February 14th: Announcements and Political Maneuverings

"I haven't heard anything noteworthy about what's going on in those towns." Snarg stuffs the last of his breakfast in his mouth, swallows, and continues on. "Just some sailors rumors of monsters, ghosts, and the like. Not saying that isn't happening, but you know how those things go."

With Rainbow on his neck, Zeiss goes with Tabran to the meeting point, not sure why he wanted him to come. But he thought that hearing the announcement from Baigen himself would be better than some town crier.

Tabran:
The paper is bursting with reports of the previous night's events, as well as several statements about the Royal District being opened up again finally. Nothing else of note.

Anyone Returning To The Inn To Talk With Baigen:
You return to find Baigen already in your in, fidgeting slightly. At the sight of Zeiss he gives a short laugh. "Well you asked me to find information on Zeiss of Wintersong, but I see it was unnecessary. Just as well, all I found out was politics." He scratches his fur. "I do have some news, though not as much as I was hoping."

Everyone Else:
At 10 AM on the dot a holographic image of the Lady of Holtburg erupts from every single lamp-post and street-light simultaneously. The image bows. "Good evening, citizens of Holtburg. I apologize for utilizing the emergency broadcast system but I felt it the best way to inform you, the heart and fiber of our city and nation, without worry of speculation, rumor, or misunderstandings."

"Some news is better than none. What have you heard Baigen?" Hanuel crosses their arms, fidgeting anxiously.

With Baigen

"Sir."

Since he is in the presence of Baigen, Second Attendant of the House of the Lady Aerfalle, Zeiss decided to keep standing, evaluating the character of this individual.

Spoiler:

Baigen's Group:
Baigen leans against a nearby wall. "Well, apparently political forces were already mobilizing against the Order. I don't know if you caught it, but they accused an Olthoi of... well," he gives a laugh, "of anything. That was a huge mistake, everyone knows an Olthoi is simply incapable of such an act, let alone one so evil as inciting a war. So the Queen had her Special Forces group watching him," he points at Zeiss, "very closely to see who, and why, anyone would falsely accuse the group they did. They even had a Destroyer pulled off normal duty for the operation. I'm sure the rest you know by now."

"Have the Olthoi made any actions yet?"

"Watch me...?"

Hanuel ask a question. But Zeiss had to ask another one. On a respectful tone, he said :

"Sir, would you know if they started to watch me before I got arrested?"

"It does seems that someone has been watching us, or me at least. I haven't been able to put my finger on them, but the feeling that I've been watched has stayed with me the whole time I've been here."

I have to ask though: is it possible an Olthoi would go rogue or be forcefully made to commit acts like that? I may have said 'no' weeks ago, but since then, I've made my peace with seeing 'impossible' things and leaning on assumptions of the norm." Snarg leans in closer to the tall Lycan and lowers his voice. "I say this because I have seen that. It wasn't by choice mind you, but it happened quickly and quite easily too. Simply by touching," he pokes at the air towards Baigen, "a crystal, something asserted absolute control over them and made me believe they could be capable of anything ... even beyond a set nature."

Baigen Group:
Baigen shakes his head no. "No Olthoi since before recorded history has ever gone violent of their own accord. Just because your friend was mind controlled doesn't mean she snapped." He turns to Zeiss. "And no, the Special Forces group was unaware of your location until they were tipped off by an anonymous source." Finally he turns to Hanuel. "The Olthoi are publicly denouncing the Order. All Olthoi across the continent who were working for the Order have turned in resignation in protest, and that's not a small number. There... is going to be considerable backlash from this. And it's made me wonder." He strokes his chin. "I, and those with me, don't believe the Order sold you out. Certainly they were made to, but the more one thinks about it, the less it makes sense. They do not make political maneuvers lightly, and yet they were committing political suicide by doing so. So the question is, did someone impose this upon them, or simply deceive the rest of us?"

"There are more forces at work here than I care to think of. Baigen I... this might not be the best time to bring it up, but I've come across something that you, and possibly everyone that we've allied with will need to know about. It's not safe to talk about here, but suffice it to say, I think it's somehow involved with all this chaos."

After relaxing a while after finishing his drink, Rory heads downstairs, intending to leave when he hears a familiar voice echoing from Hanuel's room. He enters and sees the whole group gathered with Baigen. He takes a spot near the wall and leans, requesting to be informed, albeit with a grim undertone.

Snarg frowns. "But why rule it out just like that? History says otherwise. Look at Dryreach; the Tumeroks! They were assumed to be an unintelligent race and then look what happened. All I'm saying is it shouldn't be dismissed just like that. It seems very ... prejudice to do that.

Look at this Order situation in the same way: we put our trust in someone you normally wouldn't think twice about and then this happens. It's certainly not the entire Order going bad, but there's obviously something out of the norm going on, as you said so yourself. There's probably some type of deception going on, but I don't even know who would have power to impose something this big on the Order or what type of deception you'd need to pull something this large. We still don't even know why, aside from getting people to distrust the Order."

"Rory, you and Kolson know what I'm referring to, and I think you'd agree that talking about it here may not be the best option."

Rory blinks, and his face becomes mildly more grim. He nods.

Zeiss let the others talk for some time, but he had a question he wanted to ask. So with respect, he turned toward Baigen and asked respectfully :

"Excuse me sir. But do you know about the ones from the Mirrored Towers? Those who want to bring the flames of chaos back into our world?"

Baigen's Group:
Baigen frowns at Zeiss. "Mirrored Towers? Flames of chaos? I've never heard of such terms in context, no. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, because they are probably bad people. If you, one of the older beings of this continent, don't know them, I assume that's bad news."

Hanuel reaches into their pack, pulling out the Mirror Key, still wrapped in cloth. "This is what I was talking about. I once thought it was simply a magical tool of some power and mystery, but recently I've discovered it has much more sinister purpose. Whoever is on the other side of it has been watching us. Apparently, it tempts people to use it, and then experiments on them. When I refused to use it to 'rescue' Zeiss, and called it out on not being able to take us on it's own whim, it seemed to become quite angry, and threatened that it would 'see us soon'. Once our names are cleared, I plan to take it out of the city, before it can take anyone, but I felt you should know."

Hanuel and Dara(Toilarin) wrote:Hanuel reaches into their pack, pulling out the Mirror Key, still wrapped in cloth. "This is what I was talking about. I once thought it was simply a magical tool of some power and mystery, but recently I've discovered it has much more sinister purpose. Whoever is on the other side of it has been watching us. Apparently, it tempts people to use it, and then experiments on them. When I refused to use it to 'rescue' Zeiss, and called it out on not being able to take us on it's own whim, it seemed to become quite angry, and threatened that it would 'see us soon'. Once our names are cleared, I plan to take it out of the city, before it can take anyone, but I felt you should know."

"The threats might have been absent if you were more careful with your words," Rory asserted. "We can't just assume that whoever's on the other side is going to stay there while their tool lies in hands that won't use it."

"That's why I intend to leave! I'll not risk endangering anyone, not you, not the residents of Holtburg, not anyone."

Zeiss reacts to Hanuel's comment about the Mirror Key by looking more sharply at him. He waits for Baigen to responds before saying anything.

Baigen's Group:
Baigen shakes his head. "Might be something new, or perhaps just someone pulling at strings. That key is horrifying though, it radiates non-Elemental energies. I would recommend not leaving it where someone might find it."

"I haven't let it leave my person since I got it. I don't plan to unless I can safely destroy it, or otherwise interfere with it."