< The Land of Frozen Death | Sol Invictus Logs | A Cloak of Death >
Telani waits with bated breath to hear what Cerin has planned for her.
Cerin "You are aware, I am sure, that we are not quite so universally loved as we might wish to be?"
Telani laughs.
Cerin grins back
Cerin "Well, that isn't really what I am concerned with, in general."
Cerin "What I am concerned with are specific and organised plots, to attack the Sunlands or any of its people, including ourselves."
Cerin "Does the phrase 'Broken Suns' mean anything to you?"
Telani thinks for a moment. "No, I can't say that it does."
Cerin "Well, that is perhaps not surprising. It meant very little to me a week ago, either."
Cerin "However, it is a name that you will get to know very well, as I would like you to tell me all about them."
Telani looks a little perplexed at Cerin's statement. "How am I supposed to do this?"
Cerin "However you think best," he says with a smile. "I am not expecting an immediate answer."
Telani looks at him. "So what do you know about this phrase, exactly, and what leads you to believe it is worthy of further investigation?"
Cerin "I know that is associated with an organisation or a cult .. I am not sure which, who are plotting against the rulers of the Sunlands." (...)
Cerin "They operate in a cell structure, and several of them appear to be tattooed with the symbol of a sun broken in two." (...)
Cerin "They are being organised by a mysterious figure who appears to them in dreams, and that there are thousands of them. And this is all any of the cells that have been capture or killed have told us." (...)
Cerin "This isn't enough information."
Telani shakes her head. "No, it isn't." She pauses. "What are they told in these dreams?"
Cerin "The figure speaks of vengence, of the ills they have suffered. And then they see a vision, of thousands of souls, working in circles, all the circles interlocking, to bring everything the Sunlands is crashing down. This appears to be universal." (...)
Cerin "The second part of the dream concerns the joining of the cell, and seems to consist of a vision of a place known to the recruit, and then a sign or portent - an odd shaped cloud, an unsual flock of birds or similar." (...)
Cerin "When the person follows the signs, they are inducted."
Telani "...huh." She blinks. "And the cell members do not know of each other's identities from these dreams?"
Cerin "Not until they follow them to the meeting point. That appears to be the first they know of them."
Telani nods. "And how am I supposed to find one of these meeting places, if those who arrive at them are told only in dreams?"
Cerin "It would be my suggestion to subtly make yourself appear to be the sort of person they might wish to recruit," he smiles. "You're already part way there."
Telani "Hrmph," she says.
Cerin "Our foe, whoever they are, has chosen well with the medium of dream. They are hard to notice and harder to trace."
Telani nods. "It makes sense. I'll have to head back and get down to business, I suppose."
Cerin nods. "I suppose I do not need to caution you that this could be incrediably dangerous," he says. "No ... is incrediably dangerous."
Telani nods. "You do not particularly. I would have assumed."
Telani thinks for a moment. "It wouldn't hurt to have one trick up my sleeve, though."
Cerin "Indeed, it would not. What did you have in mind?"
Telani "A way to escape, or to call on some sort of aid, in a pinch." She drums her fingers on the table. "I expect to be able to see danger coming, but that leaves me with the difficulty of getting out of its way...."
Cerin nods. "This is often the more difficult aspect of approaching danger."
Cerin opens his hand to reveal a small broach in the form of a begonia flower. "Concentrate upon this and it will deliver a message, and a sense of location. Someone will come," he says resolutely. "It can deliver a message only once," he adds, as a caution.
Telani nods. "Alright then. I'd better go get started."
Cerin nods.
< The Land of Frozen Death | Sol Invictus Logs | A Cloak of Death >
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