[b]Alexa![/b]

"Did you know," said the Assistant Secretary of Fear and Doubt, "that I wrote my graduate thesis on why the Eater of Worlds should fear Molech? Part of my argument involved you, Ms. Alexa! It was very well received, and although Hubris and Action ultimately blocked it from entering the Agenda, it did lead directly towards the development of a specialized strain of battlecrabs designed to resist what were perceived to be the Emperor's favoured tactics. Not a bad result, if I do say so!"

You've never really been able to get over how well dressed Poseidon's monsters are. The Assistant Secretary looks more like an Emperor than even Molech did, enthroned upon a towering coral chair, flowering in technicolour atop an elephantine battlecrab's back. Rolling silks and encrusted veins of gold and silver garland the sea monster, raised claws in a mirror sheen. The tendrils of the octopus-like Assistant Secretary are dashed with feathers, and his hat is towering, rectangular, and dangling with dozens of scrolls covered in kanji of some strange language.

It must be emphasized, even through that, that these are monsters. When Poseidon Earthshaker wishes to bring disaster upon a planet he unleashes his strange deep space fleets. They descend from the void and bring indiscriminate ruin to everything in their path. There's no negotiating with them. Even the Assistant Secretary, as reasonable as he seems, is not so much a person as he is a single brain cell, a fragment of a creature unknowably vast, subject to pressures and currents as alien as those that command you must seem to him.

"But you're right," he said, turning so that a single black eye fixed you directly. "Both that you hate this, and that we should talk. It seems to me that, as this ship's authority on fear and doubt, you are filled with both. So you should work for me!" He laughs, a plump and wheezing sound, a happy creature's laugh. "I certainly don't stand a chance otherwise!"

[b]Vasilia and Dolce![/b]

You get... tips?

One Azura nobleman gives you a letter. Another gives you an intricate mechanical watch. A third gives you a handkerchief. The gifts keep coming, from everyone you encounter, just absent smiles and whatever treasure happens to be in their pockets.

It's not until you tune into the music that things start to make sense.

[i]"Oh, my heart is in your pocket,
Won't you take it out and show me?
Oh, my heart is in your pocket,
Won't you take it out and give me?
Oh, I'm trapped inside your pocket,
Set me free and I'll be yours..."[/i]

Even with the shield of strong aroma preventing her from being literally hypnotizing, she's still so captivating she's metaphorically hypnotizing. The notes that she can wring out of that throat are unreal, impossible. This is the song left by Artemis' arrow cutting through the air, Aphrodite's curse as a murderous weapon. You have to look away.

And when you do, you notice you are not alone. There are other serving staff here, mouse-servitors dressed in drab dark blue uniforms moving about. They are carrying empty plates upon which they are politely collecting the various possessions given to them by the Azura nobility. One in particular - you do not know her name, but she is Jil, Lanternlight of the Anemoi - stands obediently by the Satrap's side as she absently hands her a strange, glimmering violet coin. Its light briefly flashes through the room but it vanishes up the mouse girl's sleeve just as quickly. This, you have no doubt, is what they are after.

[b]Bella and Skotia![/b]

Jil just got the coin - but from all around, you see and hear shivers and groans from the Azura aspect knights. They saw [i]something[/i] and their lulled brains are awakening them to danger. They will soon arise from Beljani's spell - unless you do something to seize control of this situation and demand their undivided attention.