[b]Redana![/b]

Mynx is more demure and maidlike than you have ever seen her. Her hands are folded in her lap and her eyes are vague and downcast and she's speaking with the calm of someone terrified beyond comprehension. This is the confession of someone who knows this truth may be their death.

"I last saw her on the Yakanov, after she defeated Demeter's scion and saved you and the station," said Mynx. "She was so overwhelmed with rage and grief she might have killed me there. I ran away. I still don't know what I should have done."

[b]Alexa![/b]

It takes you a minute to recognize Ramses, the Coherent warrior you danced with on the Yakanov, as he comes in. He's changed his gender since the last time you saw him, hair cut short and sharp and swept across his face from right to left. He's crisp, handsome, bright, bare chested and shining with fresh Alcedi tattoos in swirling triangle patterns. He crouches down and puts a heavy tray of Demeter's tubers roasted and mashed along with a selection of defeated battlecrab parts.

"Didn't know if you ate," he said, stepping into the bath, still clothed, and flopping dramatically down on the opposite side of the tub from you. "I figured you didn't, but I also figured the Pallas Rex didn't lose fights to fucking Murvle and Teck-Joe, so what do I know? You made it out in one piece?"

[b]Vasilia![/b]

"Greetings, former Captain."

Of all the houseguests you were expecting, Magos Iskarot was not one of them. Less so that he was carrying a large container of coleslaw in his hands, which he shoves into your arms brusquely.

"I understand you are now irrelevant," said the Magos, pushing past you into your quarters without waiting for an invitation. He looks around, eyes whirring beneath his hood. "I have come to pay my condolences." He opens the door of your fridge and starts digging around. "I am more relevant than ever," he adds. "I am now an Archmagos. Primary Evoker. Very important."

He rips a bunch of cables out of the back of your fridge and tosses them on the ground. "Idiocy. You let this death trap live in your house? What is wrong with you?"

[b]Dolce![/b]

Claiming the Captaincy at this moment a bit like throwing one's hat into the ring.

The Alcedi ritual warfare is reaching it's final stage. There are perhaps twelve champions left of the great contest, each surrounded by a ceremonial band of twenty warriors. They stalk each others through the halls of the Plousios and they will have absolutely no problem about hunting [i]you[/i] at this stage of the contest. You're not sure you know enough of the ritual practices of these warbands to engage with them on proper terms either. This is God shit, and high technology God shit too. Just because the Alcedi didn't have functional starships when you met them did not mean they did not have an extremely powerful set of secret rituals that would allow them to draw the attention and blessings of the Gods in times of crisis. These were once the personal guard of Emperor Molech and their secrets are crafted by Imperial hands.

Speaking of, the severed head of the Emperor is still serving as your ship's Navigator. You... probably want to make sure that A) The Alcedi don't discover that, and B) You win this Captaincy contest, because otherwise they will discover that.

It's a hell of a first day challenge. Where do you start?

[b]Bella![/b]

"These coins aren't mere precious metal," said Thist, holding one up to the light. There - right in the centre - a glittering golden dust moving and twisting inside. "See there? That's Sulloi the Marid, greatest of the djinn, bound by the Shah Cyrus XC."

She took out a second coin and tapped the first one firmly against its centre - once, twice, three times. On the third tap the golden dust of the first coin flowed smoothly into the second one. The silver of the coin shrank a little and the golden dust in the centre expanded slightly, and the numbers around the ring rippled and changed from 1's to 2's. 

"These coins are actually miniature containment rings," said Thist. "They imprison an immensely powerful spirit, broken into billions of fragmentary pieces. Each coin holds a thousand shards and a fully charged one is the equivalent of having a single hand at your service."

Thist took out another coin. This one glowed with a radiant golden light, shimmering and flowing like the sands of time, bound in a thin ring of silver. "Sulloi, bring me that book," said Thist, and sure enough the golden energy flowed from the coin, picked the book off the shelf, and carried it across to the Azura lawyer. This, it must be said, is a [i]miracle[/i]. Nothing in Nero's empire works like this, no Imperial technology has bound a spirit like this, in all your studies of the Azura you read a little about their ambition to bind the Djinn but there was no indication that they'd ever succeed. 

Thist smiled, waved the coin, and then another and slid them across the table to you, along with a purse full of empty containment rings.

"All yours," she said, holding her cigar up to her lips and taking a contented puff. "Two thousand daric, I'll round up the cost of your ship's salvage as a personal gift. But don't underestimate the Azura, Reacher." And although she was relaxed and poised, eyes half-lidded in the pleasure of the smoke, her voice was not that of a creature unused to power. It almost seemed like someone else's voice entirely. "The Order of Hermes, as I see it, have violated the Shah's airspace causing the redirection of the Shah's mighty air force, damaged the Shah's pavement requiring the work of the Shah's stonemasons, and have inflicted great personal injury on the Shah's newest servant, requiring the effort the Shah's legal council to identify and remedy. And if the Order of Hermes forgets its place then they will see what happens when the Shah unleashes the Marid upon their fleet."

Thist blinks and shakes away the smoke haze. You're not feeling any effect but your Auspex suggests that whatever she's smoking has some intoxicating interaction with Azura biology. A smile makes its way back to her face, gradual at first but then increasingly genuine.

"Hey, thanks for understanding," said Thist, and the body language seemed to convey embarrassment. "I'm cool, don't worry. But watch the language, yeah? Lot of proud people 'round here and the senth definitely doesn't help. Awful stuff," she taps the stub of the cigar out in her ashtray. "And the Party's even worse. You're a long way from home and there's a lot of stuff here that won't work like you're used to. I'll help you best I can - that's what Zeus and the Path demand - but keep your eyes open and walk softly. The Endless Azure Skies are a lot of things but they're definitely not safe, not these days."