Chapter 2a: Distant Melody

[Shameless]

Eternal Sanctuary of Secrets was one of the more powerful Sidreal exalted who walked among mortals on a regular basis.   Heir to vast knowledge and hidden secrets of Creation, many sought her help, and paid handsomely for her services.   For you see, in exchange for her aid in seeking answers, she would always demand a secret from her client, as part of the payment.
 

Still, There were some times where she wished she was free of the destiny that had been woven for her.   She made a home for herself in Whitewall, and had an understanding with its Syndics.     The Dragonblooded acted quickly upon news of new anathema seen near whitewall, and she had had to act quickly to send them away, lest they be caught, and their destinies denied.
 

She had taken one of her many disguises, and promised them a fortune for succeding in a quest that would only be the first step in a dangerous, yet viable plan to bring an end to this age of Sorrow.
 

In their absence, she herself had been far from idle, knowing what would come next, and seeking to aid that as well.  She knew Shirayuki's master was still in the shadows, and while the gifts provided to the young lunar were great, so too was the expectation.   If they truly suspected who Shirayuki truly was, what awaited at the end of the journey, then generous patronage was smart beyond measure.  Still, if they were only awaiting confirmation, and then to turn on their protege, then Eternal had to be ready to spirit the young lunar away, even if it meant a real battle.

Amisera was strong, much as her first age incarnation was.  She would lead their battles, and likely, the call of the glories of the distant past would be impossible for her to ignore.   This wasn't bad per se, but she had to harness her passions, and then she would truly be ready for the later steps of the plan.
 

Tikki was a conundrum, but she would be busy when she returned.  Her guild was struggling, even with Eternal's support.  No, she would miss what came next, The guild needed her more.
 

That didn't mean Eternal could simply accompany the lunar and solar.  No, she couldn't leave this place yet, there was much left to be done, more groundwork to be shored up.   
 

Thankfully, she had indeed found another who could journey with them, and help them in what was to come.   "To think this city would shelter two of them, I wonder who weaved such a fate."  It was a secret even she didn't know, but that didn't mean someone didn't know.

She donned another disguise, this one with brown hair, she wore when she wanted to hide among the common people.  To many she would seem an attractive merchant's daughter, which was fine, as she and two of her own mortal servants, both were maids and bodyguards.  Together the three of them dressed in more normal clothes, went to one of the concert halls of Whitewall.  Not the great grand chapels, but the the smaller ones, for those of means, but not outright nobility.   The  concert tonight would see half the proceeds go to the Sisters of Serenity charity, which provided medical attention to the less fortunate of the city, those on the outer edges, forced to live in rubble and look in.  In addition, it would fund a free concert to be held in one of the edge's few remaining ampitheaters, open to anyone.  One of the servants paid, and they took their seats among the others, waiting for it to begin.   She wove defensive charms on the three of them as a precaution, she wasn't without enemies after all.  
 

(Krul here you go Grace is the star of this show, feel free to play this up to whatever level you wish.   This likely isn't the first concert here Grace has given, and won't be the last.   There are about 300 people in the audience, making it fairly decent sized, and while not sold out, there are few spots open.)

[Krul]

The point of song and dance from Graceful Spirit's viewpoint was to uplift, encourage and entertain, to insure a healthy and happy spirit as well as mind and body, both of which needed other things, but she had some capability in healing everything.  The gathering was small compared to some, but she wasn't performing in in one of the amphitheaters, though the plan was eventually to do just that, once she was more established.  She had quietly approached the Syndics upon her return to the city, at least one was aware of her nature, and remembered she was born in the city, almost certainly one of then was well connected in the Bureau of Destiny, though since they were masked, there was no way to tell for sure which if not all of them.  As a priestess of Venus, a healer and musician she believed she had much to offer the city of her birth, and from what she could tell, they agreed, at least encouraging her to put on a few performances, and some work in the cities healing halls.

 

But that was a consideration for a different time, for now she was here to perform, sat in the stool in front of the audience, beginning with her harp, though her favorite instrument was the flute, with the harp she could also sing, and she harmonized her voice with the tune, as she was taught too, after all, learning music from the goddess of music meant meant you learned it's depths.

 

Let my melody sooth your heart

Within the beauty of music's art

From shimmering of starlight above

Let the heart embrace the depths of love

 

Wood grows, fire burns, water flows,

earth gleams and air blows

While sun moon and stars divine 

The unseen thread of fates design

 

Within the city of whitest walls

Be loyal and true to these halls

Maker craft, Solder fight,  Farmer seed

Merchant sell, Priestess pray, Noble lead

 

Serene blessings upon loves delight

Rising day and falling night

Be true one to another 

Family, Friend, Lover, Brother

 

 

As she finished her first song,  she moved on to others, the flute song also involved dance, and the zither was a slower but it was designed to entertain and empress and hopefully, both encourage and inspire others to donate to the Sisters of Serenity.

 

Spoiler

Krule7777 Request: `[15d10t7]` Roll: `[9, 7, 7, 6, 6, 5, 5, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1]` Result: `3`  not great, but not horrible either, still the dice roller wasn't nice to her even though spe spent a mote to add her excellency in performance.  

Edit: I was informed that the last 5 dice would have automatically become successes due to the Excellency, not extra dice to roll, so that's 8 successes, a much better result.

 

Edited Wednesday at 10:17 PM by Krul

[Shameless]

Eternal watched with a knowing eye.  Graceful Spirit was a young Sidreal Exalted, gifted with talent  far beyond what mortals could ever hope to match.   She quietly instructed one of her attendants to arrange for five  full talents of jade to be given to the Sisterhood, as she remained with the other to listen to the performance.   

Before the last handful of songs, the first attendant returned, and she sent the other to the Organizer of the concert, a talent of jade more to the sisterhood, and another to the organizer as an introduction fee, and she had made arrangements to meet with Graceful Spirit in person.

When the concert ended, one of the Sisters showed the trio backstage.

The Concert organizer, a tall, light-skinned woman with grey eyes, known to many as Sister Elena, came to meet with Graceful Spirit.  "your performance was breathtaking my Lady."  

"Truly, your efforts have already born fruit to our coffers.   There is a matter however that we would ask you to consider.  Tonight, one of the attendees has asked to meet with you privately about a matter.  In the interests of transparency, and the good your talents will bring for those of the city, I would ask you to at least consider meeting with her.  She gave generously, to the tune of seven talents, five initially, and then 2 more talents for the sisterhood itself though I think one was meant strictly for me.  I will be sharing it with the others."   She found herself unable to think selfishly around Grace, or lie.

She smiled.  "What should I tell her?"

[Krul]

It was a good thing she wore the artifact collar, without it, she would have needed time to freshen up, as it was, she was as clean and fresh as though from she had recently taken a bath.  Although there were a few things to be seen too, a generous donner was someone she was willing to grant a priority to, besides some fo the Sisterhood were already assisting in cleaning up and restoring the hall after the performance.  A moment to smooth out her hair, and put a tie in it,, the collar kept her clean and  even pristine, it didn't offer anything else  

 

"I will see her, since she want's a private discussion, ask her if one of the private rooms here will do, or if she has a suggestion, I would be willing to entertain a different location"  

[Shameless]

Sister Elena nodded, and left, returning shortly after.  "She would like to treat you to dinner, She has arranged a carriage, to take you both there.  I can take you out to where she's waiting."

For Eternal, She waited within the Carriage, the windows allowing her to see out, but allowed no one to see within.  One of her attendants stood at the door, the other in the coachman's position, and with her assent, and Sister Elena's promise that everything would be made ready for the next show the following night, Grace Followed Elena to the waiting carriage.

The woman waiting there was dressed as a maid, and the carriage was nice, even by merchant standards.   She could faintly detect magic from it, and The Maid at the door opened it for her, and helped her within before joining her, and sitting by the other occupant, and the coach set off.  

Eternal had brown hair that fell past her shoulder blades, but was done up in a braid.   Her eyes were a soft brown, but what was noticeable was that there was clearly magic at work, though not in any way harmful to anyone.

"I must say, i'd heard of you talents, but I was impressed to night.  With only the barest hints of what you can truly do, you performed masterfully, Far beyond what that theater has seen within its walls in many many years.  Your music touched many lives tonight, and the ripples from just this one concert will echo for some time.   Thank you for sharing your gifts with those with less."  She spoke with a sense of delight, as someone who had long known of the problems facing the people, but unable to really do something lasting to remedy those problems."

[Krul]

"Thank you, your kind words are appreciated, I only hope my efforts encourage and uplift the people of my home city"  She paused, considering the rest of the evidence her senses were giving her about this particular patron.  The hint of magic, could be any number of things, she could be dealing with a mortal sorceress, a god-blooded, a spirit who had taken upon human form, or a peer, the various Exalted all had various methods of disguise, lunars were best at it, but everyone had options to draw upon

 

"That however, is hardly something that needs private discussion, there is a hint of something, you are not entirely what you seem.  Which is not a problem really, but if you are willing, it would be good to know who I am truly dealing with." It she was unwilling, Graceful Spirit would let it go, but she would be keeping an eye out for hints until she had a clearer idea.

[Shameless]

Eternal smiled at her.   "When we get where we are going, I will tell you who I am."   

"There are always those out to see new talent do well, to nurture it and see it blossom fully.   I am certainly someone that applies to.  I my time, I have amassed wealth that few can match, and i've found it useful in molding events along the path I want them to go.   I've had plans in motion for awhile.  Now, set your mind at ease, what you've been doing here isn't a problem for me.   Indeed you possess gifts and talents I do not, and with those talents, I think you can make a bigger difference than my own trying to finance change."

She shrugged.  "Your music, your words, touch the souls of those who hear, making them want to be better, to live better.  It's inspiring in its way.  I'd like to do what I can to help make what you're doing easier, though of course my aid isn't without a price.   I do think though, that it's one you're able and willing to pay."

[Krul]

"Alright then, I will hear you out, and pay your price if it one I am willing to take on, though I reserve the right to decide only after I have heard everything.:"  She then went quite, waiting until the arrived at their destination, contemplating the possibilities, she was content to wait to learn what she needed too.  After a thought, she pulled out her flute and began to play a simple and sweet tune as they continued on their way.