Prelude Final: To Answer the Call [Indiana Jones and the Book of Three Circles]

"Really? They are the ones behind it? mmm, any idea which of them? or was it a collaboration of some or all of them?" Kiss' face turns when she hear the words. Her voice is serene, and her face betrays little emotion, as she plucks up a small fruitf rom the platter and begins to munch on it in a delicate manner.


Now, that's news that are not too shocking, in retrospect, but might prove useful. Defies the Darkness does seem to be well informed on Deathlords, maybe I should talk to her more about it, it might prove a key to the Walker's secrets.


After finishing the fruit, she purposefully cleans her hands and mouth, before resuming talking, allowing Defied the Darkness enough time to answer her previous questions. "How do we know that this Phoenix Cauldron might be found in Rathess? or for that matter, that there is more than one still out there."
 
"In Three Leaves Falling's journal," Cho explained, "he records the honor of attending his mistress Pleasant Clouds during the crafting of the seventh Pheonix Cauldron at the Tower of Vines in Rathless. i came across three less intact references suggesting that Phoenix Cauldrons were made at the Tower of Vines."
 
"And I, of course, was Pleasant Clouds," Defies added quietly. "I served a Deathlord directly in ways that I'd rather not discuss. The Lover... was one involved in it. I know that the Dowager concocted it. More than that, I'm not sure, though Cho might know."
 
For a second, Kiss nearly doubled over. At the mention of Three Leaves Falling, she feels a mixture of dread and joy feeling her body. Strangely enough, it is only at this point that she begins to realize that she and Defiess the Darkness may be connected. She has heard of the Solar Bond, her former mentor has told her about it, and of the beauty and terror that can develop from this bond.


She now knew to be wary, but it didn't help her from being curious about it as well.


Luckily, none of this was evident to those looking at her.
 
The handsome man with the scar over one eye steepled his fingers as he considered. After a while he offered, "Perhaps we should take passage on Trade Factol Cotton's ships tomorrow?"
 
"Mmm, sounds good to me. What say you Defies the Darkness? Shall we set out on our way tomorrow?" Kiss was a bit nervous, but she couldn't put her finger on the reason for it, with a small shrug, she dismissed it as one more curiosity since she drew her Second Breath.
 
Aria steps back up to the table, "Can we seriously think that we are prepared to take in a night, what the Dragon Host has failed to conquer for a century or more? Defies the Darkness, I understand the need for urgency, but Rathess has stood against prepared Dragonblooded incursion and is still the unoccupied husk it is today. The plunder of Rathess is second, only to the caution that must be taken with her. I support your final decision in this of course, but I must council preparation, even if hasty, allow for two days, three at the most for procuring, preparations, and planning. Much more can I offer given this kind of time. Raising her hands she beckons to the far corners of the room, "Come and show yourself, there shall be no secrets now that I am sure there is no ambush planned. As she finishes her statement, two spiders about the size of large dogs materialize out of the air crawling along the wall. The two spiders poise behind Aria and lift a single leg to touch her shoulders.


Bria, standing very near, shudders at the nearness of the spiders, but says no more. They are Aria's servants, as she, it is not her place to correct her. Quickly shifting her cloak a bit tighter around her she resumes the subtle surveillance of the room. Noting every shift, and every nuance of action.
 
Haroun chuckeld softly. "I doubt, friend Aria, that Trade Factol Cotton's ships will be going anywhere near Rathless. The few simple inquiries I made sugested that the last civilized trading post was the Barony of Mongoose Mangroves, a large delta plantation and trading post a few days upriver. If we need more time before heading there, well, I have no problem traveling overland to Mongoose Mangravoes, or hiring boats. My greetings to your retainers, by the way."
 
"Boats are the quickest and safest, but does anyone here know the handling of them? I don't," Defies pointed out. "Besides, surely agents of the Realm keep track of those who hire boats to Rathess. I can wait two days of preparation before we go to Mongoose Mongroves."
 
"Sailing may not be my forte, but I have liberated and hired a number of soldiers from a variety of different backgrounds. Many from my wife's father's holdings were fishermen whom I have trained to be Tiger Warriors. Their previously simple livelihoods will likely give us the ability to make and sail where we need to." Steel Avalanche said.
 
Cho looked at Defies the Darkness quizicly. "Mistress, if we're trying to not be on record renting boats to Mongoose Mangroves, then why are we waiting 'til a day after someone else is going to the last bastion of civilization with boats big eough to acomadate or even hire us?"
 
The scarred lunar spoke up again. "From what i heard, it's both a large plantation and sucessful trading post. If we're antsy about realm spies, there might be a few fewer there." he shrugged, but looked a bit dubious about the idea of the wyld hunt having spies in this lumber town. Then he remembered the sucessful slave merchant and pondered if this place was really so unimportant.


Cho spoke up again. "We don't know much about Rathless's location, save for somewhere in these jungles. I have acquried the basic tools to track geomantic lines in hopes that we can acquire mases to stage out of, or to contact the inhabitants of to ask for directions. We're in for a bit of haring about in the jungles, looking for clues or someone who can give directions, unless something triggers Defies the Darkness's memories of her former exaltiaitons.'
 
"I wouldn't mind traipsing in the jungles. And no worries about talking to the natives. I'm sure they'll be more than willing to cooperate with us if we come in wiht the right attitude. It's all about how you approach people." Says Kiss. Anointed Starfall wasn't too keen on her, but he did mention an elder Lunar living around these jungles, maybe we can chat with her. I'll have to see about talking to Defies the Darkness on this later.
 
This was not what she remembered. Such a thought circled in her mind while she walked across the populated streets of this landscape. Once there had been more trees and less people, which is what she had hoped for when she got this invitation. This had been a frequent of her Master back when she could call him such a thing. A secluded hunting lodge for him and his retinue, a place he called his secret when the hunt for exotic beasts interested him. That was long before though when she could still be called a girl and knew not the sins of the Dragon Blood. Some part of her though had hoped for those familiar trees and the scent of the jungle once more. Nostalgia served no purpose now.


The throng of people did more to annoy her though than truly disappoint. She had developed a keen sense of smell over the years in the hunt. Sometimes her Master had joked that perhaps she had come from one of his bitches and instead of a serving girl. An odd compliment most would say with many others wondering how she could not take offense, but they knew him not. For him the presence of hounds was of greater comfort than that of people. She knew this because she had spent the entirety of three decades learning the man’s desires, whim and oddities. For her he would always be Master, even after she cut him down. A shake of the head was given to free her of the thoughts while she darted toward the inn’s doorway.


Hands sheathed in red gauntlets of dark green and earthly brown pressed against the doorway to gain admission. Boots that rose upward to the thigh stepped forward to the room beyond. Each boot was a mixture of leather and cloth, twisted around each other to provide silence against the ear but also protection against the underbrush. Sure footing guided her forward but the wooden slates of the floor did not give away her movements. Across her abdomen the same mixture of leather and cloth was used to form a leotard of sorts. Extending down to cover her body in the flexibility of cloth while rising upward to give her the protection of hardened leather, the leotard was once her signature. Red crusted from with earth and dried with blood was the tone given. That color and look so unique that the barkeep merely nodded to the familiar figure and pointed her in the direction of the meeting.


She could not even look him in the eye though, knowing that he would see her sin there. Instead the hood shadowed her visage and left only the sight of her pale, pink lips for the world to see. A pair of red tendrils snaked down past the hood’s protection. That was the only hint of her identity that a stranger would gather, but already those known to her whispered of her lonely return. They would no doubt wonder where her Master lingered as she never traveled without him, at least until that bloody day. Another shake of the head and her hand moved to open the next doorway, to part the passage to her fate.


Slowly she let the door creep open so that her frame might slip into view. A half-cloak of green and brown covered the left side of her body. So it was hard to discern her nature at first before the rest entered, bearing the familiar curve of a woman. Though she had never been accused of being unsightly, her body was certainly designed more to the hunt and fight than for beauty pageants. Full and thick, she was not intimidating but most would know better than to lay unwary hands on her. The right side of her body lay bare from the cloak, aided by a shoulder guard which kept the cloak free of her right hand. Peeking from over her shoulder was the reason for this device as a quiver of arrows and an unstrung bow made themselves prominent. A large knife also hung against her right thigh and many would notice that the gauntlet at her left extended completely to her elbow.


That same right hand came upward to cast back the shadow of her hood. Red hair danced upward in the light, coming back to settle in a short display of her birth colors. Those tendrils snaked more fully now at her cheeks and across her brow. Eyes that still held their dark visage peered outward to the assembled group. At one time she would have been hunting them alongside her Master and his hounds. Now she stood awaiting their acceptance and perhaps even their kindness to forgive what she once had to do.


“Excuse the tardiness please and accept Wolfsbane among your number.â€
 
Aria greets the newcomer with a nod, and returning her attention to the group before her, she bids farewell. "I shall return in two days then with ten mortals and their needed supplies to accompany us, there shall be of course a dozen or more incorporeal attache's as well, for those of you wondering. Five of the mortals and I shall have mounts that require special boarding if we are to take ship, if not please give me the word and I shall prepare a spell that will allow us to travel great distances cross land with little hindrance." Aria's attention is drawn to the shadows and the beauty that sits there. Why had she not spoken the entire time she has been here? The question plagues the Quicksilver Falcon's mind as she makes ready to leave the meeting. And where do I know her from?


Bria catches the looks passed to the young woman across the table from Aria and doesn't like them one bit. Helping Aria gather her supplies, Bria wraps her arm around the waist of the Eclipse in a not-so-subtle hint.
 
When Defies the Darkness did not move to greet the newcomer, Haroun Thuban in his white silk robes with his serpent-falcon coiled around his neck and his throat pleasantly dry from the beauty of the redhead with the submissive body language but the huntresses body and accouterments, rose to greet her.


"Well met and well come, Wolfsbane," he hailed her, pulling out a chair and pouring wine, then setting a meal at a place for her. "May you find water and shade this day. We quest for Rathless, for knowlege in general and an artifact of healing in particular, in three sunrises. I hope to dance the blades in your company."


It was only as he reached out in a beconing gesture that he realized to his puzzled chagrin that, while his words had been manly enough by the standards of his culture, the act of serving a plate for a guest was suitable to the lady of the house.
 
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