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| Action Id: 4471 | Crisis: | Participants: Bhandn | |
| Status: Resolved | Submitted: Jan. 14, 2022, 6:47 p.m. | Public: True | GM: Herja |
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Action by Bhandn
Each time that Bhandn has looked into the nature of Fidelis or the effects it has on him (actions 3677 and 4082), an individual presumed to be the Fractal Sapphire has been present. In Bhandn's mind, she is clearly watching him, and with his recently developed unease that Orichalcum is targeting the Fractal Order with the goal of binding them to his will, Bhandn intends to try and get Sapphire's attention once again by way of meditating on Fidelis at the Hall of Heroes.
He isn't completely sure this will succeed, or that it will go anywhere close to how he'll expect, but he's confident in his belief that Sapphire's watching for when he Does Things that are a bit supernatural. As he meditates, he thinks on that dream where a beautiful woman in the Bijoux told him that he was a scion of a Cardian House (vision 4435), a woman that he suspects was Sapphire. She called him her "sweetest jailor" when he meditated on Fidelis with the Morgans present, and it's this statement that lends credence towards him having a rapport with her in a past life. Someone also gave Bhandn a peace-tied dagger (goal 955 rfr) that Prince Laric told Bhandn might be a promise from Sapphire not to murder Bhandn so long as he leaves the tie inviolate, and so it's Bhandn's hope that he can open a dialogue with Sapphire with that dagger as "protection" should she respond to his very roundabout way of getting her attention. If she answers, his intention is to warn her to warn her cohorts, assuming she is not already aware of recent events, particularly the theft from House Blackram of jewelry set with a black diamond.
Result
Trying to reach out to a Fractal is suicidally dangerous business. After all, most of them don't really take calls from random Knights and, especially when dealing with Sapphire, one wouldn't likely want her to reach out on a whim. Sapphire's whims are often dangerous. And bloody. On a good day. Still, Bhandn is determined.
Luckily for him, there is no answer from Sapphire. She is 'otherwise occupied' at the moment.
But his meditations do get him an answer of a sort. See, meditating is hard and sort of boring and after a long day of doing work for the Knights of Solace, who can really blame Bhandn if he slips into a doze as he is trying to get the attention of a crazy Fractal?
As he nods off, he can sense someone there at the edge of his vision, a breathtakingly beautiful woman with red hair and golden eyes. She watches him from across the room, a room gone hazy and indistinct. Its details aren't important to this dream, after all. Only her.
He already knows her name. He has known it for a very long time. He whispers it, mostly to himself, "Cynara."
"Ah, old friend. Sorry to interrupt whatever foolishness you've been undertaking here, but I figured it was time for a chat. I haven't long. There are things that lurk in these dreams now and I would rather they not be attracted to you." She stands, regal as a Queen in a snowy white stola with a golden diadem crowning her ruby curls. "First, if you are determined to kill yourself by calling on the Abyss, I can make it much more pleasant for you."
She takes a few steps forward, he opens his mouth to speak, but there are no words. Cynara smiles, slow and beguiling, as she steps a little closer. "You are looking for answers to the wrong questions, old friend. In the old life, you betrayed and were betrayed. It was... regretful. You were not made to be a plaything of the powerful. Don't cheapen yourself by currying favor with the Fractal, with the Tribune, or even with me. If you do not remember -how- the Fractal tricked you, then you are bound to repeat your mistake and unravel your own soul."
Up close now, the dragon, for that is what he knows her to be, smells of smoke and something like cinnamon, radiates heat like a hearthfire. She leans in to kiss his cheek, an almost motherly show of effection before she whispers there, "For now, warn your people that the Metallic Traitor is amassing an army. Tell them that if they want to slow him down, convince the mad thorn witch to turn on him. If you cannot turn her, you better kill her and quickly." He wakes with a start, shivering, but not from the cold.