want to learn more about the humans. I want to meet a Sazashi.> He smiles at her. <We're sorry, but your paperwork is faulty.> This scene plays multiple times, at multiple ports, with and without her parents present. Her father rushing into her room, throwing her money as the house shakes. She's in a shuttle, radio buzzing in her ears. The Federation is cold. Flashes of her going around, buying clothing, ducking behind corners as Feao pass, gnawing on her knuckles when the food has run out. A twisted smile inching closer. Skin turned sickly by the light of a street lamp. Much older, she stands on a planet filled to the brim with Sheljt-Ra, most looking on at her with disgust, her arm linked with the Sazashi at her side. Plummeting down to the surface of Saumai. Fear on the pilots' faces.
"We don't lie. I've visited the Federation, been to the edges of Pact space, I lived within the Haimarchy." She cut the link, pulling her hand from his.
The link was a one way flow. For the most part she felt nothing back from him but the rest of the party saw his brow slowly fall, then pinch, until his jaw joined in and began to flex. His head ticked with each new memory injected into it.
When she pulled away his other hand was gripping the armrest of his chair.
He sucked a low, hissing breath and let it out shaky and slow and hot with rage. "We eke our lives from the mud and they grow fat on their own indulgences... where was your friend wounded before? You said it was on the borders of Dessir? But where?"
She looked to him, lightly touching his hand once more. She showed him the path they took to the house. "Sorry. It seemed much simpler that way."
His anger gave way instantly to joy and he nodded. "Certainly. He sounded somewhat distracted by a thought as he looked around. "Well, our food is getting cold. I really do implore you to eat. The road is hard, and my servants worked very hard for this!"
He sipped his wine. "So, did you really come all this way to help the little towns? I can't help but feel like you must be angling for Abisk."
Immuena relaxed her face and supped on her meal. Occasionally patting Tskhan's thigh and giving him a smile in consolation.
Tskhan sat there in utter shock, confused that the entire conflict of the dinner was resolved so simply. He made a hand gesture toward Allarah and tilted his head as if asking Immeuna What in the Cycle of the Circle just happened?
Allarah on the other hand simply nodded to Tyodor. "That's up to him."
Immuena, paying far too much attention to the Sheljt, followed his gestures to the now calmed Sellinus.
Allarah and Immuena couldn't help but realize that his shift in personality had come from her sharing the location where Laemon had been wounded. Perhaps there was more to that skull than they had realized. Immuena also recognized the minor facial tics of someone in a mindlink conversation.
"That would be the end of the line," Tyodor agreed, but we've got a lot of intermediary towns to help first. Once Abisk's power is back up everything will be functional and this planet will be on its way to good health again."
And one of our envoys will win Lady Venistasia's allegiance, and thus your planet. was left unsaid.
"Well, you're not going to go very far if you can't power Gorshi," Sellinus said, looking apologetic. "But, as I said..." he trailed off, and polished off his third glass.
Immuena shifted her feet so they were touching Em and Tskhan, <We need to warn our crew that they may be after what Laemon saw.> The message was brief, and she avoided acting as though she'd even sent it.
"Well without those rails, this will most likely be the place we rest our bones. Mind you, we'll figure something out. Isn't that right Tyodor? " She smiled pleasantly at him.
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