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Bright Journey	It's early morning--very early morning, perhaps an hour or two after midnight. The clouds hang pitch-black and dreary overhead, a fairly even mix of drizzle and heavier rain swapping places by the hour. The ambient light is solely what the streetlamps and lanterns can provide, and at this point few people indeed are on the road. It's a bizarre time, indeed, for Bright Journey of all people to open the Mansion's front door, her hooded cloak all that's visible of her in the cold and damp as she steps through the door. The lights in the Mansion are also dim, the huge skylight over the central hall providing no assistance and the lanterns dimmed in deference to the time of night. She yawns delicately as she moves to doff her cloak, her expression deep in distracted thought.
Silk Moon Lotus	Having finished up at her favorite gaming house, Silk decided that she hasn't seen Briht in a few days and heads home to make some breakfast for her friend and listen to the latest craziness that Bright has gotten into. Walking up the driveway, Silk spots the the door closing and hastens to the manor to see why Bright is coming home so late. Perhaps they can have a late night snack instead over some wine.
Bright Journey	Silk's instincts are spot on, of course--Bright is indeed in the kitchen by herself, the servants having all gone to bed some time before. She's pouring a nice glass of red from a carafe, and though one pink eyebrow raises at the sound of the door opening and closing again, she can't help but smile a bit as she pours a second glass. With a glass in each hand, Bright peeks out into the hall curiously, her multicolored eyes darting this way and that. "Silk? That -is- you, Silk, right?" Her inquiry all but echoes in the quiet hall, despite her having pitched her voice low in deference to the tender hour. Only the constant patter of rain on the roof and skylight overhead can be heard elsewise.
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk's supernaturally sharp ears hear Bright calling out to her from the kitchen. She pitches her voice just loud enough for Bright to hear. "Indeed it is Bright. You have had a late night. Do you want to tell me about it? Business was kind of slow so I figured I'd come home a little early. I mean, this tournement has been "very" good for business. So everyone is spending early and not playing other games of chance. Shall we head over to the study?" Silk opens a chest and pulls out some hard cheese and grabs a knife from the block. Pauses a moment and grabs to small plates from the counter.
Bright Journey	"Now that sounds lovely. And, yes, I've had -several- late nights, in all honesty, and I'm not terribly used to it. But before I can get some rest, the two of us truly need to talk." Bright thinks better of simply taking the glasses--instead, she collects a tray and the carafe, as well. All the better for a long fireside chat. In the study, Bright is on her knees in front of the fireplace, stoking and fueling the otherwise dimming embers from the evening before. She half-turns and offers Silk one of her patented smiles, though it doesn't quite reach her eyes. Clearly, she's tired, of course...but also, she has a great deal on her mind. It would be impossible to hide that from Silk even if she cared to, but in the quiet of the late night, she simply gets up, takes a wine glass in hand, and settles down into an overstuffed reading chair by the fire. "It's good to see you again, Silk. A -lot- has happened at the Arena, and I first want to apologize for not filling you in sooner. Everything kind of happened...well, not all at once, but fairly quickly over the course of the last few days. You really need to know about this."
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk settles into her chair a cuts up the cheese while Bright stokes the fire back to life. She splits it evenly with her friend and places each half on a plate. She set Bright's plate on the small table next to her favorite chair. She sits back and absorbs what her firend has tells her about the Arena happenings and waits for the Bright to tell her the bad news. "OK, tell me what's up. I promise not to do anything rash until you finish."
Bright Journey	"Well, that's good," Bright murmurs with a chuckle. "Not that you've ever been a rash sort of person, but it's just as well. There's been enough rash people involved in this--Raullaur, Makara--and we need to tamp things down, not allow them to escalate." She sighs a bit. "But I'm getting ahead of myself. Here's the important bit." Bright leans forward, her eyes fixed on Silk's, face serious. "Several of us--Raul and Tiziri--were in one of the booths with me and we were chatting about some...sensitive topics, including the planned upcoming trip to visit the shahan-ya Raksi. I -know- I mentioned -that- at some point, didn't I? Anyway, near the end of our conversation, we heard a noise that none of us caused. Could have been...I don't know, quill on parchment, maybe a wooden chair leg scraping. Couldn't tell. But it was behind all of us in the back of the booth...and we searched and found some kind of sorcerous talisman. Old, but later as we discovered, not -ancient- old, a cut gem with silver--and a touch of moonsilver--and the Old Realm glyph for 'clarity' inscribed on one side." She sighs much more deeply, taking a long swig of wine. "It was transmitting sound, Silk, and we know they could hear us, too. Someone was -listening in- and heard way, way more than they should. That's why we've all been busy lately, trying to figure out how to stop this before the wrong people get a hold of it."
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk nods her head in understanding. "That's why I have the room at the tavern with the warding charms on it." She smiles sardonicly. "No clue who was on the other end of the talisman? Is there we can trace the link back with a sorcerous working?"
Bright Journey	"Oh, rest assured, my dear, it gets weirder. We did everything we could testing the talisman--Amethyst, Rishi and myself, and we have a good handle on how it works. We're sure it has a mate somewhere--a second crystal, essentially, that emits any sound its partner hears, and vice versa. We're also sure it's capable of more, though I'm not sure a mortal could...change what exactly it does. We'd need both of them for that level of detail. We were not able to track down one using the other, sadly, but Rishi tells me she'd know it if she smells the crystal's mate somewhere. Essentially, we still have to find the crystal, but if we find it, we find the person who's using it. There's another key piece, though. "I'd decided to jump on the chance to find something, hopefully before anyone knew we found the crystal. I ran into -several- people on the way, actually, including Amethyst, a swordswoman and quite a fair investigator named Misa--at this point I think she's one of the Chosen--and a songstress I know very little about named Higanbana. Anyway, we essentially ransacked a Nine Sheaves office in the bowels of the Arena looking for information, or hopefully the crystal itself. And before you ask, a lot of our friends know about this whole situation, and Misa at least knows quite a bit now too. Anyway, we didn't find the crystal, but we -did- find the journal of the Nine Sheaves member who has the information. He apparently already killed the assistant who'd been listening for him--a boy--and is already planning to sell the information to the Immaculates, or anyone else for a Wyld Hunt he can find. Just for money, as far as we could tell."
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk nods her head. "I can reach out to my network and put the word out that a buyer is about. I can play the role of an immaculate priest. but only if you want me to." She taps her finger on her glass a couple of times. "Bright, did I tell you about the person I went investigating those ruins to the east? I have more to tell you about her."
Bright Journey	Bright, well...brightens at the thought of Silk posing as a priest. "Well! I had nearly forgotten how good you are at disguising yourself." She grins, a little wan due to the hour but still heartfelt. "I still remember that encounter at Amethyst's shop so long ago. But we don't actually know if he has found a buyer yet or not. It's been a couple days, but still...it's not as if he can just toddle off to the Imperial Temple with that kind of information. Others have talked about luring him out, but I have a feeling you'd be the best at actually doing it by far, especially with someone like me to spread the word." She crosses her legs, sipping her wine and smiling. "Yes. I like that plan a -lot- better than what Fudou was suggesting. He thinks the Wyld Hunt probably already at least knows something is happening and wants us to lay a trap for them--slaughter a whole Wyld Hunt on our terms. I..." She sighs. "Look, I know they want us dead and we didn't ask for this, but still, that's a little further than I'd care to go if there's a better alternative. If they find and attack us, that's different. If we can nip it in the bud beforehand, I'd like to try to do that first." Bright looks at Silk thoughtfully. "Hm! No, you didn't, actually. We -really- need to catch up a lot more often! Is she the Exigent of Ruin Delving?"
Silk Moon Lotus	Silk smiles "I'll be happy to pretend to be a priest to get the information from the guy. They don't know about me yet. If you get the word out, I think we have a chance. I thought there was an actual Immaculate priest in the city. In the tournement even maybe even two of them?" "The ruins were a full on Shogunate era garrison. We found out that there was a wyld ward around it that had gone wrong when the sorcerer created it. Trapping the wyld energy instead of letting it go. The more important part is who I was there with. She was just a human when I started. I found out that she's an exalt, not an exigant or a lunar. I found out that she's a Sidereal. She told me she's looking for exalts like us. I don't know much more. I haven't told her about anyone else."
Bright Journey	"Mmm...well, I saw them too, but I was thinking...hmm. Now it sounds silly of me to say, I admit. I was thinking this guy, whatever his name is, would need to find someone a little higher rank or better connected than them. Perhaps if they said something to their superiors the information would filter to the Wyld Hunt soon enough." She frowns, thinking. As Silk explains about the Sidereal, her eyebrows raise skyward. "Well, -well-! Now isn't -that- interesting. This is something your library doesn't cover--it's from too long ago. But I did read elsewhere that they disappeared quite some time ago. I figured they couldn't be gone forever, just in hiding, and it sure sounds like you just proved that theory true! But...a couple questions." Bright leans in again, her eyes wide with curiosity. "What was her name? What did she look like? What do you mean, she started as human? That last...huh. Might be why it's so damned hard to find them."