Summary:Meanwhile, the rest of the Solars corral Karal Linwei.
XP:I1, L1, V1, Z1
Tags:< A Blackened Rose | Sol Invictus Logs | A Good Accord >
Lucent taps his foot, waiting for his mark.
At the far doors of the Deliberation chamber, between the elegantly mosaiced walls, one pair of the giant double-doors swings open, and Karal Linwei strides in -- her hair flame-tipped and wild, but her body clad tightly in her ceremonial jade armor, the Karal mon emblazoned in white and black upon it, and her swords strapped (and un-peacebonded) tightly to her hips.
She walks down the broad stairs that flow downwards between the sumptuous Deliberative seats, towards the center of the room. She adopts an unhappily inquisitory look as she speaks: "The other Deliberators do not appear to be here."
zahara "Would you like some tea while we wait?" She smiles pleasantly.
Lucent "Chosen of Journeys they are not, apparently." He said with an eloquent shrug. "It is good to see you again, Linwei."
Linwei seems oddly unhappy, given her usual demeanor. "The meeting is supposed to begin momentarily. Why has no one else arrived?"
zahara gestures to a small table off to the side where a steaming pot of tea and some delicate floral-motif china await. She walks over, and begins to pour a cup for each current attendee. "A most excellent question, one which we shall posit to them when they arrive."
Spring At the very moment that Zahara fills the last teacup to the brim....
Spring ::Mark.::
Lucent The Orbs around Lucent spring to life in an offensive formation. ::Sighs And we were about to have tea.::
zahara raises the teacup to Karal Linwei in salute. "The first cup is yours."
KaralLinwei reacts to the proffered cup of tea like a wild animal. In a single gesture, she draws out both of her short daiklaves and leaps, snarling and spitting, at Zahara as her anima flares into a full-on bonfire, the image of a phantasmal city under a night sky burning with a vengeance behind her.
zahara , one pinky finger raised delicately from the teacup, flings the scalding liquid at Linwei's eyes as she descends, her other hand reaches behind herself to pluck a shining silver teaspoon and a glistening spray of sugar from the tablecloth. With this, she saves her life.
KaralLinwei The tea's very hotness is its own undoing: for here, in this moment, Linwei embodies the flame, and the beverage rolls off of her face without harm, even as Zahara carefully deflects her strikes using her tiny spoon.
zahara calls her weapons from beneath the tablecloth, which dart forward to harry her, stabbing at knees and toes while the bell tolls out its resonant music. "If not tea, then perhaps a dance?"
KaralLinwei moves into well-practiced kata positions, splitting the sound of Zahara's bell around her with one hand as she deflects the flying swords with another -- but there's something a little off about her crazed expression, and one of Zahara's weapons sneaks just past her defenses.
Varanim Varanim, coming in the door, pauses at the sight of Karal Linwei leaping at Zahara. "Oh, good, violence. Very original, and it's not like there's always more where that comes from or anything." Shaking her head, she assembles her collected thoughts on the merits of that approach--it takes perhaps two seconds, since her thoughts are very well-organized--and snaps her fingers.
Varanim All the weary disgust she feels at this contribution of Linwei's life floods out to loom in the air behind her... then she waves her hand irritably, and the mirror of the Void comes crashing down on the Elementalist.
KaralLinwei There's a crash and the sound of a thousand mirrors shattering at once -- and when it's over, Linwei has a visible nosebleed, but her expression is even more crazed than beforem and her motions no slower.
Lucent performs a silent kata, touching the orb of Jupiter... and making it explode! The chambers darken and Lucent's voice echoes like that of his God shadowed by night on its halls, "Violence is the way of Creation, after all. It is what we were created to do." Shards of green slithered on the darkness, striking Linwei like the fist of god, obscuring her sight with green! "But you can always close your eyes, I suppose."
Lucent He perceives his strike glazing off on her, however, even when the lulling effect of Jupiter takes hold, covering her eyes in malachite. "As expected from a veteran-turned-Elementalist, Karal Linwei." He clenches his hands, "We'll need to go all-out!"
KaralLinwei wheels, her eyes sightless and unfocused. A voice, guttural and insane, crawls out from somewhere deep in her throat. "You are all going to die!" she says, and with a single spinning whirl emits a massive gout of flame that expands out to fill the room in every direction.
Lucent "No, I am not going to let it." Lucent whispers, appearing before Varanim, and before Zahara, and the fire does not scorch the deliberative rooms further than him and them. ::Seems like you will have to be working overtime fixing melted seats, Empress...::
KaralLinwei Huge swathes of the room are torched, upholstery bursting into flames, wood burning to ash and depositing its Magical Material inlay unceremoniously onto the floor...
Lucent ::... poor wood... we need a woody elementalist. Do we have a woody elementalist?::
zahara "My mahogany! You bitch!" Zahara abandons the pretense of politeness, the teacup goes down, the daiklave comes up. Through the heat of flames safely diverted by Lucent's grace, she bursts, vengeance in her eyes. At the last moment, her eyes narrow and her daiklave sings out at Linwei's face, stopping just short of her and twisting to sever the strands of Essence that surround her. Behind her, the Bell and swords are not so kind.
KaralLinwei 's fiery shield effortlessly bats away Zahara's animate weapon strikes, but, just then.... the Eclipse slips her daiklave into its Essence patterns, and with a single elegant gesture, tears that shield into scraps.
zahara slips back out of immediate reach with a scowl. ::Spring seems to have subdued Ejava.::
Varanim Still looking sublimely bored, Varanim steps forward, moving through flying cinders and splinters with precise efficiency, as if she was expecting Zahara's strike and can now complete the rest of some pattern laid out in exact detail in her mind. At the last step, she rolls her shoulders, shrugs off the staff that had been slung across them, and holds it with one hand while the far tip...
Varanim ...whistles in a perfect arc at Karal Linwei's head.
KaralLinwei ~~~~~
KaralLinwei Meanwhile, out in the hallway....
Imrama With the mighty mass of Deliberators teaming before the great doors of the chamber, Imrama has stood himself before the unruly crowd. "My worthy friends, I appologize, but there will be a slight delay." Through the doors behind thim, faint shouting and the sounds of battle may be heard. A bit of smoke begins to creep out, as Imrama flashes a winning smile.
KaralLinwei ~~~~~
KaralLinwei CLONK. Varanim forcefully upsides a suddenly defenseless Linwei's head, and the Elementalist goes flying backwards from the force of it, crashing backwards through a singed table and landing, still conscious but not by any tremendously huge margin, knocked down in the rubble.
Lucent "You are a worthy fighter, Linwei." He snaps his fingers, and the orbs of the Maidens appear as women about him. He touches Venus' hair and smiles, "But life..."
Lucent ... is a journey?
Lucent ... is pleasure?
Lucent ... is a battle?
Lucent ... is full of secrets?
Lucent .... always ends?
Lucent "... is full of trouble." And he snaps his fingers again and they rush to her - struck by Jupiter's ruler like she was a kid at the Lookshy's academy, the butt of Mars' spear, the flat of Saturn's sword, trampled by Mercury's hooves... and kissed by Venus, the most dangerous of them all.
Lucent ::Zahara, remind me to never let Varanim hit me.::
zahara steps forward to place the specially-tailored collar around Linwei's neck. ::Yes sir.::
Lucent looks at Varanim as the orbs return, "When DID you learn to hit like that?"
zahara ::All clear, Imrama.::
Varanim "Hmm? Oh, after I left home I realized I'd be annoyed by bandits and the like, so I found the crankiest hermit I could and annoyed her until she taught me martial arts so I'd go away."
KaralLinwei At that moment, the doors push open, and an irritated-looking group of Deliberators push open another one of the doors, and then stop, staring slack-jawed at the total ruin inflicted on the Deliberative chamber.
zahara straightens and pushes her hair back from her face, surveying the oncoming crowd calmly. "Good evening."
Lucent "Oh. So you alw..." He stopped, then, and flashed the men a great smile! "Sorry for the delay!"