Fallen Empire

[albatross]

Victoria gets Tesla a high tech translator (Rifts), thinking he would prefer a device to magic.

Ora shuffles over to Aki, "I'll hunt the hawk while preparations continue. Care to join in?" There is a prairie just outside the ship.

[albatross]

Listening to Fakir's speech, one of Talon's warrior nuns snorts, "All that he says is his perspective. The events are roughly as he describes, but he glosses over the evil deeds his sire, himself and their temporal raider master committed. He is a knight now, but it was not always so."

Fakir shrugs, "In 400 years, a man can change."

The warrior nun nods and sneers, "It took four centuries for King Talon to trust you. Perhaps your new friends just need more time."

Smiling wanly Fakir mumbles, "I had hoped to leave relatively soon." He turns to Bellephoebe, "Is there a test? Something I may do or say that would give you certainty? Is it enough for you for the moment that my former enemies trust me and I can answer more questions later?"

Fakir seems to consider the Torchwood harriers as if for the first time. They have entered into a long campaign one that he has known all his life. Can they merely hear a story about hundreds of years of searching and fighting and come to the same answer as those who experienced it? Fakir realizes that in some ways it is easier for his longtime enemies to trust him, because they were there and recognize the truth in his words.

[shiivster]

Aki looks up at Ora ' . . . yes'
*she frowns and wonders what she really is doing here, but figures that a friendly face now will do wonders for her flagging morale. she ponders a few things and wonders if she will ever find her place among these odd people that have totally lost touch with nature. 'hunt . . good'

[thorley]

Bellephoebe says "Strictly speaking I'm not a 'Harrier' and my time in their primary dimension of operation has probably less than five minutes before entering into battle against that demon army. I was not there for your previous dealings with Streetwise, and can only judge this from what I've seen."

"Trust is a touchy subject, especially since you've apparently been spying on me. After all I never mentioned who I conferred with specifically, yet you knew the source I conferred with. I notice you left that part out.... that said with a dimension at stake, even one I have no personal connection to, I do have to try and save it... so let's make this simple".

Bellephoebe turns to the Warrior Nun

"Okay, you apparently fought against Fakir just now, and seem to be changing sides. With all these evil things he's done, do you think the best option for Talon, whom you apparently serve, is to work with Fakir in tampering with his love life to alter the future?. Your more familiar with the situation than I am. I'm more concerned about the present situation than what Fakir might have done in the past unless it directly relates, indeed I'd imagine he's probably a lightweight compared to this one wizard called Dunscan and his followers... total sicko... that an unfortunate alliance has had me coordinating with more than once."

Assuming the Nun (who is apparently already here) confirms working with Fakir Bellephoebe says:

"Okay, I understand the basics, the idea is that we want Fakir to marry a differant queen in hoping it changes the power structure, and doesn't set in motion a chain of events that destroys the dimension. What are the rules on succession and the options? Also are we planning on playing matchmakers or trying to dose him with a love potion or something?

My first thought is that if there are concerns are over a power struggle we might want to scrap the normal list of bachelorettes since they are all probably tied to one power group or another and find an outside cantidate. Maybe fixing him up with one of your pygmy Gigantes or something if any are willing. Since the guy is the king of an entire dimension I'd consider volunteering, I have a pretty impressive pedigree if I don't say so myself, but he seems like a jerk and I'd probably set off the reaction by killing him long before his lifespan expires. Not to mention the simple fact that I have other responsibilities I have to go back to eventually.

One possibility is to see if we can arrange a chance meeting with a noble from another dimension, make it so the holdings involved in a transdimensional marriage benefit both and would justify bypassing any agreements to ally with an in-dimension power. That would also mean you'd presumably have resources on the lucky lady's side helping to put down any kind of civil war if worse comes to worse since I get the impression that's the problem.

You know, the more I think about this, the more likely it seems we might be able to save the universe by just putting him up on a high society dating page on center or something. It would give me an excuse to visit there, I never have."

Bellephoebe stops there before she rambles off anything else even stupider than saving the universe with transdimensional dating websites. Not that she thinks that's a bad idea (she's very smart, but wierd) but has to pause to contemplate another scheme... >

I could see it now:

Sexy Dimensional King seeks queen to avoid collapse of entire world. I'm rich, have a big sword, kill demons, and can summon the Knights Of Camelot at will... I throw wild parties. Seeking demure, classy lady of high station with wealth on a transdimensional level for wedding of the millenium. Species unimportant, but no Splugorths please.

[albatross]

The warrior nun nods, "King Talon was bale to summon Fakir. Whatever his... past, only a true knight who submits to Talon can be summoned. And there is the prophecy. We never considered it might mean the son of Fakir because both were considered imposters. Yet now that we consider him everything fits. Talon would not be able to breach the seal alone. It must be him." She is sincere, though cautious, working through the logic for the first time.

After Bellephoebe speaks, Fakir holds up a hand, "Brillant. However, we aren't finding a bride for me or Talon who is married. We are looking for a bride for the son of the emporer."

"Talon rules some minor kingdom. Technically he is line for the throne, but he's 54th. I'm just a bastard."

"When Talon was young he picked a bride for the emporer's son. We want to remake that choice. But it can't be just anyone." Fakir grins, "I could try one of the Bunny Girls..." The warrior nun shudders. "But I fear their lack of courtly decorum and giving nature would cause the nobility to have a heart attack. Let me explain," he waves one of the bunny girls over. "If you saw a poor woman and she was cold what would you do?" The bunny girl immediately takes off her top. The nun rolls her eyes.

Fakir smiles and tells her she did well and to put her clothes back on. "I'm sure you can imagine her touring the city as a princess... or perhaps entertaining heads of state?"

"As for you, lovely lady, I'm sure a prince who isn't even in line for the throne yet would swoon to learn you were to be his wife. I hesitate on two counts. First, the royal family has good medical care and the prince is young. You've just barely joined us. Assigning you to an arranged marriage for decades. And your beauty might be too much. If others got jealous it could spark the tragedy we seek to avoid."

"The prince and the emporer expect the bride to come from this Hidden Kingdom. And the Hidden Kingdom expects to provide a princess."

"Yet, I agree that the initial group they present to us ought to be rejected. But surely there must be some woman there who can sit at court and yet bring about a peaceful future? The Hidden Kingdom might be upset at us for rejecting their orchestrated choices, but we can easily guard against assassins."

"Beatrix watched Torchwood because Streetwise bought her a beer. Each harrier group has bunny girl sponsors to ensure we don't kill them. Having good intel is part of that. Although in her case I think Beatrix felt your group could help us and she assisted however she and her sisters could. I am sorry to pry and spy, but you were trying to kill me and I was naturally concerned."

"Let us go and see if we can find a woman among them who would make a good match. Surely their must be one? We can further discuss matchmaking tactics on the way. It sounds as though you know a bit about the noble mind."

[kurff]

"Hmm finding a suitable bride may work. Is there any notable allies or other factions in the Hidden Kingdom that may send spies or have good reason to ally with the prince?" Tesla spoke up, "after all necessity can be a good motivator. Even wars can be ended by the 'powers' of necessity." He checked the translator's location in a pocket not likely to get hit in combat.

"The alternative is to find a peasant with a kind and noble heart. Unify the people and nobility." he adds, "Anyone here who knows hidden kingdom's people can guide us to the right people. There must be a few good groups that can keep the princes vision clear of noble interference that may not be so noble."

[shiivster]

Aki follows Ora away from the others and signals for Mao to race ahead and prowl the grasses to hunt, even as Yumi clambers down and hops to move along in her manner. the Lynx races thru the grass and hops and pounces for thesake of just playing . . then pauses as the nose picks up the smell of possible prey and Aki giggles briefly and seems to watch where her newest family member went.

'wing sib. he has smell of grass runner. it may escape him. you might have food if it escapes little brother' *her voice is chirps and other assorted bird noises as she addresses the Bloodhawk on Ora's shoulder. then her attention shifts to the sinewous movement that shows Yumi's slipping thru the tall grasses as she tracks down a faint scent of snake. she stays quiet for now and watches her companions hunt in their manner. she will pause to break off the occasional grass head as she moves along quietly

[albatross]

Ora doesn't appear especially adept at training the hawk, but the giantess clearly has established a rapport with the bird as she gestures to the target and the bird takes flight to strike.

Ora smiles watching the hunt, pleased.

[thorley]

Bellephoebe says "You don't really 'assign' me as I don't work for you. That said I have other responsibilities and would only consider the possibility of offering myself for marriage if there was no other alternative, given an entire dimension being at stake.

Given that we are employing time travel I imagine there should be little problem in training one of the Pygmy Gigantes to do the job however, our own version of "my fair lady" at the very least. Having a kind and giving nature is not exactly a disadvantage for a princess, indeed it fits the fairy tale stereotype. Should we choose to go that route.

The problem with allowing the hidden kingdom to provide the bride, as they expect, is that that the chain of events you describe basically amount to a civil war. In the end favoring any paticular group with the marriage is liable to lead to resentment and hatred from the other groups. Hence why I'm thinking mostly in terms of trying to find a way to work entirely outside of the equasion, if we can get our prince to take a bride that isn't from the established factions he might annoy all of them to an extent, but he's not liable to start a war by favoring one paticular group.

You know the situation better than I do, so if that isn't viable we'll wind up having to wing it with whomever winds up being availible.

Another potential option is to simply let nature take it's course and provide them with a common enemy so they are unlikely to fight each other. I read something similar to that in this ancient graphic novel called "Watchment". You already have a malevolent reputation, so ham it up, convince them you are a threat presumably without wiping out a city or anything, and then let everyone unify out of fear of the big bad Fakir and just don't ever actually do anything. Basically, you might be able to achieve the desired result by simply playing up your reputation as an epic villain rather than trying to convince everyone it's not true.

If you could ger Talon and his followers on board with that plan to help you ham it up and continually insist your a threat, perhaps leading some expeditions to bring you to justice that intentionally go to the wrong place for show or whatever, they could presumably keep everyone unified due to the threat of the temporal wizard under the bed so to speak"

[albatross]

Fakir scratches his ear in thought. "If we can find a good princess, we can make one. I don't know all the details, but brides from this hidden kingdom are commonplace among the nobility, so I doubt it will cause a faction war. But all the same we should consider your plan a good fall back." He turns to a bunny girl, "Train a princess. If we fail in the Hidden Kingdom we'll either present her at court or have her assume the princess' guise if need be."

"Alright, let's find out what is in this Hidden Kingdom."

[shiivster]

*Aki studies Ora and the Bloodhawk and understands something. the male hawk has picked Ora for a travelling companion. she decides she will offer her tall friend the meager knowledge she knows about the avian raptors that she knows about. she knows that the hawks are free beings and choose who they want to work with.

*it is a while later when Yumi returns dragging a large snake and is settled and gnawing away on it while Mao returns with a bloddy muzzle and drops a rabbit for Aki to eat.
Aki takes the offering and plays with it like she was a kitten and tosses it in the air and into his mouth. her laughter rises at his antics, then he settles down to finish it. the sharing was simple. he offered, she accepted . . then gave it back for him to eat

[kurff]

Tesla followed the group and was curious about the world more than the adventure. His mind opened to new possibilities Edison could only imagine. of course his fellow immortals probably had there adventures too. Darwin, Clemens, Dorion Grey and Byron were all travellers as well as good friends. perhaps when he returned home he'd look them up.

If anyone knew a few good stories to swap..it was them. Of course Tesla thought Dorion was a bit eccentric...Byron was into the rockstar/Poet gig...well all immortals have goals to keep them sane in the long run.

(OOC: If you feel I named an immortal that doesn't fit just ignore that name. But I thought that would be an interesting poker table.)

[shiivster]

Aki now motions to her companions and they lead the way to the ship. once there, she settles down on a random pack and waits patiently as the 2 animals groom themselves. she observes the various people moving about and notices that some have clustered about and the fact that there are a few that have gathered about and are in a major jaw moving and word blurring talk.

*she settles the elbows on the knees and waits patiently. this is about as much as she's done lately. she pulls out the talon from the warbird that perished fighting demons and caresses it with gentle fingers. she will now take the time to study it and see how she could possibly make it into a sneak weapon.

[thorley]

Bellephoebe says "I imagine we aren't going to get much more done just talking about it, we should depart to this 'hidden kingdom' unless anyone else has more preparations to make".

[albatross]

The Sealed Kingdom

Once everyone has packed, Talon leads everyone to the mouth of a cave in the rock shelf that extends for miles along the plains.

The mouth of the cave is barely wide enough for the giant Ora to squeeze through, crawling on her stomach inching forward with her elbows. Even vehicles as short as a motorcycle would need to be laid flat and dragged or pushed through the low ceiling cave. A horse would also need to be dragged through sideways. The reason Fakir, Talon and their minions seem content to walk is now clear.

Further in, the cave expands into a long, low room. Circles are spread out in a pattern, the likes of which no one has ever seen before. A few weary nuns mill around, double checking preparations.

Before the group attempts the magic circle, Talon briefs everyone. "The Holy Mother, myself and one team will go first. We will send the Holy Mother back to make sure this trip is not one way. Once we are sure this works, the rest of the teams will breach the seal."

"Once through, we will march to the palace. It is a little more than three days march. With eight immortals we will be sixty-four crossing the seal. A few of the immortals will be returning as they won't be accompanying us. So 59 or 60 will journey for the palace. There will be three groups in support, each with eight bunny girls and four nuns. One support group will patrol the cave exit to make sure we can get out later. A second group will station after about a day and a half march on the plains, and the third support group will camp outside the palace. A small team will enter the palace and look for a bride."

"The palace team will be small and subtle at first, concealing our powers and abilities. Large tech items will be hidden in dimensional rooms or left with the support group on the outskirts. We will carefully assess the situation, and go from there."

"Very little reliable intelligence on the Sealed Kingdom is available. We suspect they have powerful psychics or illusionists, knowledge of martial arts especially the spy types, and though there is little said of magic we suspect they know about magic and have tactics and counter measures to deal with mages."

"More specifics will need to wait until we arrive I'm afraid, though we can certainly make more guesses on the march. Questions?"