| Logs |
2011 January 26
| Neverneverwhere |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
 |
| Realms: Taps Logs |
Voice of Rage and Ruin
The encampment is kept busy putting together fortifications and readying themselves for Mami Chat's arrival. Small groups go out to forage for food, firewood, and building materials. Roy's order that they not denude any one patch of things they gather is scrupulously followed, although some of the men grumble about it. Chanticleer is inwardly glad they're not going to strip the swamp bare. He has a feeling the swamp won't like that. Still, there were sidhe ways of laying bulwarks and defenses that did not harm the local environment and raise the ire of the wild fey. Unfortunately, most of them require circles of sidhe to do the raising of the mounds, and also a lot of glamour and magic. Not terribly useful now.
Mary pitches in even harder than many of her male counterparts, keeping a stoic and almost grumpy demeanor as she goes about the work. She gives Sulochana a nod whenever the other woman catches her eye, but doesn't seem overly eager to make chit-chat. She touches the steel dagger blade without a second thought and volunteers to be one of the people building fortifications. Sulochana feels a little sorry for Mary -- she's guessing the woman is wondering how she could have missed the change in George, and is worried others will think she was part of it.
Roy too tries to help with the digging of the ditch, but is herded back inside the line of salt by Pierce and Sulochana. The swamps have always been a place to beware, and now many of the men are talking about never coming back into a swamp again if they can help it. Sulochana grins in quiet amusement at that grumbling. When she's not cheering the men up she's doing her best to help, pitching in where a hand is needed. She's also surreptitiously checking the chakras of as many of the guards as she can, trying to figure out who the remaining ringer is. So far all she knows for sure is there are an awful lot of very keyed up people here. She sighs amusedly, and keeps trying.
As the defenses are being erected, Chanti comes up to Sulochana, quietly and to the side. "Lady," he murmurs, "I've an idea but I'm not quite sure it will work without some legerdemain. There's a trick that can be done to draw out a person who is lying -- admittedly, it's an old trick. I think some human authors before the Great Dying Off came up with it. Basically, you explain to all and sundry that you have a magick that will determine if someone is telling the truth...." He explains the basis of it: How each person goes into a dark place, speaks clearly the truth, and does something which is supposed to seal the vow. But that thing leaves some sort of noticeable mark, and when the person emerges they're either innocent with the mark, without the mark and a liar, or... very, very sure that they would not be caught.
'Chana pauses, considering carefully... then she gets a mischievous grin, "Ooh, I like it! Let's go find Roy and Pierce and see if they do too!" She goes with Chanti and Alg to find the two men in authority. She quickly and quietly explains the idea to them, then grins -- are they willing to give it a try?
Pierce looks thoughtful and intrigued. Roy grins like a madman, "Oh, that's jest a wunnerful idea."
Sulochana beams proudly at Chanti, "It was his idea! So... what do we have that looks special, but that we don't mind getting... flour, say, all over?"
Chanticleer considers. "Flour works. Chalk. I'd be reluctant to use salt; we need that. Pollen. Nothing aromatic, though. And nothing that someone might be allergic to. That might give it away, unless we suggest it's a part of the magic fetch."
Pierce and Roy talk back and forth about it and Pierce finally says, "We don't have much flour. But we've got a lot of charcoal and ash from the fires. If they touch it with their hands, that could work. I wouldn't want to risk their eyes with it."
Sulochana nods, looking around Roy's tent for something they can swipe... she cheerfully pulls one of the sheets, "How's this? Nice and white, so it'll stand out a little in the dark, and the pale ash won't show. If we can get it surreptitiously charcoal-y, then it'll work. Got a very dark tent we can use?"
Sulochana gets Alg and Chanti working on getting the sheet ashy without being seen. In the interim she does her best to be distracting, cheerfully singing again for the hard-working guards. When she's done she calls to Roy -- so everyone can hear -- asking him if he'd like her to do something to detect any remaining 'fake' guards? She has a magical truth-detecting spell that never fails, which her grandmother taught her years ago. It takes some preparation, though... would he like her to try? With Roy's apparently intrigued permission, the young woman takes her time setting things up; she wants to give anyone with a guilty conscience plenty of time to stew!
This sort of experiment tends to whisper to people's guilty consciences and the guards' nerves becomes slowly more keyed up as word of the truth-detection "spell" gets 'round the camp. Finally Sura's ready, with the ashen sheet hanging in the tiny, dark tent. At one end she has Chanti, Pierce, and Roy waiting; at the other she has Alg for back-up, and the guards lining up in whatever order they'd like. She explains to them all what the process is: they will one by one step into the tent and take hold of the magically imbued cloth hanging there. As they do so they should loudly state their innocence regarding working for Mami Chat -- then release the cloth and step out the other side of the tent.
Sulochana has made sure the folks waiting to process through the tent are kept well separated, visually as well as physically, from those who have already gone through, of course... and there are towels and water waiting on the far side for quick clean-up. The tiny woman beams as she proudly adds, "Since it's magical, it will cry out if someone is lying while touching it! It only works for a short period of time, though -- maybe an hour or two tops -- so let's get you all moving right away, all right?" With no further ado, she calls out to the people waiting on the other side that the first guard is coming through! -then waves them on with a smile.
The first guard to go through is Mary. Her face is grim as she walks into the tent and her voice rings out clearly for everyone to hear as she proclaims her innocence. There's a rustling as she comes out the other side to find the king and the others waiting. Chanticleer tenses a little as the first guard goes through. Since there may be more than one guilty party, co-conspirators, he braces himself to silence whomever might come through with clean hands, so that they might not reveal the ploy.
Mary's chin is up as she says, "I should have noticed something wrong..." Then she looks down at her hands and starts to say something else -- only to have Pierce step close and shush her, offering her a wet cloth and a clean towel with which to clean up. Sulochana is both relieved and unsurprised Mary chooses to goes first. She smiles with quiet happiness as there's no outcry, and sends through the next guard.
A good dozen or so of the guards go through the tent and come out the other side with ashy, sooty hands. Most of them are quietly delighted with the ploy. One or two are grumpy about not being trusted. One is nearly fainting with relief. Finally, a guard goes through whose hands are clean when he emerges. The man is of medium height and stocky build with mocha skin and curly hair cropped close to his head. Chanticleer narrows his eyes and moves immediately.
The guy's name is Jerome or Gerard -- the sidhe can't really remember. Gerard is a bit of a plodder: always got his work done but not much more, and resented even doing that. Somehow, that he may have betrayed Roy is no surprise to Chanticleer. The sidhe closes his hand over Ger's mouth and gets him off balance and out of the way as soon as possible, making sure the guard doesn't have time to think of how he was made. Chanti applies a gag as quickly as he can, tying the soon-to-be-ex-guard's hands behind his back as well. Sulochana doesn't hear any commotion, although Alg snorts as he peers back around the tent. The goblin glances back at Sura, nodding for her to send the next one through. She does so, still smiling as she cheerfully notes to the remaining guards that this is going very well -- maybe George was the only traitor!
The rest of the guards get through with ashen hands and, in a few cases, dirty faces to show for their honesty and trustworthiness. One even faints inside the tent and has to be retrieved by two that have already passed the "magical" test. Chanticleer lets out a breath; he's surprised Ger didn't even give a hint that something had happened, but he's glad that went so smoothly. Good; only one person a) betrayed them to Mami Chat and b) was superstitious enough to fall for this ploy. He is worried some other guard may have had some sort of thought that they were immune, but it's too late for that.
Sulochana laughs once they're all through, giving Roy an impulsive hug -- she's elated to discover there's only one other traitor! She's not surprised the trick worked, either -- being deep in the dank and creepy swamp as night falls, and in fear of their lives, will make believers of just about everyone! After hugging Roy she turns to the assembled guards and smiles ruefully, "I do apologize for effectively running a trick on you all. I hope you can forgive me." The reactions are relatively relaxed and the men actually seem much cheered after the little con.
Sulochana is relieved to see the guards do not seem upset with her, and she cheerfully thanks them for playing along. After that, though, she asks Roy: what's going to happen to the prisoner? The guilty man had been easily subdued, not having expected the little trap behind the tent. Once he realizes no one is sympathizing with him, though, he begins to struggle.
Before Roy can answer, there's an outcry from the perimeter of the camp. Sulochana glances around hopefully -- is it Mami Chat finally? The outcry slowly spreads around the camp. Outside the half-finished fortifications the swamp has come alive with unnerving sounds. Hissings, rattlings, and low, pained moans are whispering through the thick foliage. Chanticleer half-reaches for his sword at the sounds. They're disturbing and unsettling, and it sounds like Mami Chat is trying to scare them. It's working.
Sulochana's eyes narrow... then she deliberately laughs, clear and light-hearted and reassuring. "We must be scaring Mami Chat quite a bit -- if all she has to send against us is noises!" She steps forward towards the circle of salt, calling, "Mami Chat, come out! Show yourself -- or at least show a simulacra, so we can talk. What do you want?"
The sun is just starting to set when the noises start; the shadows in the swamp are thickening and growing strange amongst the trees and other foliage. From the depths of one of the shadows cast by an ancient sycamore steps a woman so shrunken and bent that she seems somehow unreal. Sulochana beams in anticipation and bows politely, "Mami Chat, I presume? Or at least her representative?" Chanticleer holds himself very still, even though his gut instinct is to rush off clucking -- er, gibbering in panic. This shadow feels wrong on many levels. He holds his ground, trying to be support for Sulochana.
The old woman has skin the color and texture of old, neglected mahogany, craggy and worn. Her head is wrapped in a cloth turban of bright colors and the shapeless dress she wears is a dusty black. One gnarled hand is wrapped around an equally gnarled staff as she speaks in a creaking voice, "Yes. I am the one they call Mami Chat. This is my swamp. Leave now."
Sulochana says politely, "Actually, I believe these people are here in your swamp because you threatened them in the city. That becomes the question: why did you attack King Roy? He wouldn't be here if you had not, after all." She quietly scans the figure's chakras, curious as to whether it's an illusion or not.
Mami Chat hobbles slowly forward. She looks helpless and frail, which makes the fact that she's walking with such boldness through the howls and whisperers of the growing dusk that much more eerie. "The man that calls himself king gained his throne through innocent blood!" She spits.
The younger woman looks puzzled, "I apologize, honorable mambo, but from what I was told King Roy did his best to attack only the guilty. When you say 'innocent blood,' I do not know to whom you refer; a name, please?" She's starting to need to breath slowly and deeply; this woman is powerful! Sulochana doesn't know how Mami Chat is doing it, but the growing darkness is not an illusion. The old woman is actually increasing the shadows! Behind the ancient bokor things are emerging from the shadows: willow-men and the half-ogre are joined by slithering pythons and heavy-bodied gators. Here and there is a human shape that moves with the shuffling wrongness of a zombi.
Alg is intensely disturbed as well, although he too is sticking close to Sulochana. His hackles are up, and when he bares his teeth there are more fangs showing. Sulochana adds in a quiet aside to Roy or Pierce -- whom she hopes are standing near her; she doesn't dare turn to look at this point, "What was the name of Renoir Laurent's cousin, please?"
Roy is standing behind Sulochana; he puts his hand on her shoulder, voice quiet, "Emily. Her name was Emily." He raises his voice and says to Mami Chat, "I am merciful when I can be, grandmother."
Chanticleer blinks a little. So this... this explains a lot. He suspects more is going to be explained about what happened a half-year ago -- the poisoning attempt -- than he can imagine. Sulochana rests one hand over Roy's on her shoulder, and the other on Alg, where he leans against her. She can see the tall, slender sidhe out of the corner of her eye as well, almost glimmering in the growing darkness. That helps her feel better: she's surrounded by friends and dear family members. She straightens proudly, waiting for the bokor to answer. She hopes Pierce is making sure the guards are holding their posts, all around the encampment -- this would make a dandy distraction, unfortunately.
Mami Chat says, "There are more names than I can say. More dead than I can mourn. Emily. Lamar. Zeb. Aaron. Carson -- and those are only a few. Boys and girls from these swamps drawn out to fight in a battle that they had no stake in, by a man who forgot them as soon as they were dead!" As she speaks, her cracked old voice sharp in the unnatural dusk, the willow-men push forward. Their fingers and toes push into the earth, wriggling beneath the circle of salt laid down by the guards.
Sulochana glances at the willow men, then says quietly, "Mami Chat, if you wish to make this a battle then even more will die... or do you not care about the lives of the willow-men?" To Roy she murmurs, "Who are these names, please? Do you know?" To Chanticleer she whispers, "Tell Pierce to ready the fiery crossbows, please?" Chanti nods, not taking his eyes from the willow-men as he sidesteps to Pierce. To Alg, 'Chana softly adds, "Sweetie, would you get my bag, please?"
Roy's face has paled and he says, "They fought with me. They all died. Lamar was a boyhood friend..." He peers at the old woman and whispers, "I think I know her. I think she's his grandmother."
Sulochana gently and reassuringly squeezes Roy's hand, then says to the old woman, "Clearly he has not forgotten them, Grandmother. Why do you claim he has? Why are you angry with him now?" She gently adds, "Surely you will not deny them the maturity to make decisions for themselves -- even in death?"
The old woman says, "Step aside! Let me have the false king and no one else will have to be hurt." Pierce nods to Chanti and makes a motion. Around the camp crossbows are quietly readied and fires are stoked up. The probing fingers of the willow-men are making the earth writhe. Mami Chat continues, "My willow-men are not alive in the way you think." Here and there more shapes are appearing -- shambling human forms with bone showing through pallid flesh.
Alg comes scampering back, hissing irritably. He has 'Chana's bag and a big bucket as well, water sloshing within it. The Hetaera smiles down at him, "Thank you, Alg," then looks back at the old woman. Gravely she says, "Emily and Lamar and Zeb and Aaron and Carson respected Roy enough to not step aside, even under threat of death. Do you consider us so much less than them?" Slightly more indignantly she adds, "And how can you abuse the peaceful dead, and the willows, so? Can you not feel how unutterably wrong the willow-men are? Who are you to steal the bodies of those buried here? At least Roy let them make their own decisions, instead of forcing them to fight for him!" She watches the old woman carefully -- how the ancient bokor reacts to that last bit will end the conversation. Sulochana prays internally it will be for the better for everyone... rather than in fire and blood and death.
Mami Chat's voice is a pained croon, "I call the dead that he wronged to take his life in return for theirs! I do not force them!" She thumps her staff on the ground "They come in response to my call for revenge!"
Roy mutters, "She is crazier'n a shithouse rat..." Then he chokes as the zombis move close enough for the gassy rotten stench of them to touch the people inside the circle. Around the circle the willows and the zombis howl and moan, the sounds unlike anything a living creature could or would normally make. Creaks and the sounds of tearing roots accompany the writhing of the earth. The zombis, about a half-dozen of them, crowd around the salt circle, arms reaching across it though they dare not step past the barrier.
Sulochana says firmly, "That. Is. Bullshit, Grandmother! The willows have no argument with humans -- why have you dragged them into this? We have only your word on the zombies, too... and I find I do not believe you any longer!" She calls to Pierce and the waiting guards, "Fire for the willows, holy water for the zombies, salt on anything left standing!" She suits her actions to her words, bending to grab a dipperful from the bucket of holy water, to fling it into the face of the closest zombie -- then she adds sharply, in case anyone is worried about the justice of Mami Chat's supposed 'call,' "These cannot be the dead you say he wronged, either -- they'd have decomposed entirely in the swamp after this many years!"
Chanticleer hears Mami Chat's invective in the face of Sulochana's offer. There's no negotiating at this point that he can see... not without some loss on her side. He whips up the crossbow, bolt covered in pitch, passing the tip through a nearby flame to light it, and lets loose the quarrel at the bokor. Sulochana's arc of blessed water shimmers like flung opals in the flickering flames of the campfires. The glittering of droplets hits the first zombi with a hiss like an enraged cat -- and then Chanti lets fly his fiery arrow.
The zombi slaps and claws at the places the holy water has eaten into its flesh, while Chanticleer's arrow flies as straight and true as if it were being guided by a holy hand. As Mami Chat raises her staff and her voice to exhort her creations on into battle -- the flame-headed arrow catches her in the throat and throws her backward with the force of its impact.
Sulochana looks mightily impressed! She flashes a quick congratulatory grin at Chanticleer -- then goes back to tossing holy water on the zombies that press close, dancing and dodging back and forth as they grab at her. She does her best to stay low as well, since she doesn't want to get in the way of the fire arrows. To Chanti she calls, "Not-George next!" She doesn't state why she says that, not wanting to give the half-ogre ideas -- but she knows he could easily throw a gator or boulder into the camp, with potentially disastrous results!
Chanticleer blinks in surprise at how close that actually got to where he was aiming. He normally finds crossbows to be wretchedly inaccurate... but this time he's very much not going to complain. He looks to Sulochana, then nods, lips tightening as he loads another bolt, looking for not-George. Alg has Sulochana's bag, scampering along next to her and hissing angrily. Whenever a willow-man or a zombie gets scarily close to his "pretty lady," he flings salt on it.
When Chanti looses the first arrow into the old bokor, there is a moment of suspended silence -- and then howls of triumph as the willow-men are loosed from their bondage. Sulochana blinks, looking around a bit worriedly. Will the willow-men attack the fallen bokor, the half-ogre, and the zombies now? That'd be helpful. Of more concern, though: will the salt still repel them? Logically the young woman thinks it should, since they're still magical even if uncontrolled...?
All around the circle of the camp the shadows retreat, the natural darkness of dusk in a swamp returning in the wake of unnatural shadow and false life. Sulochana looks a bit relieved at that -- then determinedly goes back to splashing any zombie foolish enough to press close. Chanticleer is looking around the perimeter as he comes up to Sulochana. "I don't see not-George anywhere!"
Sulochana calls back, "He may have fled, possibly with her!" She thinks a moment, then looks at Alg and Chanti thoughtfully, "Do you think we should go after her, make sure she's dead? Chevrefoil is likely the only one who can do a swift enough end-run around the willows, after all...?" Roy is with his men, shooting at the willows, and he cries out in triumph as they begin to come unknit in the wake of the old woman's death. Sulochana too notices the willows are starting to collapse, and murmurs quietly, "Or after not-George -- looks like she's a goner!"
Chanticleer grimaces a little, but nods. "We should, yes. We need to make sure."
Roy slings the crossbow he was wielding across his back and says, "Get the critters out of the way. Shoo 'em off before ya go after that damn monster!" He scoops up a stone and shies it at the closest slithering snake, who hisses and slides out of the way, disappearing back into the swamp.
Sulochana laughs at Roy's comment, her eyes and teeth flashing scarlet in the dancing firelight. She whirls, grinning up at Chanticleer, "Go, get Chevre -- Alg and I will help here, and ride with you when you return!" After that she starts shooing off the snakes as well -- she leaves the gators to the crossbowmen.
Indeed, both the half-ogre and the body of the bokor are gone, disappeared as if they had not been there at all... except for the gnarled staff lying amidst a tangle of willow fronds. Alg goes bounding madly out, darting almost erratically through the trees, swamp creatures, and other things, to grab up the staff with a triumphant cackle. Sulochana cries out in worry for him -- then goes silent in awed astonishment. Alg is certainly in his element here! Staff in one hand, he gallops in three-point, leaping and swinging from gator-back to tree-branch, off a decomposing willow-man, to bounce gleefully back into the circle. He dances around Sulochana, nearly caroling, "Got! Alg got! Alg great hunter!"
Sulochana laughs and kneels to hug him tightly, "You're amazing, Alg! All right, let's leave the staff here, and go after not-George -- let's put this menace to rest once and for all!" She grins at Roy, adding, "Can you keep the staff for us, please? We'll be right back!"
Roy scoops Sulochana close with a whoop, "Hell with that! I'm comin' with ya!" Sulochana gives a startled squeak as she's abruptly grabbed -- then laughs! The king grins and tosses the staff to Pierce. 'Chana's a little worried inside, despite Roy's enthusiasm. Chevrefoil can't carry her, Roy, and Chanti -- and she can't shift to tiger form while Roy's there! She gives Pierce a bemusedly quizzical grin: what should she do?
Pierce catches the staff and then Roy's wrist, "Oh, no, you don't, your majesty. Let them go. You stay here in case there's another line of attack."
Sulochana whews! -then hastily scampers before the king can sweet-talk Pierce into letting him go, gabbling her goodbyes, "Welp gotta run take care happy clean-up be right back!"
Roy turns to Pierce and is arguing quite heartily while 'Chana disappears, "It's my own damn life!" Pierce is calm and inflexible, "Exactly. And we're out here to save it, not throw it away." Sulochana giggles in spite of herself, her eyes sparkling as Alg cackles amusedly too, bounding along before her. They'll wait for Chanti and Chevre out here, so Alg can get the scent of the fallen bokor and the half-ogre -- and Sura can change clothes and shift once they're out of sight of the encampment!
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