catchall, early November

[ruinsprofessor]

Characters: Raine Sage and OPEN
Date: first week of November mostly, some flex if necessary
Location: various around Keeliai, including her suite (Tu-Gai)
Situation: also various, mostly involving catching people up to the situation as it stands and seeking possibilities for dealing with things under the shell.
Warnings/Rating: violence/gore in Anton's thread; probably all-over discussions of mind control etc.



While the suspicion of someone willingly working with Malicant is something that never quite leaves her mind, for the most part Raine's of the opinion that dispersing information can only help right now. Not via the network, of course, but she spends much of the first week of November seeking out people she knows to catch them up to how bad things are, to make sure the vision Wan and Valdis had gets shared out, and to see if anyone has any helpful input at all. She's done about as much as she can within her own head; now it's time to get outside points of view.

When she's not busy doing that, she can mostly be found in the Earth sector, either at her suite, which she hasn't made a significant effort to hide, or in one of the assorted nearby parks, running through artes over and over in an effort to improve her casting time and focus or simply swinging her staff in the most basic of forms.

Comments

Gene; actually a little earlier than November, aka one or two days post-possession attempt;

[ruinsprofessor]

Once the vision has had a little time to sink in, one of Raine's first priorities is to talk to Gene. She doesn't know for sure how far the powers of his rings extend, but if there's any possibility that the one they were testing a few months ago could help provide answers, it's worth following up on. While she touches base with him briefly via the network to arrange a time and place to talk to him she doesn't provide any details on what it's about, beyond 'important.'

When she turns up to meet him she's about as put-together as ever and alert, but there are faint shadows under her eyes that suggest perhaps she hasn't quite been sleeping enough.

[wrathfulkhan]

Raine's not the only one looking a little haggard these days. Gene's been running himself down taking care of both Kalliel (as a single parent now) and Tony (since the dumbass had accidentally left a backdoor for Malicant to get in and burn out his 'bots for a week).

But the dark circles under his eyes are concealed readily enough by his green-lensed glasses, and he tries to smile at Raine when he sees her, but it seems he's forgotten how.

"Hi, Raine. What's going on?" he asks, not meaning to be brusque but wanting to get right to the point.

[ruinsprofessor]

"Hello, Gene." Raine's not particularly offended either by lack of pleasantries or by sub-par smiles. It hasn't been much of a month for either, and the smile she returns is not wholly a happy one, either. "I had a few questions," she says. "Mostly pertaining to your capabilities with the rings, and possibly regarding what information you can gain from them. Has one of the children passed you the vision from Wan and Valdis yet?"

[wrathfulkhan]

Gene nods. "Kalliel showed me. I had to tell him it wasn't that bad, but I don't know how good a job I did reassuring him. It's...enlightening. But disturbing." He shrugs. "As for the rings - theoretically, nearly anything. Teleportation, elemental control, matter manipulation...what did you want to know?"

[gathersnomoss]

Zelgadis has been building stockpiles of medical supplies, especially kits that could be hauled to whatever part of the city that needed them. He knows there's trouble, and he doesn't know what he can do... and, working made him feel less helpless and miserable and betrayed.

"do you have anything else I should be doing?" he asked Raine. Because there were only so much busywork he could find on his own.

[ruinsprofessor]

Raine appreciates his efforts, at least, and really does understand the need to throw oneself into work. It's something she's been feeling, too. "That depends," she says after a moment, studying Zelgadis thoughtfully. She knows the man, but doesn't actually know much about him beyond their association at the hospital. "How much do you know about the current problem facing us, and what do your magical skills encompass?" She's certain there's something he can do, it's just a matter of finding the correct place to apply it.

[gathersnomoss]

"Mostly what has been said on the network. And a bit about before," Zelgadis said. "It seems like most people were keeping secrets, so it's hard to know what I missed. As for magic, I have pretty broad magic, but... with the news about Asti, should you be trusting me?"

[ruinsprofessor]

"Should you be trusting me?" Raine returned, with a little quirk of a mirthless smile. "Anyone who received a boon from him during the summer might be suspect. Frankly, even people who didn't, given what our enemy has intimated. It's pointless by now to hold off sharing information for that fear alone. Has one of the children shared the vision with you yet?"

[royalguard_style]

Dante had been trying to get his hands on any information that may let them finally kill Malicant. He was forced to finally acknowledge that he was outmatched here, and that meant he had to get any information that may give him the upper hand. Therefore, the second he found out that Raine had all the information he need, he burst through her apartment door by kicking it down.

This only looks bad.

[ruinsprofessor]

The door bursting open was never a good sign, especially with the growing unrest in the city, and so when Dante burst in Raine flung herself back into a corner, kneeling with staff braced in front of her, and started to cast. Ryder was at the Hotel more and more these days, thankfully, so she didn't have to worry about him, just herself.

She had photon prepared by the time she recognized the intruder, and she held off warily, the spell one mental push from fruition. Just because she knew the man didn't necessarily mean he was in his right mind. "Dante?"

[royalguard_style]

"That's me."It truly is a surprise that nobody had killed Dante by now, but when he thought something was urgent, his manners were the first thing to go.

"So, what's this I hear about you knowing what's going on?" He got right down to business.

[ruinsprofessor]

If she'd been close enough she would have smacked him for being that stupid. As it was, Raine straightened, and let the spell dissipate into harmless sparkles of light, frowning at him all the while. "Dante," she said, no longer uncertain but severe. "What were you thinking?"

He should absolutely know better, capable of regenerating himself or no. Then again, perhaps not, given how he'd exacerbated the situation the last time they met.

"I'm willing to answer your questions," she added, still markedly annoyed, "but I had hoped you had better judgment than that."

The Midnight Hotel; early November

[gistful]

There were few patrons in the Hotel these days, or at least patrons who were using the rooms. The cultists had figured out that they were allowed to enter as much as anyone else as long as they behaved. They had also figured out that Anton had no issues with ejecting them when they stopped behaving, or using the gangs to help, and didn't quite care.

Anton's original policy had extended only to patrons. He'd expanded it when the gangs used the Hotel as a meeting-place. Now the gangs and the cultists were the only people left, and the cultists were cocky. The gangs were, inside the Hotel, on Anton's side--outside the Hotel, he was just another Foreigner. The Hotel's lobby was a powder-keg waiting to happen and Anton did not like it at all.

The time was going to come, very soon, when he would be forced to kill any number of them to assert his authority, and while the gangs understood to some degree they also wouldn't exactly hide it from the rest of the kedan. It could turn ugly.

Then again, it was war.

Either way, Anton was watching the cultists in the lobby very, very carefully while he worked the desk. They were packing the building and he knew it; many of them had paid for rooms they wouldn't use just for the right to remain. Fortunately, so had the gangs.

[ruinsprofessor]

Raine knew the streets weren't the safest, so when it became clear she was going to have to visit Anton she paused to cast a set of defensive artes on herself and Ryder before setting out for the Earth sector entrance to the Hotel, just in case. It hadn't quite occurred to her that the Hotel might be similarly risky, but, in retrospect, given Anton's policies, she really should have expected that much.

She stopped just inside the door, breath caught, conscious as soon as she entered that the lobby had a fair number of kedan in it, and most of them didn't look particularly friendly. One wrong move might go very poorly. Raine gripped her staff, prepared to gather mana if she had to, and sent a thought to Ryder.

"We're here," Ryder broadcast to Anton, in case he hadn't noticed. "She says is this as bad as it looks and which way do you need her to move?"

[gistful]

"Not quite," Anton broadcast back, hearing the echo as Ryder carried it to Raine. The gangs kept an eye on the door, but they didn't care enough about the Foreigners to react. To Ryder, though, yes--the kedan didn't much like the Foreigners, but the hatchlings were innocents and all but sacred, and the presence of one made them tense.

Then the cultists stopped whispering and saw Raine, and then saw Ryder, and Anton noted the way their balance shifted.

"Now it is," he said, and moved out from behind the desk. "Move this way."

Even before Ryder had properly moved one of the cultists lunged at him, and Anton caught his wrist and knocked him back with an arm across the chest. The cultists were dicey because of their weapons--Anton couldn't afford to let them attack en mass. But they were planning on it now; they caught their fellow and fanned out. The gangs spread out too, and some went into the other rooms. Anton counted the cultists here in the lobby--there were eight of them.

Eight, all armed with tainted weapons. No, this was not going to turn out well, but Anton had been pushed as far as he could go.

"If you leave now," he said to the cultists, "I won't kill you."

Some of them bothered to look at each other and laugh. The gangs also looked at each other and chose to slink up the stairs, far enough that Anton should be able to keep the gist from hurting them.

[ruinsprofessor]

Damn. She'd been the tipping point, hadn't she. Without their presence this wouldn't have come to violence.

Apologize later. For now Raine urged Ryder to move first, following in such a way as to try to keep herself between him and the cultists. She couldn't cast while moving, but she knew at least some of what Anton was capable of and was pretty sure it was more imperative that she and Ryder be both near him and out of his way. She stepped carefully, wary, staff poised to swing hard at anyone who looked like they might even be thinking of making a move against Ryder.

Did his rules about violence still apply, when violence was so evidently about to break loose? Well, he was giving them a chance, and so with that in mind when Raine had moved far enough she braced herself to defend, gathering mana but not shaping it into anything beyond potential quite yet.

"She says she can cleanse the wound if you're hurt, but it's better not to get hit in the first place," Ryder relayed. Raine for her part stayed steadfastly silent, attention on the mana in her grasp and the positions of the about-to-be combatants.

Outside

[whitelotustile]

Iroh is doing his own exercises... not so much obvious bending forms, but lifting weights and calisthenics, the sorts of things designed to boost strength, flexibility and endurance. Today, he's out for a run before work. "Good morning. I'll get the tea on when I get back."

[ruinsprofessor]

"Good morning," Raine returns, with a smile that while small is genuine. "I'd appreciate that."

It's probably a given that Iroh's noticed her ineptitude in the kitchen by now, and while she can usually muddle through making a cup of tea that isn't terrible, it's usually much, much better when someone else does it.

Running isn't something she typically does, so rather than offer to accompany him she'll run her own practice where she is, arte after arte.

[whitelotustile]

Iroh noticed. Which is why on the days he doesn't eat out, he makes sure to cook enough for at least two, and have leftovers on hand. Because no one should have to suffer from bad food. (That and he used to cook for a teenage boy as well as himself; so he's used to having extra.)

"How is the practice coming?"

Solomon; after talking to Tony;

[ruinsprofessor]

Not too long after a frankly very awkward conversation with Tony, Raine dropped by to visit Solomon again, in itself not a wholly unusual thing, but this time with a point of curiosity a little less serious than most of late. She'd sent a quick message beforehand to check that he was actually there and if not free then at least interruptible, and shortly thereafter turned up on his doorstep without much other explanation.

[peacefullywreathed]

Since most of what Solomon had to do lately was refining the archway, sigils and the appearance and use of his new but experimental laboratory, he was quite willing to be interrupted, particularly if Raine was the one doing the interrupting. He was actually in a place where he could stop to answer the door himself, instead of sending a shadow to do it.

"Good day," he said with a smile, opening the door wide to usher her in. "Unless, of course, your news is somewhat more dire in nature, in which case I may have to reassess that assertion."

Marcelon had told him everything he needed to know about the vision and what the others had seen. He had been looking into unbound Dreaming portals since then.

[ruinsprofessor]

"Not dire, no." Raine stepped inside at the invitation, returning the smile easily. "Hello, Solomon. I was wondering about your previous interactions with Tony, that's all. He seems to have taken particular offense to you, and I don't quite know what to make of him." And these were answers she evidently wasn't going to get from Tony himself.

It was also at least half an excuse simply to stop by, but that much Solomon could figure out for himself. And it was true that Raine wasn't fully certain where to stand on the issue of whether or not to trust Tony Stark, and Solomon's input would be valuable on that front.

Tu-Gai, mid november, pre-endplot

[denyamenti]

In light of their last conversation, Raine had asked him to procure more information regarding a Foreigner that had been present during the last round of Foreigners. It was something that Bakura had heard in passing, but agreed that it had been worth pursuing. It had taken him a while to track down that source, during which he'd had an interesting conversation with Tony Stark, but ultimately he had given his word to bring Raine the information and so he arrived on her doorstep fairly early one morning.

[ruinsprofessor]

She might have the grasp of waking with the sun, but not a particular fondness for it, and it was early enough that Raine still had a cup of tea in her hand when she opened the door. Fortunately, one not brewed by her. She blinked at Bakura over it for a moment, then stood aside in invitation. "Bakura," she said. "Good morning. What brings you here?"

[denyamenti]

The thief didn't prefer mornings so much as he just had a bizarre sleep pattern, and was as likely to be awake at all hours as to be catching a few of sleep. Bakura inclined his head at her greeting and replied without preamble as he stepped inside, withdrawing his hands from the pockets of his jacket where he'd shoved them to keep warm in the chilly morning air.

"I have the information you asked about before," he answered. "When I'd mention that there had been a Foreigner from the last influx of them. The source was harder to track down with everything else that has been going on. The kedan have decided that talking with Foreigners isn't something they feel like doing, so it takes a little reminding that it's still in their best interest."