Leaving the Adamant is no simple matter. It has few gates, and those closely guarded; but even then, there are those who must pass in and out. Most who do wish they didn’t have to; traveling by night has become more perilous as of late. The Fire Wheels will go roaring and wild out of the Blue Gate, which means that it has become the most perilous route of all. So here at twilight the palace expels its servants, its common-born, and its terrors, and soon the five of you, too, will join the trickles out into the city of Sjakal, wild and tumultuous… [hr] [b]Nahla![/b] Grace-of-Heaven practically glows with your reassurance, and quickly puts on the simple linen clothes of a common citizen, the sort whose household would only support one or two slaves at most. She unlocks your own collar with a key she secreted away; permanently welding a collar is both inhumane and unfashionable, because a woman of means should be able to provide you with multiple accessorizing collars for every occasion and outfit. The Faithful are odd in that sort of way. It’s all about power and control, clearly delineating who gives orders and who follows them, but people’s roles are fluid in practice. It’s possible to rise and fall, to be freed or to be enslaved, and almost nobody ends up permanently locked in place. Back home, social classes were much more static. But here? Grace-of-Heaven looks surprisingly natural in a simple, opaque veil, wearing a mantle over a belted dress, with flat sandals and her hair loose under a flower-mimicking headband. The sparkle in her eyes, the bounce to her steps, the feeling that everything is going to turn out all right: that’s all her, independent of her title and her ownership of you. Right now, anyone who saw you in the street would take you for equals. Friends, or family members, or even… well, girlfriends. Especially if you hold her hand to help guide her along. “How about… hmmm… oh, but what if I say the wrong thing? The wrong name, I mean. If I pick the sort of name people don’t actually use, people, other people, would be suspicious of us! But maybe… nicknames? Little simple things? Maybe that would work!” She takes your hands in hers for a moment and squeezes. “How about… I’ll be Flower and you’ll be Darling? Or, no, that’s… Ring? Clever? North? Do any of those work?” Oof. North is a bit on the nose. Might as well be Foreigner. Whatever name you end up picking, it’s time for you to reveal how you’re getting out of here! [Grace-of-Heaven accepts, and clears a Condition. You have your choice of boons.] [hr] [b]Silsila! Birsi![/b] The Fire Wheel costume is laid out on the briefing table with the reverence of a suit of armor. Red and black, festooned with tassels and trophies, lacking a veil entirely. “It is difficult for us to work in the city at present,” Hai Lin explains, hands behind her back, smiling in the way she does when she’s playing the General’s Game, her pleasantly serene and perfectly ironclad game face, which doesn’t move an inch whether she’s winning or losing. “Therefore, given this unique opportunity, I think the Fire Wheels will act in the city instead.” That does make sense, Birsi. She can’t assign you anything sensitive with Ekh’s Host standing right here; she can’t make a play that requires secrets to be kept from the barbarian. But she’s instead turned this into an opportunity to pursue a different goal. “Namely, you will go out and act with the decisiveness and personal initiative expected of a Fire Wheel— not in any way to discredit them, and indeed, this may bring them some credit. But you must be allowed to act in ways that, perhaps, might be unbecoming of one of our company.” She gestures at the grand mural of the city that takes up one wall of her meeting room. “There is an element of unrest in the city at present that is difficult for us to address, given our duty.” You’re the House Guard, after all; you only leave the Adamant in the company of the Sultan or their servants while on duty, traditionally. “One in particular seems likely to present a threat to our duty. One Bowlyn, a leader of thieves who is acting against the Faithful and our… associates.” She means the Fire Wheels. You know a little about that, Silsila. The Thief-Queen’s been making fools of the Fire Wheels, as much as she can; looting houses while you speak with the owners, picking off Fire Wheels left alone, and leaving graffiti at the scene of the crime. “The two of you will go out and, working together, see this disruptive element inconvenienced to the best of your ability.” Carefully worded. It allows for anything up to bringing her and her thieves in bound up in a coffle, or as little as bringing back more information that Hai Lin can then feed back to the Stewards. She then turns to Silsila, still smiling regally, impossible to read. “Host, given the terms of your arrangement tonight, I would prefer to [i]request[/i] that you assist our Birsi in looking particularly appropriate for the part.” Unspoken: otherwise I will order Birsi to order you, but I don’t want to put strain on tonight’s working relationship, especially given that you are still the slave of a rival player in the palace. So, Silsila: what does giving Birsi a Fire Wheel makeover look like? Is hair dye involved? How do you stop her from standing out like a sore thumb? Birsi: this is an order from a superior. But what are your personal thoughts on this mission? It’s dangerous for you, which is both daunting [i]and[/i] a sign of how much trust Hai Lin places in you. [hr] [b]Soot![/b] You are released, full of delicious food and projects to be working on for the foreseeable future, to pack up and dream of your promised workspace. Tell us all about the process of leaving the Adamant: how you are frisked by the House Guard, how you prepare to defend yourself against the steadily more perilous walk home, and to what degree you daydream your way through it. Because, after all, you have business this evening on the streets. Graffiti to paint. A new design to emblazon proudly. And maybe you’ll run into Bowlyn tonight, the Thief-Queen of Sjakal, who is your— sister? Childhood friend? [i]Other[/i] crush? Artistic influence? How are you very closely connected to one of the most wanted women in all of Sjakal?