Hangin'. Doin' our things.

[rowan_narrators]

Who: Nazarene, River Royal, Niko, Mikney, Tamber and Lhoral ETA: and Kale, Markon, and Zosima
What: NPCin' about.
Where: Various places around the city.
When: Tuesday, all day
Notes: This is an opportunity for open NPC interaction! Just make sure that which one you're tagging is clear.

Comments

Royal. And anyone else who wants to bother him.

[red_wilderness]

The demons had informed him on arrival that he was not allowed to leave the city. Why in the name of all the stars was someone else’s army always telling him what he could and couldn’t do?

Fuck that.

Mars remembered the conversation in the journal, his heart pounding in his chest, fast-fast-fast tripping. What has that man done to me? he wondered, slightly more fond than distraught. In all the eons of his existence, he could not remember feeling impatient before.

He quashed it down; he was still a planet, even if he couldn’t reach it. He still thought like a planet, in four dimensions, in revolutions and ellipses and angles, perihelion and aphelion, the inner planets spinning past him while he outstripped his outer brothers in turn, their fingers not-brushing over the vastnesses of void between them.

He wandered through the encampment, watching the builders at their work, others lounging or drilling or gambling around the barracks, the guards and sentries around the perimeter, up on the walls, at the gates, down in the tunnels. He watched their patterns, far more variable than orbits, but there was a schedule and a plan to it all the same. He saw which ones were vigilant, which ones distracted, how and when they switched and changed in rotation, carefully constructing an orrery of Jhelbor in his head.

[man_and_monster]

This man was quite the observant one, wasn't he.

Royal settled against a nearby building, for the moment fading into the background. He was the one planning to leave the city, Royal guessed, though by his mark nearly everyone from the Tree wished to.

They'd be able to. Soon. He just wanted to watch them a little longer first.

And this one - quite an interesting sight indeed.

[red_wilderness]

Mars wandered over to one of the improptu groups of gamblers that had sprung up, finding a place to sit in the lopsided circle. Players were usually gregarious, and it shouldn't be too hard to start them talking about Kingstown. He surveyed the flat space of ground between them. The game looked like some bizarre combination of craps, miniture petanque, and marbles.

"Hey guys," he interjected amiably. "So how does this game work?"

"You've never played Omsis?" one of the demons asked sceptically."How is that even - oh shit, you're one of those tree-freaks aren't you?"

At that, all the other demons broke out at once.

"Did you seriously come from another universe?" "What's it like there?" "Do you play different games there?" "Of course they do, shitbrains, otherwise he wouldn't be asking -" "Maybe where he comes from they don't gamble -" "Everybody fucking gambles. Except elves, and he's no -" "New games would be awesome." "Yeah, show us something new!"

Well, this could be convenient. He would need supplies, after all.

Mars coughed, cutting through the squabbling.

"I'm afraid it would be difficult for me to demostrate any of my world's games, since I have nothing to play with."

After another flurry of chaotic discussion, the demons all pitched in to give Mars a small pile of dremlin to ante with. Mars poked among the different shapes and colors of die-like-things until he found two cubes inscribed with numerals instead of foriegn symbols, though the numbers were marked in crossed lines rather than dots.

"Okay," he explained, grinning a little at the memory, "the first thing you have to remember about Venusian craps is that you have to go fast."

[man_and_monster]

Gambling, then.

Royal drifted a hint closer, enough so that he could watch the work crew deconstructing a nearby building at the same time as he could listen to the gamblers' words.

What was this man up to?

[red_wilderness]

With the advantage of already knowing the game, Mars had managed to amass a decent sized pile of coins, depending on how far he had to travel.

Of course, that advantage was quickly dissipating, given the demons' tendency to shout out "New rule! New Rule!" before coming out with something that made the game more tricky and convoluted, which all of the others went along with, so Mars didn't object. They were a high-spirited bunch, tight-knit as haven members and nearly as volatile as Venusians, though not nearly so bad-tempered. When he gauged that they mentally included him in their camaraderie, he deliberately put a little stack of dremlin on a stupid bet and asked, casually,

"So, I heard somebody mention a place called Kingstown. Where is that, anyway?"

[man_and_monster]

And that was when Royal cut in.

At his presence, the gathered gamblers fell to silence, in respect, some perceptibly brightening at his presence. He smiled, at them, and turned to Mars, touching a hand to his shoulder.

"Let's walk," he said.

It wasn't a request.

[red_wilderness]

WHY DID PEOPLE ALWAYS JUST ASSUME THEY HAD THE RIGHT TO GIVE HIM ORDERS-

"You're not human," he realized suddenly, glancing from Royal's hand to his face, not sure how he knew. "Not demon either, I mean," he added, because the demons didn't strike him as particularly different from any of the other monkeys he'd ever seen (maybe a little louder), but this one did.

There was no need, he reminded himself, to get in trouble over anything trivial. He couldn't find Rayne if he got himself landed in prison, and that was the important thing.

"Alright," he conceded, gathering his winnings and tossing a few pieces to each demon who had contributed to his initial fund, slipping the rest into the deep pockets in the clothes he'd been provided. He let the methodical movements cover his reflexive anger at the (not) man's casual display of power, until he could stand and face him with his metaphorical hackles lowered.

"Where shall we walk?" he asked, entirely compliant.

[man_and_monster]

Royal nodded towards a relatively unoccupied street. For at least a little privacy.

This was the man he'd read on the network - the one who claimed to be a planet. And the way the sorcerer was knocked out like a light - a very tortured, in pain light - when he came through, Royal was fairly sure that wasn't far from the truth.

"Kingstown," he said, once they were out of earshot. "You'd like to go there? To meet, what is it, Colonel Derek Rayne?"

He held up a hand, to forestall any hostile reaction. "My name is General River Royal," he said. "I'm in charge of those in this city, and I believe we could help each other."

[red_wilderness]

General River Royal.

Mars disliked people in authority on principle, moreso the more reasonable they sounded. The worst imperialists always sounded reasonable; they were entitled, after all.

Then again, his power seemed as much given from below as bestowed from above, and Mars would admit, grudgingly, to liking that.

"Marekh," he replied, short but not curt. "And yes, I would like to get to Kingstown. What sort of help are you offering?"

He didn't add, and what are you asking for. General River Royal would get to that, inevitably.

[man_and_monster]

"Transportation," said Royal, bluntly. "There's an airship that should be arriving in Jhelbor within the next couple of days, and then it will go back to Kingstown, over the mountains, with dispatches."

He paused. "And, in return, I would like you to come back," he said. "Give this city, this people, and this race a chance. And consider - consider helping us."

A tilt of his head; a little bit of a wry hint to the line of his mouth. "What do you say?"

[red_wilderness]

Zarba.*

He bribed like Terra punched.

"It sounds very nearly ideal," Mars admitted softly. "Except for one thing." He closed his eyes. He wanted badly to accept Royal's offer, and something in the sheer brazenness of its generosity compelled Mars to honesty. "I don't think you quite understand the earnestness of my search. Whenever and however I get to Rayne, once I do, I will not come back to Jhelbor unless and until he comes back to Jhelbor. If he choses to fight for you or against you, I will follow him." His eyes blinked open, meeting Royal's steadily.

"I would be most grateful," he murmured, "And I prefer to pay my debts." He jerked his chin back in the direction they had come, clearly indicating the gamblers, although they were not quite in view, "As I believe you saw. If you provided passage to Kingstown, I do not think I could prevent myself from considering helping you, even if I wished to."

*Arabic for 'shit'

[man_and_monster]

"Then tell him," said Royal. "Tell him about my terms, and ask him to accept, as I would accept the terms taken by any of my soldiers." Because they were his, and his responsibility was to them.

He held Mars' gaze, firm and unyielding, the force of his charisma now not turned towards persuasion but merely towards presence.

[red_wilderness]

Mars nearly punched him.

Rayne was his soldier.

Soldier-Colonel-President and it didn't matter which, or that he would follow any orders Rayne gave. Rayne still belonged to him.

It was visceral, irrational, and counterproductive. As entity of allegiance, he didn't exist here. Even so.

"That," Mars choked out. "That much I can do." He would, too. Getting Rayne back was worth a few concessions.

[man_and_monster]

He'd said something wrong.

Nonetheless, it seemed to work well enough. He could only hope that this Rayne would be willing to keep the promises made by that which he loved.

"Very well," he said. He started to step away - "Oh," and he turned back. "Sorry to interrupt your game."

And then he was gone.