[b]Alexa![/b] "Oh!" said the Assistant Secretary in surprise. "Oh! I was hardly expecting you to take my words seriously. What have I to offer? Despite your faith in my abilities, my tides are still young and I would humbly not see them tested in battle against those backed by an Emperor. Besides, I am no general myself. I am a humble bureaucrat in service to Poseidon and the nations that devour the void in his name." But those tendrils rub together thoughtfully. The black eye watches you, dark as the void and as bright as a glass star. "Besides, no mortal could defeat Molech on the field of battle. Not truly! Only a fool would try," he went on. "But I do recall from my ancient lessons and contemplation that while Molech loved one god and despised another, to most he was simply indifferent. He sought the favour of Athena, of course, she who was his icon. But to the rest, he simply allowed an apparatus of high priests and the resources of empire to ensure they were properly respected. One would imagine that he lacks the full power and protection of an Imperial court and state religion. So this is my advice, Alexa. I understand you've lost the favour of Athena, and you will make a poor servant to our Lord without her blessing. But there are more gods than she, and were you to catch their eyes it would be an act of filial loyalty. Imagine, returning cloaked in the grace of the gods! Perhaps," and here that eye sparkled especially, "you might learn from one of them the secrets to being a dutiful daughter, those Olympians who are renowned for how they honoured their parents." The Assistant Secretary clacked a golden staff against a large gong, sending out a ringing sound that made his battlecrabs lower their raised and clacking pincers. "You will, of course, let the Emperor know that my tides are at his disposal. Even the beasts of Poseidon have no choice but to be tame before his mighty hand." [b]Dolce![/b] It is in the servant's corridors you catch up to her, as she moves with the exaggeratedly steady walk of someone carrying a box of high explosives. Jil's eyes dart around as she sees you, a golden-doored lantern hanging from her fingers, marked with the sign of Apollo. The little golden spark burns in the caged air with no wick, its gentle and fragile light much like the girl herself. She is a mouse as you are a sheep; rounded ears and whiplash dexterity and eyes wide against the dark. Cute as a button in the light, but were she to let that lantern light fall who knows what she might become in the dark? "Excuse me," she said politely, "this passage is for servants only. I'll have to ask you to return to the main hall, Lord Captain." [b]Skotia![/b] You were once, and perhaps are again, a creature of romance novels. The aesthetic of the Azure Skies was never far from your distant imagination. Those stories have their own languages, of wicked viziers and clever merchants, but one of the most endlessly recurring were the tales of the Djinn - and the wizards that sought to bind them. What wizard would set themselves a lesser goal? A Djinn is, at its most basic, the essence of fire and heat. They dwell within everything from candleflames to roaring Engines or even the stars themselves, as the Naiads oversee water or the Thuellai move the winds. Azura history and theology is tightly interwoven with these creatures and their ancient history, but that was not deemed relevant to your education. What you were taught is that the Djinn are powerful strategic weapons employed by the Azura military. You were taught how to identify imbued rings and lamps. You were taught that Command Seal technology operates using the same principles as Djinn binding. And what you saw the mouse servitor steal from the Azura Satrap was undoubtedly an imbued ring. Many stories begin with such a theft, but none end that way. Azura assassins hunt ring thieves to the edges of the galaxy (unless they fall in love with their quarry), the Djinn threaten to destroy entire cities in their wroth (unless they fall in love with their mistress), and Shahs will imprison and interrogate guests they suspect of hiding magic rings (no doubt falling in love with their prisoners in the process). The overwhelming point to all of this, other than the romantic complexities of being a thief in the Endless Azure Skies, is that Azura high society is [i]ready[/i] for such thefts. It's ready in shifting and treacherous and unpredictable ways and would-be thieves will inevitably be captured, no matter how elaborate their preparations. This is not to say that you understand the full context of the shadow war being waged between Thelis Thist and Beautiful - but that is how the Auspex boils it down for you. Across the vision of your artificial eye you see an owl, a nightingale and a cat caught in the coils of a serpent, struggling in futility against constricting sapphires. A mouse escapes with a ring to be startled by the stomping hoof of a ram, who rears because he has pricked his hoof on a rose thorn. And when the ring falls, fire. Fire and burning roses. A hedge maze all aflame, walls of jagged thorns and raging heat. And at the centre of the burning maze a chameleon princess meditates, face wet with tears, even as the flames reach her. The vision breaks suddenly, your mind racing and your heart pounding as you process the flicker of divine wisdom that entered your mind through the golden eye. You can see the shades of thorns, the promise of future fires. Your eyes have opened and you have realized that this is no garden at all but a labyrinth, a prison, a trap. And you see them both. The Master of Assassins, Sagakhan, the ancient hag who curtsied to Redana in the Imperial Palace on Tellus, is right there, dancing in the thick arms of Thelis Thist. They spin and coil in the same hostile, loveless rhythm that Bella and Redana were in as you arrived. They writhe and twist and smile daggers at each other, and then they part and head their separate ways to begin setting their murderous plans into motion. Thist's eyes are on Bella, Sagakhan's are on Redana-Mynx. [Response Level: [b]9[/b] The Response Level has been hidden due to the influence of one of the Bosses. Location Stats: Maze, Civilized, Outpost Location Moves: Dark Secret Separation Guardian More Than It Seems Stalker Invaders Hidden Danger This Land Is My Land You Need To Leave]