“OUR EXISTENCE,” Ruskali hollered from the stairs, his brown hands gripped on the sun-bleached banister, his eyes big and shivering with the sight of the end, “IS BORROWED! WE’RE ALIVE ONLY AS LONG AS AMALGAM IS AMUSED WITH US, AND THEN ALL IS LOST UNLESS WE TAKE A STAND!” His beard was flecked with spittle, his black hair flung afly as if struck by lightning. Yellow and orange and red hung threadbare from his wasted frame, and perhaps he didn’t own any other clothes. The stench that clung to him implied the same. “Shut up!” someone roared out of the crowd. “You trying to get the Ze after ya?!” “THE ZE AGREE WITH ME!” Ruskali’s voice seemed permanently screaming. He pointed with a rigid finger down at the masked figures gathered beneath the bright tapestries. “THERE, SEE?! THEY’RE HERE TO LISTEN! THEY KNOW!” Archer’s scanners flickered green and blue. The shifting, glowing eyes of her mask stared up into Ruskali’s twitching face, but the square of her shoulders revealed nothing of what she truly thought of the end of all things. Her scanning eyes swept away from the madman, and-- as if in succession to the same grim thought --observed her newest recruits. There was Iris, sharp and smooth and all-embracing as the sky she was born in. Even her posture stretched toward the clouds that she loved. Iris carried herself with an easy strength, watchful understanding, and a sunny glow of connection and trust and safety, as if she could embrace the whole city if she stretched her arms wide enough. There was Cedar, his expressionless mask full of splinters, blank as a shadow out of Moonlight. Cedar moved with calm comfort, at ease with the dim and the quiet and an old book. Beneath the splinters was a sharp mind and a soft presence, fueled by a low murmur of longing, a silent anchor of honesty that could put anyone at ease. There was Listener, with her diamond etchings and her keen sense of fashion, who seemed each moment to fall in love with every person she met. Her voice was always smiling, always chattering, always quick to make friends, as if her finger rested comfortably on the pulse of Rig’s culture. Her determined enthusiasm could rouse even the most apathetic hearts. There was Steel Rose, a duplicity of bright flowers and churning metal gears. She moved and spoke with friendship and with pride in the unusual and the unexpected: a defiant creativity, unaffected by the opinions around her, that blossomed in her mechanical creations and in the way she questioned every fact or claim. Hers might be the solutions to problems long unsolved. And then there was Fluke, almost childlike in his unending play. He made a game of not speaking, messed about with his mask when he was bored, and seemed to take amusement in how much he could annoy someone else. He was doing a good job of making himself out to be more of a nuisance than an asset. But perhaps being underestimated was his advantage. Archer folded her arms in appraisal and, though her face was hidden behind the deerlike mask, a friendly tilt of her head suggested a smile. [color=C2EC2C]”Iris! Glad you could join us!”[/color] Archer looked up at Iris with a wink of her scanners. [color=C2EC2C]”Lookin’ sleek! Love the staff, that’ll knock the Nox right out of their hosts if ya aim it right.”[/color] She demonstrated with an imaginary swing and laughed. [color=C2EC2C]”Now, the lot of ya, listen up, pay close attention.”[/color] Archer beckoned them all forward, her voice dropped quietly while the market blared all around them. She turned her head and jumped a little to see Fluke’s mask looming an inch from her face. [color=C2EC2C]”Not [i]that[/i] close!”[/color] Archer shoved at him as if he were an overly nosey dog. [color=C2EC2C]”We’re meeting up here,”[/color] Archer continued, when she had everyone’s rapt attention, [color=C2EC2C]”because of that guy up there.”[/color] She gestured with her antlers at the shouting man on the stairs. [color=C2EC2C]”We have some intelligence that claims he’s harboring a horror in his apartment. It’s likely a small one, maybe a cat or a dog, but the Nox that multiply in these minor cases are just as dangerous as the big ones, and we can’t ignore them.”[/color] She reached out and laid one hand on Rose’s shoulder, the other on Cedar’s. Her scanners swept over all of the Ze recruits with low whirring sincerity. [color=C2EC2C]”I know ya haven’t had any training, but before I show ya how I would handle a situation, I’d like to see how [i]you[/i] would do it. Show us where your real strengths are, yeah? The only advice I’ll give you now is this: there’s extra credit for teamwork.”[/color] Her scanners winked, and Archer took a step back and dropped her hands in her pockets. [color=C2EC2C]”Get a move on, then!”[/color] [hider=player notes!]Archer will refuse to answer any questions your character may have. If a question is asked, she’ll just say something like “Can’t answer that!” or “Up to you!” What happens now is entirely in your hands.[/hider]