GM:
~~~ IC ~~~

GM:
::It's about 2 am or thereabouts, you've all just gotten the snot beaten out of you. Lan and Martel drag the Kossak corpse and the unconscious Invisible Path gut off to find a safe place for them, leaving the two of you with Morning::

An:
((Or we back in camp?))

An:
((are?))

Tien:
((Yes, the sewer))

GM:
((yeah, you've reached the labyrinth))

GM:
::the mood in the Changed base is somber::

An:
::to morning:: So, tell me. What did those two guys want with you?

Tien:
::Get the young girl some food and drink::

Morning:
They said that I should not be traveling the streets at night. They said it was not proper, and that I should go back to our rooms. I wanted to see more of the city while it was free of crowds.

Tien:
Very brave, young one.

An:
((We still got the Morning sickness?))

An:
::nods:: And your mother, don't you miss her?

Morning:
How do you figure? ::examines the food:: Are these bugs? Interesting.

Tien:
::Setting some cheese, bread and dried fruit on the common table:: Bugs?

GM:
((yes, you are both still certain that she is the most adorable six year old you've ever met, and have a slightly more than natural urge to protect her))

An:
::smirks:: Quite possibly. Well, what I mean to say is, won't your mother be looking for you?

Tien:
I see cheese, bread and friut.

Morning:
I just spent two weeks on a transport with her. We could use some time apart. I have gone quite a while without seeing her on Byzantium.

An:
((has my massive wound been tended to?))

Morning:
Looking for me? I suppose she might eventually. I doubt it will be soon though, since I have Sergei looking after me.

An:
Morning, how old are you?

GM:
((you're still down 4 wounds, but not in danger between Tien's theurgy and Lan's first aid... Tien is also down 4))

Tien:
((I plan to meditate and heal after seeing to the girl))

Morning:
::Picks up a fried jungle beetle and crunches it daintily:: Mmm, spicy. I am six years old.

An:
Really? And Sergei, tell me about him.

Tien:
::Tien picks up what he had thought to be fruit and sees that they really are dried bugs::

Morning:
He is not very nice. A mean little man is, I think, what mother calls him sometimes.

Tien:
Is he your main guardian?

Morning:
My teacher and chaperone, yes.

Tien:
And he is teaching you the matters of the mind?

Morning:
Well, mostly preparations and meditations now. Someday he says he will.

An:
:##REFLECTION## <TN = 10>

An:
rolled 2 20-sided dice: 8 18

Tien:
Meditations are important. They help to center and calm the mind. Only a balanced and calm mind can truely control the gifts of the Pancreator

GM:
::for a few moments An is alone with the wracking pain of his wounds and his own dark thoughts, as if a cloud had passed across the beautiful but blinding face of the sun...

Tien:
Do you need aid, brother?

GM:
he feels what could only be described as a "shunt," a long term modification of an unconscious psi power... in a moment Morning's aura returns to his emotions, but it is dully muted and less than half its former strength... further, An is aware that for a few seconds Morning got the full taste of her own aura and is now getting part of it continually cast at her; all of it originating from An::

Morning:
::looks confused for a moment, then regards An with new eyes:: You're still hurt. Are you going to be okay?

An:
::coughs:: Don't worry about me... I'll be fine. :::coughs::: Tell me Morning, do you know who the Jackovians are?

Morning:
You don't sound all right... sure... The Jakovians are our family's ... umm... what's the word... the people that do stuff that needs doing, even if it's secret.

An:
Underhand?

Tien:
Secret Police,

Morning:
Something like that, yes.

An:
Do you know they like to hurt people, people like me?

Morning:
Oh, I don't think they like to hurt people... they just think it's necessary sometimes to accomplish their goals.

An:
And what are their goals?

Tien:
Necessary?

Morning:
Oh, lots, I think. I don't really know for sure. Whatever's good for the house.

An:
Do you trust me Morning?

Morning:
::looks for a second, as if her childlike rationality is trying to raise the "Stranger" flag, before the combo of your pheremones and her aura tightens up:: Of course I do.

GM:
((Both of you give me a Perception + Wyrd roll please))

Tien:
rolled 2 20-sided dice: 2 11

An:
Then I need you to understand something if you want us to be friends. The Jackovians have been doing very evil things. ##Per + Wyrd## <TN = 12>

An:
rolled 2 20-sided dice: 2 9

GM:
((you want to spend a Wyrd to drop that to a crit Lee?))

Tien:
ok

GM:
::As this discussion progresses, especially since An has gained her trust, both of you get the crawling sensation up your spines of destiny invoked... somehow the events tonight could influence the future... Tien, perhaps due to his experience with prophecy, is certain that Morning has a destined role in the universal passion play, and that how you deal with her, perhaps mold her, could shape the future of the known worlds for better... or for worse::

Tien:
::Smiles at the young girl:: That is good.

Morning:
Evil?

Tien:
No, that you trust AN.

An:
They have taken people close to me. They hold them captive. They destroy people lives and take away important things from people.

Morning:
What kind of things?

Tien:
Angels and Devils, carved from the flesh of men.

An:
They take life from people. They take health. Happiness... ::frowns and shakes his head:: They take away the will to exist from people.

Morning:
But all of that is for the good of the house... with the discoveries of the Jakovians we are made better, and can compete with those that would destroy us for who we are.

An:
::shakes his head:: Really? How do you know that?

Tien:
Not all actions, though they gain us worldly advantage, advance us in the eyes of the Almighty.

Morning:
Well... take the brute for instance... if there had been two of them you never would have won. He was made possible because of the Jakovians. Without them lots of my family would have been assassinated in the wars.

An:
So that's it? Build a better soldier to keep the wolves at bay? No matter the cost. No matter if it kills my friends?

Morning:
How many of your friends have died? I would have lost a lot of cousins without the Kossaks.

An:
::looks around for the nearest angelic or demonic::

Tien:
Is it right to take the life of one person to advance the life of another?

An:
And your cousins? They deserve life beyond my friends?

An:
::stands:: Morning, will you walk with me?

Morning:
Are your friends Decados?

Morning:
Sure ::follows An::

Tien:
::Sits, shaking his head::

An:
Some are. ::walks towards Beth's quarters:: I want you to meet someone.

Morning:
::seems honestly confused... at this point you're basically trying to convince her that the life of your favorite pet is more important than her family, from her point of view as to the value of peasants::

An:
::looks to Morning:: You seem confused.

Tien:
::Will begin a meditation, starting with a healing prayer for himself::

An:
::continuing slowly walking:: Why is that?

Morning:
Why wouldn't you give a few lives to save many others? Without the House, our worlds would crumble, millions more would die in the fights. The few give their lives that the many can have peace... Isn't it that way everywhere?

An:
::stops and looks down at her:: No... it isn't. ::a sad looks over takes his face:: There are other ways. You need not destroy life to save it. ::turns and continues to walk::

Morning:
How would we learn about humans if they were not experimented on? You know the Jakovians also make medicines that are used across the worlds... even on Leagueheim, where they are so smart. Mother says even some of the emperor's guard take Jakovian medicines to cure the mental traumas they took in the Wars. What kind of life would they have without those drugs?

An:
::stops and turns toward her:: And what now? If I were to take you, cut you. Pull out your eyes? Just so I could see. You're all alone down here.

Morning:
Well, if we're taking hypothetical... I don't guess I'd be too happy about it... especially if it was just so you could see. But if you learned something that helped lots of other people see, then I guess it would be worth it.

An:
Who's talking hypothetical. ::looks at her deadly serious::

Morning:
::just looks up at An with guileless trust... as far as she's concerned you'd never hurt her:: I mean... why wouldn't you give up your health, life, or happiness so millions of others could have them?

An:
::turns to walk:: I would, but there in lies the difference. The people who are experimented on. Don't get that choice.

Morning:
Well, I guess that's unfair... but you know there is a noble contract... probably most of them benefitted a lot from living here, and it would then be hard to get them to give back even though they might say that they want to do good and their civic duty

An:
Why are you so ignorant?

Morning:
What do you mean? I think I know quite a bit for a six year old.

An:
Answer the question. Too ignorant to answer a simple question?

Morning:
Mother had me tested and I did better than any of the best kids at League school.

An:
I didn't ask how smart you are. I asked why you're so ignorant.

Morning:
::seems at a loss:: How much did you know when you were six?

An:
Can you answer the question? Or can't you?

Morning:
It's a... what's the word... leading question. I can't answer the question without agreeing that I'm ignorant. I told you why I don't think I am. Why can't you ask a better question?

An:
::laughs:: Too ignorant to even see it. I'm disappointed in you. I will tell you why you are ignorant. Because you were bred that way. Why don't the Jackovians use your family for experimentation?

Morning:
I'm sorry but you're wrong. You can't breed ignorance, just intelligence. You could be bred with less ability to learn, but not with less knowledge.

An:
Really? Where are we now?

Morning:
And they do a lot of experiments on my family. Not that it's important to the discussion.

An:
Why isn't it important?

Morning:
We're in a complex of rotted out basements underneath the sewers of Nuevo Milan... I estimate dead under the factory district.

An:
Good, and these people around you who are they?

Morning:
Because we're currently arguing about ignorance and intelligence, I think, you keep changing topics. I guess they're your friends who have been experimented on, or at least that would be where your questions seem to be going. I haven't really gotten a good look.

An:
I'm trying to show you something you're too blind to see. ::stops and turns around to her and kneels down to her level:: The people you "rule" are just as valid as you and your precious family ...Without the "peasants" you will live in the streets of another nobels city. Be experimented on by their secret police. You'll see your mother and cousins, cut and bled so that the other great houses with thrive.

An:
::continues:: And you will continue to be taught and instructed by your family. You will learn the greatest ways to destroy lives and hurt the innocent, although I doubt your people even know the meaning of the word::

Morning:
Maybe. Though Decados are bred, taught, and raised to be leaders. We have the ability and the desire to rise to the top and stay there. A Decados in another fiefdom would either be killed by those with power or would have power of her own very quickly. Being in charge is hard. Put any old peasant in the seat of the Duke, with all of the problems of running a fiefdom, and watch as the planet burns... Nobles have had generations of good leaders in our blood. When a peasant proves that accident or education makes them worthy of becoming a noble, many times they are allowed to marry in because that only makes the house stronger. Or at least, so I've been taught.

An:
Decados in all fiefdoms steal threaten and corrupt the world around them. I grow sick of your House malcontent and malicious practices. The planet burns whether you see it or not. It is not a ruler place to do as they see fit... And I know many a peasant that could lead better than your money grubbing, back stabbing, drug addicted cousins ever could. What do you think of that? ::wonders if he is getting near to where Beth usually lives::

Morning:
But it is a ruler's place to do as they see fit... that's the whole point! One person who can do as she sees fit because she is fit to see. Bred and trained to make the tough decisions. Getting people to live peacefully and productively together is hard work. If you know peasants that could do a better job of it, then get them to try it for a while. If they do better, maybe they'll take over from us. Survival of the fittest

Morning:
is the Decados way.

GM:
::yeah, you've been moving pretty slowly trying to argue and navigate the passages at the same time, but you're now right outside the door::

An:
::stops and shakes his head:: ...the decados way. Inside this door is someone I want you to meet.

Morning:
Okay

An:
::kneels in front of her:: She just lost someone important to her. A family member or sorts. The Jackovians tortured him and eventually implanted something inside of him that tore his lungs to pieces and killed him painfully while she watched. I want you to explain to her why you're family would do that. If you can do that, I'll leave you alone about the way your people rule.

Morning:
::shrugs:: sounds fair

An:
::kneels down till he is eye to eye with her:: Deal? ::holds out his hand::

Morning:
::shakes his hand:: Sure

An:
::knocks on the door::

GM:
::there's no answer::

An:
::of course::

An:
::knocks again::

GM:
::which is not really surprising at 2-3 am::

GM:
::still no answer::

An:
((I haven't seen beth since I've gotten back have I?))

An:
::figures know my luck::

GM:
((Nope, the last anyone saw her she was being led away in tears several hours ago))

An:
::waits for a few moments and knocks again::

GM:
((Could have cried herself to an exhausted sleep))

An:
((Why do I even try, I wonder?))

GM:
::on the third knock the door swings open slightly from the force of An's knuckles, not latched::

An:
::opens the door lightly, keeping morning back just in case something is wrong:: ...hello.

GM:
::The light from the hall falls into the small dark room, illuminating Beth on her rough mat in the corner, her back to you::

GM:
::Her wings are spread, relaxed, across the rest of the room::

An:
::steps softly into the room and moves toward her::

Morning:
I smell blood.

GM:
::as An's foot hits a sticky spot on the floor, he realizes that he does too::

An:
::kneels next to beth and places a hand on her shoulder::

GM:
::An's hand comes to rest on the rough fabric of Beth's clothing, feeling the near-starved thinness of her flesh...

GM:
and feeling the rigor mortis that has set in::

An:
::looks to see in the dull light, how she died::

GM:
::A small, broken kitchen knife scavenged from somewhere lies in the corner of the room near her head, away from the blood, on top of a piece of paper... the blood trail leads up to her wrists which have settled on the floor::

An:
::slumps down on the groud sitting with his back up against the wall reaches for the paper, picking it up and reading it aloud, tears welling in his eyes, voice breaking::

GM:
"I have spent months living in sewers, eating trash, wearing rags. I have known the fear of my abductors, and their agents, and a million others that would seek to kill me or put me back in their freakshow. I have feared every day the rattle in my own lungs, the pain in my muscles, the sag in my step. Though I was made to look like an angel, my world was a hell. And then I found love. For Aleph I held out hope that we might make something worthwhile... but he died. The strongest among us and he died. I have no more hope, I have no more love, I have no more joy. All died with Aleph. And then, just when I thought I could not go on... I discovered that someone had mutilated his body before it was even cold. Before I could say goodbye... Know that I go to follow Aleph, finally free of this purgatory, and know that whoever did this I am not sure that I have the strength to forgive you... Beth."

GM:
~~~ OOC ~~~

Tien:
Bro Tien rolled 2 20-sided dice: 20 7

GM:
I think that's a good stopping point, since I want to sleep soon

GM:
:-)

Tien:
That sucked

An:
Take that stupid six year old.

An:
!

GM:
Take that Lan!

Tien:
At least I did not do it...

Tien:
The 7 will heal 2 wound levels