In the morning, a delivery boy arrives at the Festhall, holding a medium sized box. Once inside, he approaches the clerk working at the table and tells him that Maharaja Apharada has a package delivery. She is to sign to the document, so he will wait until she arrives to pick it up.
Package Delivery
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*Cibernadie
- Posts: 78
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
The Rakshasa has spent longer and longer hours lounging about in the Festhall. Some sensates whisper that she has, in fact, never left since the last three cycles. She is not abusing the sensory stones, but instead reviewing and drawing intrincate diagrams and planar maps, seeking a route or a path to some unknown destination. News of the document would intrigue her, and after carefully reading and signing the receipt, she'd scry its content heavily, before opening it to her eyes and sharing the contents with her two associates within the Society.
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*LiquidDreamer
- Posts: 419
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
The delivery boy nods his thanks when the package is signed for and leaves the Festhall. The document is a receipt of delivery, simply stating that she indeed received the box.
Inside the box when opened, is the severed head of Hakima Prudar. A note lies inside the box and reads;
Inside the box when opened, is the severed head of Hakima Prudar. A note lies inside the box and reads;
wrote:
Maharaja Apharada,
Hakima Prudar was sent to Sigil to bring the head of a lecherous traitor. Instead he spoke of negotiation. There is no bargaining, your head will be next.Â
Signed,
Hakima Ramana.
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*Patapatapatapon
- Posts: 29
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
The Demoness Akalabeth has also been seen to linger at the Festhall more than usual, and when the package arrives, there is no surprise in her features at all. She watches with a neutral expression as the contents are revealed and reacted to, eventually pointing to Prudar's remains and speaking up.
"...Okay, realistically, there's no way that was going to be anything but a severed head."
She sighs, lightly, steps forward, and her voice softens, shedding its crude colloquialism and growing strained, quiet and dark.
"I am so sorry, my love," she half-whispers, "So very sorry. Such a senseless waste. But... it's as I said, is it not? Do you remember..?" She leans in, gloved hands gently resting on Maharaja's shoulders, wings curling slowly to enfold her. ""They'll need a demonstration. They'll force your hand.""
One sharp fingertip reaches out to trace the rim of the box as though it were the face of a departed lover, the Demoness's face the very portrait of regret.
"...And now they have. At last we see they lack your virtues as well as your vision. Look at what they've done, out of nothing more than fear and self-importance." She shakes her head, slowly, "Fear. Such an unworthy emotion in such a noble race. Could there be any greater proof that the old order is stagnant, blind and corrupt? No. It must be done away with and remade, for your sake and the sake of your people. There is no going back now."
She leans close, whispering it into the Rakshasa's ear like the sweet voice of damnation itself.
"...We believe in you. You cannot be stopped. You must ascend."
"...Okay, realistically, there's no way that was going to be anything but a severed head."
She sighs, lightly, steps forward, and her voice softens, shedding its crude colloquialism and growing strained, quiet and dark.
"I am so sorry, my love," she half-whispers, "So very sorry. Such a senseless waste. But... it's as I said, is it not? Do you remember..?" She leans in, gloved hands gently resting on Maharaja's shoulders, wings curling slowly to enfold her. ""They'll need a demonstration. They'll force your hand.""
One sharp fingertip reaches out to trace the rim of the box as though it were the face of a departed lover, the Demoness's face the very portrait of regret.
"...And now they have. At last we see they lack your virtues as well as your vision. Look at what they've done, out of nothing more than fear and self-importance." She shakes her head, slowly, "Fear. Such an unworthy emotion in such a noble race. Could there be any greater proof that the old order is stagnant, blind and corrupt? No. It must be done away with and remade, for your sake and the sake of your people. There is no going back now."
She leans close, whispering it into the Rakshasa's ear like the sweet voice of damnation itself.
"...We believe in you. You cannot be stopped. You must ascend."
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*Cibernadie
- Posts: 78
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
The Rakshasa holds the head of her former peer, a Hakima of an entire Rakshasa court, in contemplation. Her divine work has caused great turmoil, an exiled ruler stripped of titles, and another one killed by his peers. It would be perhaps a century before Prudar reincarnates, and despite their differences and inherent selfishness, Maharajah is very much against the spilling of Rakshasa blood, specially by Rakshasas themselves.
"They accuse me of heresy, yet they send me a crowned head."- She'd respond to the Succubus. "Their desperation is far greater than what i had foreseen. If they are willing to behead an entire court to stop my duty, then they are a threat to my entire kind. I would address that threat."
The Rakshasa contemplates her options. To hide in sigil would mean an eternity of assassination attempts that would inevitably grind her plans to a halt. To annihilate the council? Unthinkable, blood against blood would throw the entire race into mayhem, a civil war to weaken Rakshasas for at least another millennia. The subtle approach would be to slowly reach for sympathizers, perhaps in her former court, and carefully worm her strings to see Ramana deposed. Slow and unlikely, as her exile means every Rakshasa loyal to the church is dutybound to destroy her. The irony of this is biting; Of all the Rakshasas currently alive, she is perhaps the most fervent worshipper, stopping at nothing to see their God King break free.
"A carefully blended mixture of violence and subterfuge will be needed." Maharajah turns to face the crowd of nobles and Sensates gathered about the Spice Rack and wandering the halls of the Festhall, carefully weighting her words. "Time and time again i hear that the Society houses the boldest adventurers, who are always on the search for new challenges to face. I have the perfect proposition. We will enact a coup and depose Ramana by force to ensure the council learns not to hunt and destroy our own. Their vaults will provide a handsome reward, besides giving the court and our battle to the sensory stones."
"They accuse me of heresy, yet they send me a crowned head."- She'd respond to the Succubus. "Their desperation is far greater than what i had foreseen. If they are willing to behead an entire court to stop my duty, then they are a threat to my entire kind. I would address that threat."
The Rakshasa contemplates her options. To hide in sigil would mean an eternity of assassination attempts that would inevitably grind her plans to a halt. To annihilate the council? Unthinkable, blood against blood would throw the entire race into mayhem, a civil war to weaken Rakshasas for at least another millennia. The subtle approach would be to slowly reach for sympathizers, perhaps in her former court, and carefully worm her strings to see Ramana deposed. Slow and unlikely, as her exile means every Rakshasa loyal to the church is dutybound to destroy her. The irony of this is biting; Of all the Rakshasas currently alive, she is perhaps the most fervent worshipper, stopping at nothing to see their God King break free.
"A carefully blended mixture of violence and subterfuge will be needed." Maharajah turns to face the crowd of nobles and Sensates gathered about the Spice Rack and wandering the halls of the Festhall, carefully weighting her words. "Time and time again i hear that the Society houses the boldest adventurers, who are always on the search for new challenges to face. I have the perfect proposition. We will enact a coup and depose Ramana by force to ensure the council learns not to hunt and destroy our own. Their vaults will provide a handsome reward, besides giving the court and our battle to the sensory stones."