Scene #2850: Meeting at the Caverns

Owner	Pose
Tshallandria	Not five minutes after Tshallandria speaks on the radio, a porthole opens halfway up the mountain, and a pair of people step out into the windy, icy side of mountain... ...One of them sporting a pair of horns, is dressed in heavy plate armor, holding a scythe, the other has a pair of semi-flattened cat ears, is in leather armor, holding a glaive. The one holding the scythe sighs softly, "This environment. I find it pleasant." Icy blue eyes narrow slightly, "If a bit warm." "Ankarra..." The other one remarks, "You'd find being frozen solid a bit warm." She sighs, shivers, and makes a gesture, before azure fire wraps itself around her body, "...Lets just get this over with. FATE is irritating our 'overlord' again," She grimaces, "Which means we're both going to be busy enough for five people later." Ankarra frowns slightly as the wind catches her cloak, whiping it about wildly, she gestures ...and it freezes in place. Literally. With ice cycles. She nods to Kyressia, "The Union will be inside the cave." A second gesture with her left hand causes a pair of pillars of ice to erupt under the two, carrying them swiftly towards the summit.
Maya Antares	Another portal opens, but inside the mountain, a little ways down from the entrance. It's a translucent red rectangle, casting lurid red light over the snow, and out from it steps a single figure, striding rapidly for the cavern entrance. Maya Vlasova Antares is a woman of classical beauty, with bright eyes, a proud form, and a strong jaw; clad in a long greatcoat, whipping in the cold mountain wind. She doesn't seem to be carrying any sort of weaponry, nor does she wear any sort of hat or helmet; long blonde hair bound in a simple braid, forelock left to whip in her face. The cold doesn't seem to bother her much. Target sighted. There they are. "Good afternoon, Confederates!" One arm is lifted in a friendly sort of way. "I suppose we cannot settle this by more civil means? This is Union territory, but maybe we can work something out."
Tshallandria	The pillars of ice reach the summit rapidly, and come to a halt in front of Maya before Ankarra gestures again, and ice spreads in a network outward from both pillars and the mountain in front of Antaress, eventually coming together to form a pair of bridges leading to a large platform of ice somewhere between the sets of ladies. Ankarra frowns slightly, her eyes glimmering, before she strikes out to the center of the platform and steps to the left. "You are the one who pledged to intercept us," She remarks coldly, "As you will. Since you have not threatened my charge as of yet..." The temperature drops by a few degrees, "This matter is in her hands." Kyressia walks out across the bridge onto the platform after Ankarra, Maya is given a long measuring gaze before she flicks her ears and grins, "Well. You seem to be a reasonable sort." She sticks the shaft of her glave into the ice, before leaning on it. "I'm open to both of us exercising our free-will and chatting for a bit. I'm Kyressia, this is General Ankarra." Her grin grows a bit more, "Have you got a name?"
Maya Antares	Although the Sorceress doesn't appear to be carrying any kind of weapon, her confidence suggests that she isn't wholly unarmed. Perhaps she's carrying something that can't be seen, or perhaps she doesn't need the use of her hands to do whatever it is she intends to do. "You are right, but only because there are still non-Elite forces here," Antares responds, voice pleasant above the gale. "I have no intention of threatening you, so long as you do noting that necessitates any threats from me. But I cannot trust that you will not attack the non-Elites, either. Whatever you intend to do, I will hold you here. But I can tell you that that is all I will do; I will stand my ground. Perhaps we can reach a peaceable agreement favourable to both sides, in the meantime." Her smile is confident. "I am Sorceress-Major Maya Vlasova Antares of the Skyfurnace Konstantinov." Of course, the Konstantinov is a doomed ship, and its crew are all wanted as traitors to the Commonwealth of Red States. That part she neglects to mention. "You may call me Maya, as you wish; I do not care." Her head tilts as she studies first Ankarra, and then Kyressia, with those summer-blue eyes. "Forgive me, but I have not seen beings like you, not in my world. What are you?"
Tshallandria	Ankarra smiles. It's a cold thing, but there's something grim and almost friendly about it... ...Even if her cape is still frozen behind her at odd angle. "Polite. Cautious." Her tone is slightly grudgingly approving, "Admirable." She gestures with her left hand, and large walls of ice rise up around the sides of the bridge and platform, blocking out the howling winds. Kyressia blinks at Maya before she shrugs, "You heard Her orders didn't you? She made it clear, don't start a fight. Just end it if one starts." She flicks her ears, "Well Sorceress Major Maya. Ankarra is a stygian demoness. If you haven't gessed from the tones of her voice, and the casual overusage of ice magic..." She grins, "She's an ice demon. Now me, I'm a sorcerous hybrid of a human and a wildcat." She shrugs, "Dad had odd tastes, but, I suppose the multiversal term-" Her ears flatten slightly in disgust, "-Is catgirl." Her eyes narrow slightly, "As for what I do, I'm one of Tshallandria's paladins of Free Will. You're human right?"
Maya Antares	The cape is given a brief glance, but the Sorceress doesn't comment on it for the moment. Surely that must be some kind of supernatural power at work, although perhaps not the same brand of military-industrial sorcery that she herself uses. It's still a little funny-looking, though. Maya's head turns only slightly, noting the walls rising about them. That could be taken as either a polite gesture, or as an attempt to wall the Warkaster in. Wiser still would be to consider both intents and to react to neither. Her head slowly returns to regard Kyressia, eyes falling calmly on the Paladin. Is she human? "Close enough to most definitions, I think, although a Sorceress can do things that most mortals cannot." Reaching up, she turns down the collar of her greatcoat, now that those ice walls are conveniently blocking the wind. Her braid settles behind her, and a toss of her head clears her bangs from her face. "But yes, close enough to human for your purposes, I think." There's a short pause. "I have never heard of this 'catgirl' before." But it makes sense, she adds, silently. Kyressia is a young woman, with clearly feline features. She seems to be disgusted about that definition, and that disgust is puzzling. Why rebel against what you are? Maya shrugs. "Forgive me; I am not familiar with what a 'Paladin of Free Will' is, either. I can maybe guess, but it is always better not to make assumptions."
Tshallandria	Ankarra blinks at you curiously, before she snaps the fingers of her left hand, and an icy throne rises from the ground behind her. "You-" Her voice is cold, but the tone isn't, "-Haven't been here long have you." She sticks the shaft of her scythe into the ice next to her, and seats herself on the throne, shattering the ice of her cape. Kyressia gives Ankarra mild glare and a grimace. "Oi! I'm not that long winded. You just don't talk much." She frowns, and looks back to Maya, flicking her ears, "Does your world have gods, angels, devils and demons and such at least?" She grins, "Helps a bit if I have to know how much I should explain." Her grin expands a bit, "Besides, doesn't hurt to help out a new arrival. Ignorance can be a bit of a killer around here."
Maya Antares	The throne rising from the ground prompts the woman to arch an eyebrow. That's a neat trick, although not necessarily one that she herself needs to use. She's comfortable standing; while the mountaintop is cold, the cold is hardly a bother to the Warkaster. She simply folds her arms, the padding of her greatcoat protecting her from the worst of the cold. "Something like that. We pray to God, some of us, and if we have done terrible things, we will go to Hell when we die, and curse that place on our enemies, too." She rubs at her jaw. "I suppose Imbohl could be considered a kind of demon... when it comes down to it, though, they're just names, aren't they?" Mostly. Except for the living, breathing demons standing in front of her. "No, actually. The Konstantinov has not been here more than two weeks. Where we came from, I could not say. We left Nokgorka's skies behind, but I do not think we were in the Storm of Souls, either..." She frowns, thoughtful. "Urik thinks we might have been adrift over the Great Mountains for some time... oh," she adds, looking up. "Sorry." Off on a tangent, but at least she's quick to return from it. She raises a brow. "I find it hard to believe you would want to help 'the other side,' as it were, though... by all means. Say what you have to say; it is only polite for me to listen. That much does not cost me anything."
Tshallandria	Ankarra remains seated and seems to be mostly ignoring the conversation between the two at this point. After a moment, she leans to the side and rests her cheek on the black gauntlet. Kyressia seems to be ignoring Ankarra, and she responds, "Oi. So one of those worlds." She reaches up and rubs her forehead for a moment, "Alright. So. In our world, Good an evil don't have a damn thing to do with gods, angels, demons and devils. Some worlds it's different but... Eh." She shrugs, "That's their problem. A priest is someone who serves a highest order demon or a god, basically adhering to their set of rules because they believe in them, and they get some sort of powers from em. Price is they have to work within the aspects of whatever they're serving, and usually have a group of people they're supposed to help guide along the way. A paladin usually works with a singular aspect of a Power, and they serve that power more directly." Her ears flick and she grins, "Basically Tshallandria is the embodyment of several things in her demonic and divine aspects, and the one that I personally feel called to serve is Enlightened Free Will." She flicks her ears again and looks at you seriously, "Basically people are expected to make choices about their own lives, to see beyond the obvious into how their actions effect others, and accept the consequences of said actions, for weal or for woe." She grins, "As to why I'm educating you... ...If you don't know, then how can you expect to make a decision." She flicks her ears again, "So... Back to the dilemma at hand. I leave Ankarra, my guardian out here, putting me at more risk, you come in with me, I get the three flasks of water, we leave together. You betray us, she freezes you solid, and then destroys everyone in her path to get to me. Fair?"
Maya Antares	As she listens, Maya reaches up to pull one of her gloves more firmly onto her hand. Small wonder the cold doesn't bother her; she looks like she's dressed for a subarctic winter with that gear. She listens patiently, though, head tilting slightly to regard Kyressia. For all that the Sorceress seems at ease, she's still alert; if they do try anything underhanded, she'll be ready for them. Mostly. At the end of the explanation, she inclines her head in a sort of half-nod. "I see..." She folds her arms, considering, with a backward glance at the yawning mouth of the Cavern itself. "Allow me to consult with my allies," Maya insists, with an upraised forefinger. "I will be only a moment. Informnet?" she asks, seemingly of the aether -- and a slim white, translucent, and thoroughly incorporeal headset appears over her head. She retreats a few paces to make her negotiations, then, shoulders hunched as she tries to maintain some modicum of privacy.
Tshallandria	Ankarra remains ... very still. You could possibly mistake her for a statue, if it weren't for the slightly icy glitter of her eyes. Kyressia grins again before nodding her ears and flicking them ... in a completely different direction then yours. After a moment or two she reaches into one of her pouches to pull out what looks like a prism, her eyes narrow slightly as she focuses on it, and she rotates it slightly every so often, while mumbling to herself. "Huh... Find segment..."
Maya Antares	Turning up her collar, Maya turns back to the Paladin waiting for her, smoothing the collar down. "We have a counter-offer. We allow you to take three vials of water. I will be watching you the entire time. In exchange, you allow us to retrieve resources of equal value from the Rookery." Maya folds her arms, tilting her head to regard both Ankarra and Kyressia. "Do we have a deal, Paladin?"
Tshallandria	Kyressia flicks both ears in your direction, very obviously paying attention to you again, "Shutdown." She puts the prism away in her pouch, "Well. There's a bit of a problem with that. See we're here on her orders. Not the Confederacy, which means that we can't promise Confederate resources to pay for something like this." She shrugs and shifts her weight on the glaive, "Ankarra, did she mention why to you either? Is this Confederacy or private citizenry?" Ankarra's eyes refocus, and she turns to gaze at Kyressia coldly, "You're here. Officially the priesthoods, the palidins, and the entire world cluster are neutral." She stands and stretches, "This is why you are not fighting here, nor in charge of defending yourself." She turns and gazes at Maya, "Only the generals, mercenaries, and citizenry in general are allowed to pick sides or fight thereon. The Generals will always follow her will." Kyressia blinks, "Huh. So I was right earlier, FATE is being an overly verbose pain in the-" She pauses, then closes her mouth then flicks both ears, "Right. So, how's a bar of gold each vial sound? If you don't want to go for that I suppose you and Ankarra can dig into things."
Maya Antares	The Sorceress shifts her weight as the wind rustles the hem of her greatcoat. She gives no outward sign of impatience or discomfort, though her blue eyes snap to the prism with some interest when the thing is dismissed. Some kind of database tool? Before she can guess further at what it is and how it works, her eyes turn back to Kyressia. "Then we find ourselves at a problem." Folding her arms, Maya looks from one to the other, gauging them calmly. "Or, at the very least, at an impasse." The one that seems to exist as a bodyguard is likely the more dangerous target; although she would be foolish to dismiss the potential of the other, too. After all, many Warkasters are physically weak, but they're capable of unleashing unspeakable destruction... and speaking of bodyguards, that reminds her that she was in such a hurry that she came here without Kyuzo. He'll be angry, and fairly so; that was a foolish thing to do. "It seems that is not acceptable to my allies. If you have no intention of leaving, than I am left with no choice but to stop you by force." Maya unfolds her arms, shrugging in a fatalistic sort of 'what-can-you-do?' manner. "Unfortunate." In spite of her nonchalance, though, the Warkaster is watching the two very, very closely; expecting, perhaps, that they'll pounce on her at any moment.