For imperial_saga

[not_that_shady]

1)

[The Desert of Biggs lies on the border of Dwaelath and Ybeathiel. The sea winds, blocked by the Wall and other structures, bypass a streak of land scarred by ancient glaciers from east to west, that runs from the Rift to the middle of the borderlands, withholding their life-giving rain. The terrain is harsh and rocky, the winds malicious and blowing with sand, and the proximity to the Rift means that those brave or stupid enough to venture into the desert hardly ever return.

[That being said... why the HELL is this strange cloaked woman asking you to take her there?

[She leans on the tavern table, speaking softly.]

I'll make it worth your while. All you would have to do is keep us safe from the monsters; I can take care of the rest. I NEED to get to the ruins in that desert. Can you do it?

2)

[Obligatory siege post! The enemy has taken the stronghold and you--for whatever reason--were sequestered in one of the towers with Midna. As the sounds of shouting, ringing steel and bellows of pain echo up the stairs, she gets to her feet like a coiling viper, gazing at the door, the air around her chilling by a few degrees. Her hand crackles with purplish lightning.]

I really hope you know how to use that weapon of yours... We're going to need it.

3)

[The party! Are you a fellow partygoer? The host or hostess? In any case Midna, still in black robes and hood, stands out starkly in the crowd against the other women in patisserie pastels and poofy dresses. She clutches a goblet of something dark and red and chilled in one hand, and figuratively floats at the edge of the crowd, watching everyone with quiet amusement. If you approach her, however, she'll over a sidelong smile.]

"A very good party indeed, isn't it?"

Comments

3

[idkmybffalfred]

"I'm glad you think so, I worked hard to make it that way."

It would seem Midna is speaking to the host.

[not_that_shady]

"Oh! My compliments and thanks to you, good sir." She says over the rim of her glass, eyes on him. "I hope this is a celebration of good news; I missed your address to the room, I'm sorry to say."

[idkmybffalfred]

Bruce nodded, "It's for the church, they finally got their hands on some of those zodiac stone things they've been looking for, and we've been helping them out, so..."

[not_that_shady]

"Zodiac stones?" She said, an eyebrow quirking. "I've never heard of those before." But they sound very interesting indeed.

[idkmybffalfred]

"You know, neither had I. We've done a lot of digging through musty old ruins to find them, though. With this we at least get SOMETHING interesting out of the whole thing."

[not_that_shady]

Suddenly this man was a lot more useful--and more dangerous--than she thought. If he managed to stupidly stumble upon the Mirror and relay its position to the Church--

"Well... that sounds exciting! Are you charged to go through old ruins like that a lot?" She asked, doing her best to sound like she had an airheaded interest in it at best.

[idkmybffalfred]

"What, me personally?" He laughed, "Hardly, but our mining department has been seeing a lot more work than I thought it would get."

[not_that_shady]

"Well of course I didn't mean you personally!" She said with a giggle. Yeesh, did he really think she meant that? Maybe it was the posh party atmosphere but from what she could tell this man had all the grit of a chuchu and half the survival skills. That didn't make the situation any better, however.

"But it sounded like you have a lot of men at your disposal. That's what I meant."

[idkmybffalfred]

"Yes I suppose I do."

He reached for a passing servant's plate and got the mystery woman a fresh drink, "But we're not here to talk about business tonight. I don't even know your name."

[not_that_shady]

"Midna." She says, accepting the drink with a smile. "And you're mister... Wayne, is it? That was the name of the invitation, if I remember. It's a pleasure to meet you."

[idkmybffalfred]

"The pleasure is mine." He said with a polite nod.

1

[nomen_est_numen]

Shen usually doesn't protect people--he's the one people are being protected from. Usually. However, he's not really in a position to go rampaging across the countryside the way he used to. He narrows his eyes and looks at Midna sidelong.

"Just how d'you propose that you will 'make it worth my time?'"

[not_that_shady]

"Enchanted materials the likes of which YOUR world hasn't seen before."

[nomen_est_numen]

"Such as?"

He's a persnickety bird, that Shen.

[not_that_shady]

"Things made of pure shadow, crystallized light to use for... whatever purpose you desire, maybe even a few artifacts, if I can get my hands on them."

[nomen_est_numen]

Shadow doesn't mean much to an explosives expert, but the concept of crystallised light is already starting wheels turning in his head. He considers their possible advantages while weighing the task at hand. One does not simply walk into MordorThe Desert of Biggs.

"What do you need there so badly, hm?"

[not_that_shady]

"That's my own concern." She says simply. "All you need to worry about is getting us safely there from Darobeth."

2 because why not.

[nomen_est_numen]

Shen had been staring out the window, guan dao sword in one wing, and now turns to look at her. His eyes widen momentarily at the purple lightning effects, but he quickly regains his composure.

"This one?" he hefts the guan dao. "Of course. But I rather think that in this instance we're going to need something a little ... bigger."

With that, he crosses the room, metal talons clicking against the floor, and vanishes into a shadowy corner. He then returns, a rope clutched in his beak, straining to pull something along with it. The nature of that something becomes abundantly clear when a huge iron cannon comes rumbling into view. He drops the rope and flaps to the top of the thing and even his slight weight is enough to tilt the thing's barrel downward, out the window.

A very maniacal smile crosses his features.

[not_that_shady]

"...Why... do you have a cannon in your sitting room?"

Even with the impinging chaos, the question had to make itself known.

[nomen_est_numen]

"Because it's an easily defensible area for the rest of the place, of course," he answers, as though everyone took in the defense dynamics when making interior decorating choices.

He flicks the metal talons on his foot across the ignition and the thing creates a lot of smoke and noise, sending a cannonball whizzing and sparking out the window and into the opposing forces, creating a grand explosion.

[not_that_shady]

She recoils at the canon-blast and glares at Shen with a look that is rightfully reserved for feather-brained rulers. Then she takes to the air and flits backwards towards the door.

"I'll take the stairs, then."

She snaps... and disappears in a scattering of black confetti. Exactly three seconds later a new commotion comes from down the staircase, a terrified soldier's scream and the rushings of panic.

[nomen_est_numen]

Explosions always make Shen feel warm and giddy inside, but he hops down off of the cannon and takes a look down the staircase.

He is not impressed very often by anyone else's anything, but he has to admit, this creature certainly can fight.

[not_that_shady]

Midna is actually no where to be found, but a handful of marauders are cowering at the base of the stairs. They spy Shen and point. "Look! Up there!" "Get him!" "You sure? With what happened to Gelwyk--" "We've got our orders, now CHARGE!"

As the first few clumsily make their way up the torch-ilt staircase, something shimmers in the dark corners of the ceiling and a whiplike tendril of absolute black sprouts from it and wraps around the nearest soldier like a snake.

"IT'S GOT ME! IN THE NAME OF GOD HELLLLP--"

The sound is abruptly cut off as the tentacle yanks him back and the shadows swallow him whole.

[nomen_est_numen]

He's not a superstitious bird, really. Honest. Ancient China notwithstanding. Really. So he totally doesn't flee back into the room and plaster himself against the far wall. You saw nothing.

Regaining his composure (which the SO did not lose in the first place, pfff, come on) he looks about. "Was that you?"

Because, yeah, the air can answer him.

[not_that_shady]

"A lady has to know how to defend herself." The air answers; or more specifically, the shadows do. "But I can't hold them off forever! That canon may be pretty and shiny but I could REALLY use your help over here."

3 BECAUSE I CAN.

[nomen_est_numen]

"I suppose so," answers the white-and-red peacock, a drink held inexplicably in the primary feathers of one wing. He's clad in fine silk and he occasionally looks irritatedly backward as some functionary or other nearly treads on his insanely long train of tailfeathers.

[not_that_shady]

Midna does a well-defined double-take at the partygoing peacock, before regaining her composure and taking a sip of her drink.

"Oh! Well... Mmhmn, I think it's safe for me to assume that you're not from around here." She says conversationally.

[nomen_est_numen]

Most people here are so dolled up that they could be compared to Peacocks, but he's the only one who pulls this look off naturally. Good lord, but that plumage is striking. People keep looking at him, trying not to be seen staring and failing utterly.

"It is, indeed," the bird murmurs in reply. "Still, everybody who's anybody and all that." He looks about loftily. "And this is it."

[not_that_shady]

"Where do you come from... m'lord?" The silks give it away. This featherduster HAD to be a lord somewhere, at least.

[nomen_est_numen]

He is more feathers than bird, isn't he. He sips his drink and then looks at Midna when she speaks.

"Gongmen City, originally. It's far southwest of here."