[D6 EA] The Great Big Terrible Roundtable

[Cyprian Kircheis]

~full snip~

"I'm all ears." He told L'orr. There's no small amount of irritation in his voice as he gives Mysti a very tired, and very pointed look.

[Illiam'iira]

Besides, she didn't know what had already been said. She sat somewhere behind Cyprian, studying inscriptions already made.

Illi waves to Akh, happy to see her!

But soon there's more information, so Illiam'iira's scribbling it all up on the board. She pauses at Factol Montgomery and adds something of her own to the notes:

interested in power to use against 'assholes in Rigus'

Another pause as she catches Mysti's expression towards Akh -- something to talk with the stranger about after. She can... guess what's going on.

"I would like to hear it as well, mister L'Orr-hui. Please."

Another thought runs through her head. "Can anyone who's going to the City of Brass speak Ignan?"

Finally, she carefully stands atop the footstool on the crate to write up top on the blackboard in big, blocky letters: Where is the book?
...oh no. How is she going to get down.

[Mysti]

"I don't presume to be uniquely predisposed to such an expedition. I am no adventurer, but a mortician and a scholar, and my involvement in the whole affair started with the trace of bodies ending up in the Mortuary. All I have ever wanted in this matter is to end the suffering this Codex has sown and bring True Death to the souls of the victims. All my findings I have shared freely to help others to solve the dark. I suppose a Hardhead like you should be in charge of meting out order, if this is what this expedition to the City of Brass is about. Cyprian's enthusiasm aside, I claim no title to this investigation nor do I wish to impose on how authorities want to take it from here. If you see it more as rendezvous of some kind, I have even less reason to participate as private matters of the living do not concern me even if I am not given the courtesy of my privacy being equally respected."

Mysti regarded Akh with a -- more or less -- unreadable expression as the other woman talked. Not hostile, not angry, not even intense. If anything, it seemed ... heavy and resigned. But even those tells, if they had been there at all, were fleeting. Cyprian would know all too well that Mysti was not in the habit of giving things away. On the other hand, this was a rather peculiar situation that went beyond dragging fugitives back to the barracks.

When Akh finished, Mysti slowly shook her head. What her expression didn't give away, her body language did. Because it would be obvious to literally anyone that the rogue looked tired - like she was carrying the weight of the world. Every movement seemed to take a monumental effort. And so, too, did every word she spoke.

"I'm only putting this expedition together -- and only because I was a part of the first one that failed. I don't presume to take leadership of this or anything else, to be ... " Mysti paused and gently sighed before continuing, "to be honest. If the people involved wish for me to lead - in whatever capacity where a leader is needed - then I will do so. But I simply see everyone equally trying to bring another piece of the puzzle to Illi's board."

At that point, Mysti ignored whatever "decorum" there may have been -- a rare thing for Mysti to do -- and perched herself on the table nearby the board -- but out of the way of where anyone may have been sitting.

"You're welcome to come, in any event, scholar or swordswoman, it doesn't matter." Mysti's voice was trailing off -- as if she were about to fall asleep in mid-sentence. "I presume you wouldn't be here if you had nothing to offer." She folded her hands demurely in her lap and stared at the floor. "Can you fight at all? In any capacity? Don't worry if you can't. I just need to know if you'll need protection from those that can."

Mysti did glance up at Cyprian once -- ever so briefly. If the bard hadn't been looking at her then, he likely would have missed it. In any event, if Cyprian was paying attention to her, he would have seen something in her that he had never seen before: Defeat. But only he would've picked up on that from their long years together in Zobeck.

"I'm not sure where I can help, but I'm pretty good at tracking and finding things in general. I'm also good at sneaking about and can help others do so." he spoke up again. "I'll go wherever you need."

She does, however, find it in her enough to swing around to Whisper and say in a much more firm voice, "Alright -- you're in, too. I'll clear it with the Harmonium later on -- that way no one else follows in behind us or disturbs the scene until we're done with it."

[Whisper]

Hush moved forward, but Whisper pulled the hound back and shook his head. "I wasn't angling for that, unless actually wanted. Just offering ways I can contribute to whatever needs to be done in general. I'm assuming there are other things we can look into, but I don't know what they are."

[Akh Uur Hoon]

"I can fight, but I rarely choose to. Dying is not a problem." Akh said simply, the theatrics washing over her. If anything, she was worried about the woman's disquiet, and remorseful about her part of the blame for it, but neither of those considerations surfaced.

She then turned to listen to the flayer's plan.

[Ikkit the Bastard]

Ikkit got a little queasy, since the dynamics in the room led to him imagining...

They're all so hideous, I did not need that image in my head...

Bunch of oversized, tiny-eared, narrow-headed freaks.

Ick.

[L'Orr-hui]

''The event at Rhaunades's library happened five days ago which is also the latest date possible for the heist. The murder of his apprentice happened the day after, 4 days ago. Simply put: the crime scenes have long since been contaminated. We can dig around those sites but we cannot resume where things were left off.''

The message came out cold: L'Orr-hui had begun to be annoyed by a few things that were happening but an Hardhead enrolling factotum of the Free League was straining the illithid's self-control

''Do not expect to debark in the City of Brass and take control of any situation: This should be a diplomatic mission first and foremost. The Sultan, I am sure, is eager to get his property back or punish the ones responsible. Playing on that can get him to cooperate. Shemeshka may or may not be the sponsor but if...rumors spread around the City of Brass that she might have had something to do with it. The fiend might be also encouraged to help.''

They turned to Ikkit

''In a game if chess you do not defeat a king directly: you use your pieces to restrict their movement until they move according to your will. It is then that you win. Shemeshka is a powerful king indeed: she has centuries of experience, ressources, intelligence and pull. She, however, had to step foot personally on the field to get something done thus we know she is in the game. Even an arcanoloth as powerful as her will not risk the emnity of a sultan of the Efreet. Like I said...if there are rumors that she is involved somehow then she will be put under pressure and forced to react. She'll find a way to win, of course, but hopefully win in a way that will not hinder our goal here.''

They tapped their finger on the table

''Goal that has not been yet set, might I had. There is a broad sense of stopping what is happening but no one has yet asked: what will happen to the Book? We need to keep it clear from the hands that holds it now but what then? Destroy it? Give it back to the Sultan or let Shemeshka get her paws on it...to then sell it to someone else? While I do not trust the assassin, the Book could also be delivered to a neutral party like the Rilmani. Before continuing...we should have an understanding in this matter.''

[Illiam'iira]

sneep

Illiam'iira pauses to listen to L'Orr-hui, something clicking inside her mind before she returns to writing on the board.

"Diplomacy is necessary when dealing with a king in his court, yes. I have a friend I could ask to go with if no one else knows the language." Illi taps the blackboard thoughtfully. "With regards to the book -- we'll have a clearer answer the more we understand it and its nature. Some tomes can simply be left to rot in some forgotten corner of a library, but others always find their way back into the world to wreck havoc." Briefly she remembers a mirror she knows she should never touch, but does her best to avoid thinking of what lies beyond it. "Personally, I want to know why all parties involved seek the book, for what purpose they intend on using it, and to destroy it if its powers pose a threat to Sigil or life in general." The drow turns around to look over the gathered. "I don't want anybody to get hurt."

"Which, uh, I know is asking a lot," She meeps out. "But even a few of those things would be good..."

"What about the rest of you?"

[Whisper]

"The elemental languages are variations of Primordial." Whisper said. "It's a bit limited, but it can get you by."

[Ikkit the Bastard]

Ikkit fished a bone splinter out of one pocket and picked at his teeth with it.

"Way I see it, th' Codex is trouble, an' so's every leatherhead as has gone after it. Two outta three in the dead-book already, an' th'third rantin' 'bout balance makes me not wanna trust any damn Rilmani. 'Course, we had the Hooded Perv usin' 'lusions, an' then the 'pprentice was s'posed t'be good with 'em, so... not sure we'd be in any state know what we found if we found it."

He shrugged.

"So. My goals? Get ridda whatever threatens my town. Don't rightly care who we gotta hurt t'do that."