Surely using bombshells goes against all the general principles of assassination? Unless, of course, you're assassinating someone who will be visiting a museum of military technology or is already in a warzone.... If you need a reminder, here is where we left Labdaris when we last saw him.
The bombshell As the fire warmed him Labdaris started to feel hungry as well. A curt command received a distant reply, and he sat with his back to the fire, watching the shadows in the cave dance, waiting for food. He considered the two sources of Power that he now seemed to have access to, and found himself feeling slightly unclean whenever he dwelled on the yellow-tinged Source that came from the King in Yellow. "There were always rumours of infection," he murmured to himself. The young woman, dressed in warm peasant clothing and carrying a plate of hot meats and relishes, looked at him curiously but he was speaking in English and she understood only Polish. He took the plate and waved her away. There were still chills pulsing up spine and his feet had not yet begun to thaw. "I wonder if this jaundice spreads throughout the Power somehow? Then it must have a limited range or the King would have won a long time ago." That others might have separated it out like he had was dismissed immediately, as it was obvious to him that doing so required exceptional perception and skill with the Power. "But it is different, and so... I wonder...." He thought while he ate, considering how to use the Sources of Power both together and distinctly, and as he tore into that last pork loin on the plate he smiled wolfishly. Red relish dripped from a corner of his mouth and ran down his chin and in the firelight he looked suddenly feral.
"Is it going to be safe to open a Gate to Carcosa now?" Elizabeth waited for Memnith to answer. The longer the silence dragged out, the more worried she got. Finally he sighed. "Depends," he said. "It always depends!" She stood up and stamped across the room. "Is there anything that doesn't depend?" "What do you think?" His quiet voice was enough to get her to pause and think, and as the various things that could happen started to occur to her, it was quickly followed by the thought that Lord Vileburn could probably think of three times more than her. "Fine," she said. "How do we go from 'depends' to 'yes'?" "Don't be so impatient," said Memnith. "The King likes to drop little bombshells from time to time to make sure we're awake and paying proper attention." Elizabeth's indignant silence was eloquent.
"It can be chained," said Labdaris. The Recorder was in the room with him now, sitting patiently while Labdaris dictated his thoughts. "There are two Sources, and I want to keep them separate, but if I create incomplete spell constructs separately, chaining them, then -- and only then, I can create a second construct that spills power from one part to another and completes the spells while keeping me entirely out of the loop. That way the spells enact, but the mage stays apart." He paused, and stared off into the distance at something only he could see. "I'm beyond genius," he said. "This is something completely new. They will be forced to take me back when I demonstrate this."
Hmm, Labdaris grows more worrying with each visit, I think. While Elizabeth and Memnith seem to be spinning their tires, so to speak. A troubling combination...
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Surely using bombshells goes against all the general principles of assassination? Unless, of course, you're assassinating someone who will be visiting a museum of military technology or is already in a warzone....
If you need a reminder, here is where we left Labdaris when we last saw him.
The bombshell
As the fire warmed him Labdaris started to feel hungry as well. A curt command received a distant reply, and he sat with his back to the fire, watching the shadows in the cave dance, waiting for food. He considered the two sources of Power that he now seemed to have access to, and found himself feeling slightly unclean whenever he dwelled on the yellow-tinged Source that came from the King in Yellow.
"There were always rumours of infection," he murmured to himself. The young woman, dressed in warm peasant clothing and carrying a plate of hot meats and relishes, looked at him curiously but he was speaking in English and she understood only Polish. He took the plate and waved her away. There were still chills pulsing up spine and his feet had not yet begun to thaw. "I wonder if this jaundice spreads throughout the Power somehow? Then it must have a limited range or the King would have won a long time ago." That others might have separated it out like he had was dismissed immediately, as it was obvious to him that doing so required exceptional perception and skill with the Power. "But it is different, and so... I wonder...."
He thought while he ate, considering how to use the Sources of Power both together and distinctly, and as he tore into that last pork loin on the plate he smiled wolfishly. Red relish dripped from a corner of his mouth and ran down his chin and in the firelight he looked suddenly feral.
"Is it going to be safe to open a Gate to Carcosa now?" Elizabeth waited for Memnith to answer. The longer the silence dragged out, the more worried she got. Finally he sighed.
"Depends," he said.
"It always depends!" She stood up and stamped across the room. "Is there anything that doesn't depend?"
"What do you think?"
His quiet voice was enough to get her to pause and think, and as the various things that could happen started to occur to her, it was quickly followed by the thought that Lord Vileburn could probably think of three times more than her.
"Fine," she said. "How do we go from 'depends' to 'yes'?"
"Don't be so impatient," said Memnith. "The King likes to drop little bombshells from time to time to make sure we're awake and paying proper attention."
Elizabeth's indignant silence was eloquent.
"It can be chained," said Labdaris. The Recorder was in the room with him now, sitting patiently while Labdaris dictated his thoughts. "There are two Sources, and I want to keep them separate, but if I create incomplete spell constructs separately, chaining them, then -- and only then, I can create a second construct that spills power from one part to another and completes the spells while keeping me entirely out of the loop. That way the spells enact, but the mage stays apart." He paused, and stared off into the distance at something only he could see. "I'm beyond genius," he said. "This is something completely new. They will be forced to take me back when I demonstrate this."
Greg - no comment :P
Hmm, Labdaris grows more worrying with each visit, I think. While Elizabeth and Memnith seem to be spinning their tires, so to speak. A troubling combination...
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