View source for The Name-Stealer

Alexandria - Temple District

The sky is fair and the sun bright; a pleasant day for any or all to be out of doors to enjoy or simply do the things they do. Outside of the Dragonfather's temple, Tlanexhuani has claimed a stone bench from which the occassional light *ping* of small hammer blows ring. There is no cart, stall nor signage, and vendors are rarely present in the district (as the temples handle most needs), so the small work may be less commercial and more personal.

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The Goblin marches along, her armor obvious and clanking. She seems headed for for the bridge, having just descended from the mountain.

The smithing Sith is spotted, and Simony begins making her way laboriously in his direction.

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In the past, it has been quite uncommon to see Rune in the Temple District, but it seems that she has haunted these halls more often as of late. In this case, she is tepping out from the temple of Daeus, likely having had a visit with a certain nameless goblin, offering what support she can manage. 

So, hearing the sound of a hammer and spotting Tlanexhuani, Rune stops mid-stride and looks over. A decision is made quickly, and she approaches, spotting Simony and offering a nod to her as well, "Peace on your nest." Rune gives the Makari greeting, "How are you holding up?" Her head tilts, "Our goblin friend is a bit out of sorts at the moment, I'm afraid. Wouldn't surprise me if Zeke and Cuemoni are still reeling as well."

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Tlanexhuani looks up at the greeting and pauses in his tapping of a small hammer upon wire, using his smithing hammer beneath as anvil. "Peace on your nest-ss," he offers, adding the last as he notices Simony nearing. "This one is worried. For kin, kin's cihuaa, and the nameless one." After setting down the tool and work, he asks, looking to them both, "How are?"

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Simony grins broadly at Rune, offering a wave hello as she comes to a clanking stop. "I was going to inquire as to what Tlan was working on, but with hearing that last bit, I am now more curious about ... about her." The Goblin's expression is one of puzzlement and irritation. "Fey are such an irritation."

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"Me too." Is Rune's initial response, her hand reaching up to clasp at her necklace, running her thumb along the edge in a comfort gesture. Simony's comment has the half-sil shifting her cloak slightly over her tattooed arm before she responds, "Yes, well, this particuar Fey, at least." She hesitates, "At least we have a bit more information than before, though I fear the cost was too high for it."

Another glance to Simony, this one a little uncertain, "The purple goblin is fine, physically anyways. I warned her not to antagonize this particular Fey, but she's never been one to listen. Not to me, anyways." 

As to the matter of Zeke and his cihuaa, Rune sighs softly, "They'll be alright. At least, I hope so. I've been lucky and never had to face losing my cihuaa, but I can imagine the pain of it all too clearly."

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"This one hope you never know thiss," Tlanexhuani wishes to Rune. "Not before know finding, life with cihuaa, first." Endings happen, so he can't wish that they never would. He then glances back to the temple. "Zeke is strong, Shaman of Dragonfather, protects all. Will be well. This one is certain... but still worry." He makes a vague gesture before his tail flicks.

"Fey wield words as weapon. Iss ... cunning. Know little of fey, before now. Would prefer know less."

 GAME: Simony rolls sense motive: (14)+4: 18

"I'm doing alright, Tlan, how are things with you?", Simony replies, belatedly, to the Sith's inquiry from before. "What are you making?" Her toothy grin returns momentarily, before she looks to Rune. "Well... when they are adversaries, then?" She gestures to Tlanexhuani, "As our azure-scale friend here says, they use words as weapons, far more painfully than we can."

"I agree with his assessment also on Zeke. A powerful cleric of Daeus. It is hard, for him, to be unwell or unhappy for too long, when the sun shines so strongly. Cuemoni will recover also, I think. I know death a bit more personally than I'd like, but healing will mend most physical ailments to like new... and if she has support, of which I have no doubt, the mental trauma of death and survival will pass. Time will heal all wounds, and, in the end, they still have one another, through this."

Her gaze goes to Tlan for a moment, studying his expression, before she glances back to Rune, pointedly meeting the woman's eyes with her own.

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"The most important thing is to be cautious with who you give your name to, or at least how you phrase it. That's what got the purple goblin into this mess in the first place. Though, making sure you never thank them for anything is also a good practice. They treat it as a contract." Rune explains, and then sighs softly to herself. It's obvious that she's had her fair share of experiences with the Fey and had to be very careful about her words.

Her head inclines once, accepting that these two may very well know Zeke better than she does. Rune has only had the rare encounter with him and his mate, "I just wish there was more I could have done. I knew it was coming. I /felt/ it coming, but there's nothing my blades can do against Fey magic." She holds some guilt there, even if the end result was only temporary.

Rune meets Simony's eyes in that brief second, but it does not last as she looks away again. "What we need to do, is figure out how to get the goblin's name back. That, and make sure that the Fey doesn't continue to manipulate Thoth into whatever dark deeds it has planned. We have no idea what the Fey's end goals are, and that's what has me worried."

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Tlanexhuani looks to Simony and her wisdom on fey dealings. "This one regrets this one, and others, did not know your words, wisdom before meeting Name-stealer. This one understands purple one's ... mistake." His eyes shift to Rune. "And painted one's ... helplessness. This one did nothing to help kin." He falls silent for several moments before belatedly answering Simony's question.

The work in progress is lifted: it resembles a small, incomplete swiftclaw made of carved wood pieces connected by wire for articulation. "Is small work. For small ones. Busy claw, busy mind worry less."

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The Goblin nods and huffs, "This is precisely why they are irritating." She lets out a chuckle then, shaking her head. "Something the fey probably not have faced very often... Can't the purple Goblin choose a new name? What if we have nicknames for her? Would such a thing work?" Simony rubs at her cheek a moment, edging a little closer to Rune. Her fingers begin to move and sign. "Why hide them now? I have seen them, evne if you meant to keep them under cover, there are still times when they have been visible." <Handspeech>

Her eyes flick back and forth between the two. "Do not despair. The fact that you both continue to work towards helping the Goblin is helpful, even if you could not help in that one situation. We can prepare, and we will. That fey may be powerful, but it cannot stand against us all. The power of our minds, combined, will beat this foe."

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"I'm... leaving that to her. Given everything that's happened, I feel it should be her choice what to call her for the time being." Rune replies, "It's... been my impression that alternate names are relatively safe from Fey interference. It's the true names that get you into trouble." Her eyes turn to Tlanexhuani at that, worry creasing her brow. "Did the Fey get you, too?" She asks.

Then, Simony's hand gestures catch her eye and Rune seems pensive for a moment, but rather than responding, she simply inclines her head and then shifts her cloak a bit. The marks look the same, at first glance, but... previously they had been simply tattoos. Now there is something that feels different about them.

"That's the important thing, for the time being. To make sure the goblin doesn't feel like she's facing this alone. There has to be something we can do, though, I'll admit, I'm not so gib a tongue to know how to turn a Fey bargain against them."

 GAME: Tlanexhuani rolls spellcraft: (12)+9: 21
 GAME: Simony rolls knowledge/the planes: (13)+7: 20

Tlanexhuani is no stranger to scale (or skin) art as it is rather common with Makari, and has witnessed Rune's markings before. Meaning and significance are not the same from one to another, so he makes no assumptions. They do appear ... different, though he doesn't put this to words at the moment.

"Purple one is not alone," he instead assures Simony, before his eyes pan to Rune and linger there. "This one know Name-stealer speak to many. Some not know his words are weapons, are tricked. Maybe owe name, maybe more. This one cannot say who."

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The Goblin continues to eye Rune at length, her eyes narrowing. She breathes out a huff of breath, and shrugs. "I am sure at some point you might explain.", Simony says softly.

Nodding, she looks to Tlanexhuani. "She's not alone, certainly not. Uhm... how many people has this fey ... got? And who is this fey? What do they look like?"

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The Makari's answer has Rune reaching a hand to rub at the back of her neck. "Right. So that's a yes." She may very well be jumping to conclusions, but it is a fair assumption. "When I first encountered him, I suspected he was Fey from the way he spoke. The fact that he was elusive about his own name." Rune explains, "So I've been careful whenever I've encountered him."

She looks over to Simony, her expression a bit uncertain, especially given the circumstances, "I followed in my mother's footsteps." Rune answers, perhaps a bit vaguely. "I can at least reassure you that my patron is /not/ the dark Fey we're talking about." It does, at least, confirm that her patron /is/ a Fey, though.

Then, when asked for a description, Rune explains, "When I saw them, they were dressed in a long white coat. Pale features, pale hair, blood-red eyes." She explains, "They smelled like... perfume of some sort, covering up rot and decay. So I've always suspected that might /not/ be their actual body." She folds her arms across her chest, "They said they were called Ilenzi, but I doubt that's their true name."

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Tlanexhuani exhales slowly, giving no direct confirmation to Rune, but no denial, either. He can give confirmation on the talk of the fey, though. "Ssa. Eyes like blood. Scent like rot and flowers. Also heard Ilenzi." He ponders what else he knows of the fey, which is not all that much. Even less that has not already been mentioned.

"This one believes Name-stealer tied to Thoth. Follows. Watches. Plans?" His claws clasp at nothing before lowering. "Not know why, how."

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Simony lets out another huff of breath, and offers her hand to Rune. "You are one I call friend, Rune, no matter how nebulous your origin or path may be. I trust you."

The Goblin shivers a little, pursing her lips. "I've had a rather horrible thought, and I do not like it. At all. In the slightest." Another huff. "What if... what if the thing we're looking for is both fae /and/ demon? I mean, they are both getting into people's heads. It would... explain a few things without introducing too many new questions." She pulls off her helm, to run a hand over hear fuzz-covered head.

Her glance goes to Tlan once more, as she pulls her helm back on. "Undead are so much simpler. Maybe two separate threats, maybe not. I hate this so much. At least both of them will feel my warhammer."

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The fact that Tlanexhuani confirms her description draws a nod from Rune, and a scrunching of her nose. "That's the one." She sighs to herself, shaking her head, "Whatever his purposes, we know he's old. Very old. We also know that he came here specifically for Thoth." She nods again to the Makari, affirming his previous statement.

Shifting her weight, Rune explains further, "He has these... memory orbs, which all seem to show him as Thoth's creator and master. I've always felt like they were... manipulated. Like he's showing Thoth what he wants the automaton to see." She shakes her head. "He seems intent on making Thoth gather more of them, but I don't know what the end goal is."

The prospect of the being having both Fay and demon origins gives Rune a moment of pause, the woman biting at her lower lip thoughtfully. "I don't know." 

As for her friend's trust, Rune returns it in kind, "Remember when we were trapped down in that cave, under the threat of the Corpse-Eater?" She asks. Rune's fingers touch over a spot amongst her tattooed markings that looks almost like butterfly wings. "Blue. The butterfly who rescued us." She explains, "She's one of the good ones."

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Tlanexhuani looks to Simony and thumps his tail lightly. "Simple is better. Name-stealer is... not simple." He does not believe so, with what little is known. "Hope is not both things. One make enough trouble." To Rune, he agrees, if simply. "Name-stealer plan is for Name-stealer. Not trust for others. Can help Thoth. Maybe learn more?"

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The Goblin scrunches up her face in thought, and then she grins, nodding to Rune. "Okay, I do remember her. Corpse-Eater was such an ass." her eyes flick to a spot on Rune, and she smiles. "Hmm, a few things become clearer."

"So, I do remember that first orb. They're memories, indeed. I doubt the fae is Thoth's creator, but it is not... beyond the realm of possibility. It is only 'helping' Thoth because it believes Thoth has something it wants. Maybe something in one of these memories."

She sighs, nodding to Tlan. "One is one too many. But... I've noticed, in my admittedly few fae encounters, that some of them are awfully good at that name thing, while others are decidedly not? But names are important. It's looking for something in Thoth's memories."

The Goblin gestures. "Probably a name."

"I'm ... going to head back to the Monastery. We've got an extensive library there and I have unfettered access. Ilenzi may be hidden away in there, it is a start, at least, if the name has any .. meaning for this story we're unravelling. I'll let you both know if I have news, also, you know where to find me. If not there, at Telamon's place." She lifts a hand to wave, before clanking away.

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"Let us know what you can find, Simony. I don't have as much access to research as I'd like." Rune seems to think for a moment, and then nods as if she were making a decision. "For right now, I think protecting Thoth is the best that we can do. Thoth is a bit too naieve for their own good." She sighs softly.

"I think that's where I'm going to head next. Thoth needs to know what's been going on, and just what sort of danger his 'master' represents." Rune pulls her cloak foward again, inclining her head to Tlanexhuani. "Let me know if you hear anything else, or if you see our blood-eyed name-stealer again." She raises a hand to him in farewell, but worry is written in her features.