[b]Princess Ven of Snapdragon, Prince of the Brass City.[/b]

Everything is fucked.

The low-class bitch, that smarmy little cow? Gone, and Azazuka— intended as another of your suborned vassals— gone with her. Failure upon failure from the Laema. What you did to her and her useless demons— banishment into the Mirror-Forest— is justified. Let them wander lost and confused, let their own reflections trap them in the branches to take over their lives. If they get out, and if they are the same demons who you cast into the forest, well, it won’t be for some time. And you need time. You have to have time.

The rain has relented for a moment, but the air is thick as water all the same, and it’s clear that the wind-gods are heaping the clouds up higher and higher. Tonight, there will be a [i]storm,[/i] one to break bridges and wash away roads. Here you stand, staring out at the growing dark, running the same circles in your head over and over and over.

Your fortress is exposed now. Ultimately, it’s an appropriate trade. You have your bargaining chit, after all, a treasure worth more than all of Kingeater Castle. It’s just that your mentors wouldn’t understand, wouldn’t be able to take an appropriately long view of the situation, would demand her be handed over instead of exploited properly. But you’ll have time, and you’ll have your leverage, and you’ll have someplace better. It won’t matter that this castle is perfect for your work; you’ll have Lotus of Tranquil Waters to hand, and her mother to control.

…you just need to make that decision of where to go. To have the Maker of Images finish your proof that you hold Lotus. To tie up the loose ends. You’re almost done with this place, and then you can abandon it. Or, even better, you can make it a trap. Let the Sapphire Mother throw some brave knights at this place, let her send them to their doom.

You just need time.

In for a leaf, in for a tree.

***

[b]Kalaya and Fengye![/b]

You can see it now.

It’s a low, humped shape, black against the dark clouds: Kingeater Castle. An ancient and accursed ruin, intimately connected with dark cults of the Broken King. Thunder rumbles, ominously close, and the air all about is suffocatingly thick. The stars are not visible behind the black and roiling clouds, which threaten at any moment to unleash a storm that will make the afternoon’s deluge look like a pleasant sprinkle.

The two of you are now officially close enough to be in need of a plan, and hurry: it’s almost night, and you definitely don’t want to be out here after sunset. It will be much more difficult to avoid snakes then.

***

[b]Uusha’s Funtime Gang![/b]

“Tell us more about the defenses,” Uusha commands. Not that you’re in the inn any more, oh no. As soon as the rain started to relent, she gathered the lot of you and told you that everyone was going to the Castle: Piripiri, Azazuka, Giriel, Han and even the fidgety priestess. And, huh, what do you know, when Uusha decides something, somehow that’s how things end up. So here you are, the six of you, surrounded by Uusha’s Hard-Ass Retinue of scoundrels and ne’er-do-wells, pushing [i]hard[/i] into the jungle.

Torches are lit and carried all around you by said scoundrels as night begins to fall; despite the danger to you all, Uusha intends to risk marching through the jungle at night in order to find the Castle. (Not that it’s easy; it would take a miracle to just stumble across it, and even Piripiri’s directions will only give you a chance of finding it in the thick tangle.)

“What are we likely to find when we march through that empty gate, [i]cosmopolitan[/i]?” 

She’s got you going hard, and somehow she’s the one that’s still not out of breath. You might need to take a moment to catch your breath to answer, Piripiri; Azazuka is doing her best not to complain, but she’s flagging, and Victorious Vixen of Violets has somehow talked a burly half-N’yari girl into carrying her.

Giriel: something is wrong. All of the little gods and spirits are hiding or absent. In their absence, the growing twilight is more and more oppressive; sounds don’t travel like they should, and there’s a bleakness to the jungle that even Uusha’s scoundrels are picking up on. They’re scared of [i]something.[/i]

Oh, and Han? This is great. Uusha didn’t try to posture, she just gave you a wry smile and said she’d be happy to join in (in a low and slightly scratchy voice that suggested she actually was interested in seeing your attempt at doing just that), and now here you are, surrounded by a bunch of badass punks. With tattoos! And all of them seem quite happy to show off how much stamina they’ve got as they keep up with you! This is a crew that could take on demons or N’yari and they’re all the groupies of a woman who took you seriously and didn’t try to tame you.

You [i]should[/i] be listening to Piripiri, but, uh, Crazy Daveen just asked you what the heaviest thing you’ve ever lifted was, because [i]he[/i] once picked up an entire bull, complete with saddlebags full of goods from Gem, and you definitely can’t beat [i]that.[/i] And now everybody (who isn’t listening to the tactical talk, and who includes that priestess tagging along) is looking to you for an answer!