(no subject)

[agentlenpc]

A PSYCHIC FEELING THAT TOUCHES ALL OF DRAEGA
[At sundown, twin blasts of Opal and Rose slam through a wall in the Queen's Residence. Those living in the Residence and those nearby hear cries of alarm. Smoke is visible above the buildings throughout the city. Everyone in the city feels a sudden, sharp punch of power: one of the Blood shooting downward into the abyss with startling ferocity.

Moments later, three ripples of power expand outward from the Queen's Residence. One is shallow and superficial. The Blood recognize it as a blast of power just above the level of the White; the landens feel it only as a vague sense of unease.

The second comes at the level of the Rose, and the final at the Opal.

Shortly after, those who reside in the Old Town Bazaar begin to hear a haunting dirge. A woman's voice, sad and full of mourning, fills the still air. Night darkens the city, and the song spreads with it. From Old Town to the Guild Halls, up into River North and the slums, and from there to River East. The melody echoes through the docks, curling around warehouses and ships and reverberating strangely over the water.

Long into the early hours of the morning, the echoes of the song linger.]

A PSYCHIC LINK, FAYURA TO THE STRANGERS
[The quiet, psychic contact comes with the dawn. For those who have felt Fayura's psychic presence before, this touch feels much more distant. For those who haven't, she brushes against your mind with great caution and respect as though knocking softly at a door for fear of causing a disturbance. When she speaks, her mental voice has a hollow, tiny tone, much like that of an old telephone call for those who understand the analogy.

She is tired. She sounds tired. Grief makes her voice rough.]

Thank you. For finding the coven, I thank you.

The witches Amanita Nissa, Harrin, and Little Blue are dead. They have become whispers in the darkness. This is no easy thing. I know many of you will be displeased to hear they have been executed, but this is our way. Shattering the mind of a young Queen—of anyone who wears a Jewel… there is no greater crime.

The streets are safer without them.

Specific thanks to Guts, Daylight, and Mordred, who were each responsible for bringing in one of these witches.

THE MORNING NEWS
[Garret and Wilt are the perpetual news anchors. Their broadcast begins when most people are sitting down to breakfast or have just come in from morning chores on the farm.

Garret:] An official announcement from the Queen of Hayll confirms the executions of the Black Widows Amanita Nissa, Harrin, and Little Blue early this morning. Per the announcement and in accordance with ancient tradition, their Jewels have been shattered and their minds… burned out?

[Wilt, speaking slowly for once:] This is, of course, in reference to the old mythology that the Blood can become demon-dead. The body dies but the mind lives on, resulting in a kind of undeath driven by the power of the Jewels.

[Garret, cringing:] The Queen has declared that she will hold court between the hours of six and nine at night to accommodate those whose work hours are less flexible should anyone wish to inquire after the decision to execute these three witches.

Comments

[mollymocked]

Not to be crass, Lady, but they fucking deserved that. There's no reason for that sort of cruelty. She's a child.

What about the other ones? Are they going to take this as a warning or a reason to be bigger arseholes?

[agentlenpc]

[Her relief at Molly's words is immediate and palpable.]

Yes. They deserved it. As for the others, I don't think any of them are particularly concerning. [She worries about Denica, but not greatly.] Denica has a feeling about her... she could go either way. And Minya, I don't think she cares who uses her poisons or for what, but she on her own won't cause much trouble.

Black Widows have historically been hated and distrusted for precisely this reason.

[mollymocked]

Judging by those webs everywhere, they seem to feel they've been done wrong by the world, but I've seen plenty of people the world kicked around and none of them saw fit to be that cruel back. So long as this doesn't happen again to another little girl, it's not really my concern either way, but....

[He sighs. He never expected to be this mad about it, but for gods' sakes, that could have been Toya.]

But... If I might ask, what did they even hope to gain going after the girl? I know... I can't say I really understand much about the politics here, but there had to be a point to it that's more than just keeping another queen from coming to power.

[agentlenpc]

A Queen is the center point of Blood society, even if she's just a figurehead. That little girl could have worn a darker Jewel after her Offering, and she could have been strong enough to rule a Province if she'd been able to find enough males to serve in her court. I suspect the Black Widows had hoped to take her and poison her mind until she was loyal to them before all others. Then, they'd be able to manipulate and control her. Blood males would still want to serve her, and the Black Widows would have been able to control those males through her.

It's been done before. Others will try the same again.

[sunborne]

We're here to help. Glad we were able to do something.

[ there's something very... subdued about daylight's end of the link. usually bubbly or buoyant in a sense, daylight is... still trying to be bubbly, for some reason, but it's sluggish and slow.

but he tries and it's what keeps him going, keeps him interacting with the others in light of what happened. and it definitely helps him in asking the question that's been bugging him for a while- ]

Can we help them? The others we brought in? [ there are a specific few he's thinking about but if they can help all of them... ]

[agentlenpc]

Help them? In what way?

[sunborne]

[ that’s a very good question— ]

There's... There’s Esso, for starters. Is there something we can do to help keep her off the streets? So she has a choice on what to do? [ esso is young. really young. that’s what first got his attention when he was trying to help out with the investigation and saw the suspects.

it threw him off that someone so young could be considered a suspect and he wants to keep esso from being considered with suspicion again. ]

And there’s, um, Denica… [ he feels a bit nervous about this but, ] Would she be alright with talking to us after all that's happened? I’m— I’m curious about some things.

[kesi]

... If there is aught we may do to assist Esso, I would ask you to relay the information to me as well.

[He felt like it was the least he could do. He's seen how easily young minds can be corrupted by people who would do others harm first hand. He didn't feel right allowing it to happen again.]

[agentlenpc]

[A threat of sorrow passes between them.]

Esso is from the slums. I could take her in and offer her a place in my court, but I cannot take in every young woman who needs a job. Were the city in a better place, perhaps we could create some kind of program to help slum children find employ in the Bazaar, with the Guilds, or even at the Council. Right now, as we struggle to survive, I... I can only rarely consider the one.

[And that kills her a little more every day.]

As for Denica, I see no reason why you could not speak with her.

[garmr]

Guess that Darkness of yours doesn't mind what power like this does to weak little humans.

[The supernatural never seems to fail at amplifying how monstrous people can be to each other. What else is new? In Midland the politics were just as dirty.

Not that any of this bothers Guts at all. Nope. As far as he is concerned, he is simply fulfilling his promise to Fayura. At least, that is what most of his mind is occupied with. His end of the link is filled with a dry, weathered cynicism, and not much else.]

[agentlenpc]

The Darkness isn't... it doesn't think. The Darkness is the power inside all of us. So, no, power doesn't care what happens to people. People must.

This is why trust is so important to the Blood. This is why we are merciless when that trust is breached.

[garmr]

Yeah. Don't see what else you could have done with a power like that.

[Having his mind almost turned to spaghetti wasn't fun, and it left him feeling more wary than before. With another mind brushing up against his, it is a feeling that still lingers like a shadow. Guts recognizes that a lot of it is simply the circumstances of this world, at least.]

[agentlenpc]

Are you suggesting I should tear through people's minds to find out if they mean harm before they do it?

[There's a soft, almost dangerous edge to her tone.]

[arrogator]

Good. It needed to be done.

[She's trying to be supportive, but she can't keep her own voice from sounding cold about it. It's hardly a good way to solve every problem, she knows that, but sometimes these things need to be done and this is definitely one of those times. It's hard for some people, especially if they're the ones ordering or carrying it out (and aren't someone like Mordred) and she knows that much too, she just sucks at finding the right thing to say to them, so that's what she's saying instead.]

Here's hoping shit like that doesn't happen again.

[She found a few more words and they're pretty damn sincere. She definitely doesn't want a repeat of this and hopes the punishment acts as a deterrent to anyone out there harboring similar plans. She has her doubts about it though.]

[thricefold]

-Are you okay, Mordred?

[ zita's 'voice' is one of quiet surprise. there are several other voices she recognises in this connection of links and thoughts but, considering what's happened, she feels like mordred would be the easier one to speak with first.

that and she wants to speak with mordred first because- ] I had no idea you were involved with this.

Congratulations on apprehending one of the Black Widows as well. You weren't hurt when confronting them, were you? [ genuine concern leaks over zita's side of the link. ]

[arrogator]

[Mordred's kind of quiet here, which isn't entirely normal for her. She's trying to actually get her thoughts in order before talking. Which shows what a mess this all was.]

...yeah, I'm fine. Just pissed off about the whole thing.

[thricefold]

I am too, but I'm glad you and the others were able to put a stop to this madness before it could go on.

[ because she didn't trust the idea of the black widows stopping at just the girl. no doubt they would have struck again and again and again. a show of power like that would have been hard to stay away from.

something she's learned and something she keeps to herself, keeping those thoughts wrapped under heavy layers and thoughts.

now... to something important- ] No doubt the groups of the city will feel like they're in your debt, Mordred. You were a great aid to them, after all.

[agentlenpc]

It almost certainly will. Perhaps we will be able to be better prepared next time. Black Widows... there aren't as many of them as history suggests there once were. That makes protecting ourselves against their powers difficult.

[arrogator]

Yeah, I hope so. Even if there's not a lot of them out there, being prepared for next time can't hurt. Especially if it means we can keep something like this from happening again.

[Sure sometimes Mordred acts like a tough uncaring badass, but this was completely horrible.]

Doesn't have to be the focus or anything, just something for everybody to keep in mind.

[agentlenpc]

Perhaps I should ask my court to hold classes on shielding. Some shielding will help protect a mind against webs, though it's not a guarantee.

[mollymocked]

I'll second that. That could have been dicey. How's about a celebratory drink for your victory, then?

[He can tell she's pretty cross about it- so is he, and he wasn't even in the thick of it.]

[arrogator]

[She doesn't really feel like celebrating, but that feeling definitely seems mutual for everybody, judging from the other thoughts in here, so she'll accept, figuring it'll be a good excuse to just kind of decompress from all this. Though whether or not Mordred understands the concept of decompressing is up for debate.]

...yeah okay, sure.

[She doesn't sound super thrilled about it. But she isn't really thrilled about anything right now.]

Just a couple though. I'm not getting trashed and thrown out in the street.

[...which probably wouldn't happen anyways, but that's where Mordred's train of thought went.]

[kesi]

They deserved death, my lady. I share the sentiment of those who approve of your actions. [Supportive words shared with a cold edge. He didn't voice the fact that he thought a swift death was a mercy they did not deserve, but he couldn't hide in his link the disgust and rage he felt towards the women who broke the girl, regardless of what memories of theirs he saw. She was a child, a bloody child.

And yet in the same link was mental exhaustion.]

The young lady... will she recover?

[agentlenpc]

[She really is surprised that everyone is comfortable with the witches' deaths. She's also so very relieved.]

Perhaps. She's old enough that she won't forget, but if she's surrounded by people who love and support her, this won't hold her back. It will always be there, but with the right people around her, she should be able to recover.

[A wave of remorse rolls through her.]

In spite of all of that, she will always know someone took her birthright from her. There will always be a hole inside her where a Jewel should be. The other Blood will find her unsettling. She may fit better with landens, but they, too, will be uncomfortable in her presence.

Being a broken witch is not a pleasant thing.

[kesi]

... I see. I pray that she is supported well. [Takame wished to do so himself deeply, and yet he knew he could offer the young girl nothing but a sword. If only because of the remorse he felt from Fayura, anger seeped through from his side more noticeably like smoke through the crack of a door hiding a room on fire.

A child who did no harm save for having potential should not have had to suffer so. And yet such is the way the wheel of fate turned. The thought came through without him saying it: "Death was too good for them."]

My lady, if I may... what might be done to prevent this? [Can anything be done is what he really wanted to ask, he doubted it.]