Nightrunner Channel [Day 170]

[whattaprick]

All right, nightrunners. I’ll keep this short. I want a map of this place and I want to know what might piss the Prince off that they aren’t warning us about. The fae have rules, doesn’t mean they’re not out to trick us into breaking them.

[ It’s not like that’s how the Ringmaster gets a fair amount of her labor or anything. Last thing they need is someone turning into a vase. ]

You see anyone starting shit, figure out how to shut it down without getting attention. The Prince is going to have people working for him too -- don’t get too cozy, they’re not here to do us any favors. Learn anything worth knowing, tell the rest of us.

Any questions?

Comments

[stillwinningthehardway]

Somewhat. I'm supposed to be able to cover other people, and places too, but I have the feeling that won't work so well on someone else's territory.

[whattaprick]

Probably not. No sense taking risks we don't need to, but if it's a Jedi thing and not fae magic, maybe it'll work.

[ At this point, at least, he sounds like he's managed to cool off from earlier ... though his tone still carries an edge of tension, it's not directed at anything in particular besides the desire to get this sorted out. ]

How well does it work for sound?

[stillwinningthehardway]

[Scout makes the smallest involuntary noise. She'd forgotten that she'd said Jedi around him once. Her tone of voice is more remote and removed than usual.]

It's at least partly fae. This is what my second contract's for - I never had any skill at the cloak of shadow talents, but this is very similar to them.

I can't make anything invisible or inaudible, just unnoticed. So it'd depend on how much sound. Classically the cloak is shredded when the practitioner touches someone.

[whattaprick]

[ Even half-poisoned out of his mind, Lambert's not like to forget something like that so readily, but though he frowns at her tone of voice, he assumes she's just keeping the same distance he's trying to. ]

Seems like sounds gonna be the problem for most of us with stealth. Probably worth bringing some pen and paper...

[ Even if passing notes feels, well, a little infantile. ]

[stillwinningthehardway]

Wear soft shoes and cloth that doesn't rustle. [This is the most subdued sarcasm she's used in a while:] Also, don't yell.

There's not enough notice to learn hand codes or anything like that, so yes.

[Dæmons would be a good answer. The ones on the simple spell level can only be seen and heard by their bodies and other dæmons. But we're not at that point shh.]

[whattaprick]

I'm not really into wearing heels or satin, so that's not going to be a problem.

[ Look, he can joke too. ]

Whole thing eeemd pretty rushed.

[stillwinningthehardway]

[Nope, not playing along this time.]

Cloaking will work better on non-gaudy clothing too, honestly. Either something like whatever the servants wear or just anything that doesn't stand out. Obviously when you're supposed to be seen complying with these rules it's different. Keep covert investigations and I'm-a-good-obedient-guest performances apart.

Yup.

[whattaprick]

You got one of those phoenix fruit trees, didn't you? Did you plant it?

[stillwinningthehardway]

Yes, it grows orange fruit. The kind that makes you stay alert.

This is leading to 'take mind-altering substances while on a mission', I can feel it.

[whattaprick]

I've got red. The stuff that keeps your energy up.

Figure all the nightrunners ought to have one of each, in case they need it.

[stillwinningthehardway]

Yellow ones help with healing. Yeah, that tracks.

I'm still half expecting that you take too many and you get, uh, your skin turns into the peel, though.

[whattaprick]

Seriously? That doesn't happen with everything I eat, you know. [ Lambert can't help snorting. But after a beat, he goes on. ]

Like you said, there isn't enough time to learn hand codes -- not enough to carry a conversation. But maybe we can come up with signals to use when we're in front of the Prince and his servants. Like while we're eating.

[stillwinningthehardway]

Mysterious fae fruit are a good candidate for that and you know it.

Right. Well, the obvious ones are needing to say "I need to talk to you in private" and "Lay low, you're watched." Or "I'm watched".

Can you reach the table in front of you with your tail when you're sitting down?

[whattaprick]

I can. Why?

[stillwinningthehardway]

It's a good part of a signal - easy to see, distinctive, but also not too obvious. If you adjust something in front of you with your tail that's a good sign that you're getting extra attention. Given that we know the Prince prefers baseline humans he might notice though.

A lot is going to depend on how closely we're watched and how paranoid they all are.

[whattaprick]

That only works for the people with a tail, but that's a thought if I need all the nightrunners to know something quick.

You're going to that practice dinner, right? Maybe you can get some ideas there.

[stillwinningthehardway]

Mine's only so flexible. I could just about nudge a plate. That's part of the point, though - if we all do the same things, it's more likely to get noticed. This is assuming it stretches on, of course. Maybe we'll get lucky and this'll only be a few days.

Yes, I've al- [wow no, Scout checks herself, she's not going to say what she did to calm down.] I'm going.

[whattaprick]

[ Neither is Lambert, so that makes two of them. Subtlety isn't his forte, though, so he's not the one with creative ideas here. ]

Right ... well, 'listen to me,' 'talk later,' 'all clear,' and 'watch out' are enough to start.

[stillwinningthehardway]

I had... colleagues who developed this whole system of gestures around their faces and facial hair as signals. Don't do that. That's a terrible idea. It's so obvious!

Things that you could do innocently or idly are better. Like - oh, meeting someone's eyes and raising your eyebrows.

[whattaprick]

Like what, twirling a moustache or something? [ That sounds stupid. It also sounds like something Lambert would do if he actually had a moustache to twirl, so ... ]

That sounds like it would get hard to tell when you're just talking or trying to warn someone about something. [ Seriously, do you know how many times he raises his brows in any given conversation? Because it's a lot. ]

[stillwinningthehardway]

Yes. They would just do it in front of everyone and claim it was tactical. There's nothing tactical about it! It's literally "I'm saying something to my Master in front of you and you can't tell what it is!" Which was probably the point, but.... not tactical.

[See this deleted scene from RotS. If she's getting a little heated and putting on an unflattering voice it's because she's long reached the point where anything and everything the Traitor ever did is the worst thing ever.]

Just make it significant. Do it during a pause. If I nod I think it's a signal, and then if it actually isn't go make a face or something.