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Silk Moon Lotus	For once, the stars shine brightly tonight. The bussle on the streets have died down. The bright light shining out of the Crossed Spears makes it very welcoming. The smell of cooking meat and stew coming from inside make it even more inviting. The music coming from inside feels to draw passersby to the tavern.
Bright Journey	It doesn't matter how much time Bright Journey has spent in the wilderness hunting, or gathering herbs, or lately, even tracking down a few cultists. She's still never going to feel as comfortable out there in the middle of nowhere as she is in comfort, around people. Good food certainly doesn't hurt, either! Stepping into the establishment, Bright takes a deep sniff at the wafting smell of stew. A smile lights up her face, despite her great cloak covering her shoulders, and thus for the most part her armor, and that hood covering her head. She tippy-toes and cranes her neck around in the time-honored 'I'm not the first of my party to arrive' dance common to every restaurant.
Amethyst	Keeping careful eyes about during her journey, and also keeping her ears peeled, the alchemist snakes through the city. She keeps a silver canister ready just in case she spots trouble from the rooftops. As much she intends to be captured, she certainly doesn't want to be caught flat-footed or heaven forbid, lead them to her destination. But fortunately, she arrives safe and sound at the tavern. As she looks towards those gathered, there's a long breath she lets out as her ears relax and she joins the others. She looks just slightly out of breath.
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk occupies her usual spot at the bar talking with the bartender, a dark skinned man standing over seven feet tall. "I'm telling you Deacon, I won that game fairly." Silk slips a small piece of jade across the bar to him. "I'll need to use the room again tonight." Deacon looks down at Silk and smiles. "Of course, the usual then?" Silk nods her head slightly and stands up. She walks over to a section of the wall that doesn't look any different from the rest and touchs it in several different places in quick succession causing a section of the wall to open reveiling a doorway. Silk turns around in the doorway. She spots her well dressed friend's cloak and gestures invitingly inside.
Bright Journey	There's a genuine smile that crosses Bright's features as she's recognized. Of course, she kind of stands out in most cases, but hey, it's still nice to be noticed when you think like Bright does. (Silk, perhaps, might not always agree!) With the gesture of invitation, Bright makes her way across the restaurant and nods to Silk as she steps inside. "You're moving up in the world, my dear. I won't deny I'm feeling a bit jealous. Really, I need to take a serious stab at improving my own surroundings..." Her voice trails off as she turns a bit thoughtful. "...Well. It's a bit of a personal dilemma, one you might be in a unique position to appreciate. But that's not really the topic of the night, is it?" With that, Bright steps inside, has a gracious seat, and waits for her compatriots to join her.
Spring Wind	Poking her head out of Amethyst's pocket, possibly a vest or belt one, Spring checks the area before scurrying out and finding a relatively shady corner to change back. Walking back to the table, she sits down. "So the last expedition was a success. How are you holding up?" she asks, "The world's kinda crazy right now with the disappearances." looking over at a nearby table she then waves to a young woman with a cross-shaped scar. "Heeeeeey, Paces!" she says, then looks back to the others. "Just a friend. Paces like a treasure map."
Amethyst	Amethyst follows and she can feel how empty her pockets are when jade just gets slid to the bartender to pay for the room. Tho she has jade herself now, she hasn't 'very much' of it. Of course she's still wealthier than many mortals would ever dream of, but she's poor for a Dragon-Blooded. In time Amethyst, in time. Her ears dance a little dance as she goes through her emotions. "I could stand to rise a bit myself." She glances at Bright. "Maybe we can help eachother in this regard. I do plan on doing more things than this." She grins and takes a seat herself.
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk waits for the serving girl to place the platters of food and the pitchers of ale and water on the table. She closes the door to the room. A series of wards light up around the room signaling the magics have been engaged. Silk purs "You know that I'm always glad to help you with raising some money. I have to be careful which gambling houses I visit. I seem to be winning a little too often." A smile sliding across her face. Silk moves over to the table and picks up a slice of roast meat and rolls it up around a piece of fruit. "You have to try it, very tasty." Silk sits down in one of the chairs. "The wards were created by some "friends" of mine to allow for private conversations." She looks over at Bright "I don't know of anyone that can find us without an exalt's heightened senses." Silk gestures to everyone present. "Let's talk about the plan, shall we?"
Bright Journey	Bright Journey takes a deep breath, then nods. She pointedly waits for the door to be closed, though, before mentioning anything more. She crosses her arms and looks to one side...really, at nothing in particular. I've come to several different realizations recently, and one of them has to do with exactly this." She gestures to the room in general. "Who we are, why we're here. I...was raised to be honest. To just do a day's work and get a day's pay. What we're talking about doing is not something I'd have ever even considered a few years ago, would have laughed at the very thought of it. "But now, I'm who I am to -save- people. A hell of a lot of them, if the visions I've had hold true. And...well, you all know as well as I what the Realm thinks of all of us. Even you, Amethyst. There's no honest work there, and even if there were I would never fulfill my destiny. So I've had to ask myself, can I lie? Cheat? Steal? Has the Wyld Hunt driven me--us, even--to what they accuse us of being?" Bright smiles again, a little more wan but no less honest. "Sorry for changing the topic. We're not here to talk about that, obviously. But it's been welling up in me and I had to get it out. Don't feel like any of you have to answer...I just had to say it."
Spring Wind	"Oh I can teach you how if you don't know how to lie, cheat, and steal." Spring says, nonchalantly. "My policy tends mostly towards not killing people unless I have to, most of the harm comes from some real idiots who can't tell the difference between up and down." she observes, taking a sip from a flask in a tunic pocket. "But you do have people who actually know the pain they're inflicting on others and are probably more like... I dunno, walking and talking bags of malice. Demons are like that by nature, it takes a whole 'nother case to make someone choose to be a flaming refuse heap."
Amethyst	"Even me, the weird dragon that wishes she was more silver." Amethyst mutters to herself. "I dunno whether they'd kill me or try to drag me to the Cloister of Wisdom to learn the 'correct way of things'. But it's clear I'm with you lot now." She looks up at the ceiling. "Why is it that the Realm hates us so much? Why do their books teach that we are nothing but evil and souless? And even the /actually/ souless Raksha are treated better than this. A Raksha is only Anathema when they cause sufficient problems." "It's just stupid." Amethyst concludes, looking back. "I half just wanna burn the monastery down out of utter frustration. I can understand now why my father was so frustrated by the scriptures. I always thought he just didn't understand the lessons." She sighs. "Not much I can do now. Heh, maybe later tonight I'll finally get to see him again."
Silk Moon Lotus	Looking over at Bright "I don't want you to do anything that compromises your personal rules. If anyone wants to stay outside and provide distractions, that works for me. I've figured out a way to get people to ignore me as long as I don't do anything out of character. I cannot cause others to ignore anyone else." Silk looks around the table at her companions and nods at Spring. "I'm always willing to take things from people that have more than they need." "I think we should have the fewest people possible go inside. Myself, Ame, Spring, and maybe one more at the most. Everyone else should be outside I think. There are too many things that could go wrong inside. What are our objectives and the priorities?"
Bright Journey	Bright nods in understanding, looking at Amethyst in particular. "You know, I guess that might be something to think about. The 'correct way of things'. Maybe you're a better Dragon than they are. Maybe they should be asking -you- who is evil and soulless." Bright's voice calms down a bit as she looks back at Silk Moon Lotus. "I'm sorry about that little diversion. I know we don't have all night in this room, and I'm sure it's costing you. But..." Bright pauses to gather her thoughts. And a glass of mulled wine. "...But perhaps it was a short conversation well worth having. So we can focus on the details." She takes a sip of wine and considers carefully. "Well. I agree I have no business being inside there. I'm certain I can attract attention and keep it. Maybe they'll be interested in describing the Immaculate Philosophy to someone who really doesn't know much about it." She has a wry little smile. "Hoist on their own asinine religion, I suppose. It has a pleasing irony, especially since I really -don't- know much about it."
Spring Wind	"I mean I have no idea what it's about other than, 'Hierarchy good, not-dragons bad, also we get to sit at the top of the hierarchy because cosmic mysteries AKA we're full of shit'." Spring says, shrugging. "I mean they're good a mystical facepunching which is troubling but I don't really care that much about their ideas. 'Course, whether they corrupted them over time or not is another 'Thing' that's possible. Or maybe they just made it all up from the beginning."
Amethyst	"I might be the only Child of Daana'd who actually grasps the sorts of things Danaa'd embodies." Amethyst says simply to Bright. And then to Spring, maybe a bit defensively. "Most of the ideals aren't necessarily /wrong/ and Lookshyian philosophy doesn't put the Dragons on the top of the heirarchy. It feels like most of it works, and there's something just deliberately left out and I have no idea what it is." Amethyst shakes her head and closes her eyes for a moment to restore her own focus. "What we want is, well, I'm not sure what they even have. And that's the crux of what I want to get to in this meeting. We know so little about our adversary that we don't even know where to begin with a proper plan. Obviously I want the scrolls for both studying and because their martial art scrolls are invaluable. But I'm sure they also have jade and artifacts and maybe other things. I think first we should take measures to learn about what we're up against before we go in their blindly. Even if we look like we belong, and certainly I know enough about the Philosophy to fit in, wandering around looking for things like fools isn't going to do us any favors."
Silk Moon Lotus	"If you are both looking for a place to live, I happen to have won a house recently in a game of chance. It is large enough for a few of my friends to live there with me and not be on top of each other. You could also live in the cave if you want more privacy." Silk smiles again "Like I said, taking from those that can afford it doesn't bother me." "Perhaps if Spring, Frosty, and Rishi were willing to go in to scout it out as smallish animals to explore a bit?" Silk thinks about it for a moment. "I know it's a risk sending people in ahead of time but we do need to know what we are getting into before we go in." Silk looks at Spring "Is that possible for you to scout unnoticed? I know you can become a rat and I'm sure they have some rats in there already."
Bright Journey	At the discussion of Danaa'd and Lookshyan philosophy, Bright starts to look a bit more out of her depth, just getting a wry grin on her face as she starts to dig into the meat and fruit, much like how Silk rolled them up. "Honestly, I know so little on the topic part of me is -happy- to talk to the monks just to find out what it is they think they know. Can't wait for them to pat me on my head and tell me I belong in the Cloister." She snickers quietly. "Not sure I could act dumb enough to fool them forever, though. They're the kinds of folks who get excited when people ask intelligent, but not too intelligent, questions. So long as I don't try to poke holes in their arguments I should be able to keep them talking for ages." She pauses to consider Amethyst and Silk's words, taking another sip of wine. "If they can explore safely, I think that would be an excellent idea. The biggest thing we have is they have no idea we're coming. Maybe we can take advantage of that." She frowns deeply. "I just hope we don't drag a whole bunch of Wyld Hunt into Great Forks. They'll be really, REALLY pissed once this is done. And we really have to be careful not to kill, probably."
Spring Wind	"Oh, yeah. I've got a few others too. Rats are common as all get-out, so it's an amazing benefit when I need to be unseen." Spring says, looking towards Silk, "It seemed like the more relevant question, so having answered your second: I do target people who can afford to lose it. Most often the ones that also treat the poor like they exist to serve them, provide amusement in a sadistic manner, the list goes on. 'Course there's also just blowing up Guildsman stores if it's something screwy they've got stashed or... I dunno, freeing slaves. So much work, so little time-... Kinda. I have a long life."
Amethyst	"Well that settles it. Spring can go in rat form, I dunno how well Rishi and Frosty could sneak but they could possibly tag along. And you get an idea of what it's like on the inside, making our life just a little bit easier. A distraction from some ignorant but curious folks while me, Silk, and Spring sneak around and collect what we're after, I think that could work. I wonder if we could just smuggle the scrolls out of there without them noticing. Getting any artifacts out would be more difficult." Amethyst says in earnest. "Either way, it would be /ideal/ if they didn't notice anything wrong at all, but I doubt any of us could copy such scrolls that quickly. Otherwise it'd be ideal for them not to notice them missing until it's time for us to bail. And I figure both groups will have demons with them to send messages to the other party that things have either gone well and it's time to get out, or that things are about to get messy."
Silk Moon Lotus	"It sounds like we have a rough plan to scout first. Once the scouting run is done, we can plan how we will get around the place. Bright, maybe if we get you some basic information, you can go in acting like you are interested in joining but have questions? Ames and I grew up in families that knew the philosophies reasonably well."
Bright Journey	Bright looks very thoughtful and leans back, swirling her drink before downing the rest of it. A bit poseur, maybe, but hey, it's fun sometimes. "Well, a few things. I remember the demon messenger thing, and I'm assuming both of us will have them, yes. Or a spell, I thought someone was talking about something like that, but I don't know the details. I do know that I'm too distinctive looking to try this more than once, but if I do it right, hopefully I can make it seem like my distracting them was coincidence--bad luck rather than timing. That will be a LOT easier to pull off if they never know you all were there, if you can take what you need without anyone ever finding out when it happened. Good thing for us, the scrolls we want are the ones they won't be opening every day, hopefully." Bright leans forward, resting her elbows on her knees and furrowing her brow. "As for talking to them, it will be better if I start just by collecting information. Not only do I not want to appear too eager, but I don't want to know too little -or- too much. You all seem to know more than the poor-but-smart girl I plan on looking like, and yes, when we're done planning I'd like to pick your brains a bit on what a relatively pious, but uneducated person would know. Immaculate monks are not picked by how stupid they are. I have to twist their love for their philosophy into an eagerness that will make them forget about watching their backs. Like dangling a fishing line, sort of. For instance, I know they think the Chosen of the Dragons really are the best to rule the world, but how do they explain away, say, slavery? Or poverty? Or how debauched their own leaders are?"
Spring Wind	"Their two answers are, 'Superiority' and a lack thereof, paradoxically." Spring says, "By which I mean giving an answer that provides no understanding." she adds, shrugging. "I mean I understand that they're not stupid, but as I said before that just... Kind of makes it worse. Seeing what is, and thinking it's acceptable or that more oppression is going to solve the matter. People can be all sorts of things, narrowing it down to causing harm just... It's a waste."
Amethyst	"Well, part of the plan is also, with Rishi's and Hoarfrost's help if not Silk's, to look like people aside from us. Heaven forbid they know our faces and come knocking down our doors. None of us are ready for a wyld hunt. That reminds me that I should make contigencies in case that /does/ come for us tho. It will eventually, when we rise to prominance." Amethyst muses. And then she grins at Bright. "I'd be happy to tell you some basic things folks would know about the Immaculate Philosophy." "In any case, I figure we go out and gather some intel, and then return and talk how we're gonna pull it off."