In Nomine: the Pacific War (IC)

[ladyarcana55]

Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC

Vato shifts his weight between his feet, but The Oracle is less bothered. "How very personal. I wonder how personal it was for the museum docent at Pohang, when an actual shooting war broke out there not so long ago."

"A war caused by demonlings sent by a Nightmare god. An Ethereal caused this outbreak. You expect us to throw water on a cold war that your people heated up? No. If peace is really what you want, then you can rein your people in and clean up the mess they made."

"But there is a bigger issue none of us are thinking about. Why are you talking to us? We are the ground troops. We have no say in how this War is being conducted. And really, do you really believe that Laurence, Michael, David and Dominic would accept anything less than complete and total victory? And what about Baal, Belial and Saminga? And let's not forget an entire Choir who would feel the same way. How do you propose to persuade them?"

[tHEhERETIC]

Originally Posted by ladyarcana55

"A war caused by demonlings sent by a Nightmare god. An Ethereal caused this outbreak. You expect us to throw water on a cold war that your people heated up? No. If peace is really what you want, then you can rein your people in and clean up the mess they made."

"But there is a bigger issue none of us are thinking about. Why are you talking to us? We are the ground troops. We have no say in how this War is being conducted. And really, do you really believe that Laurence, Michael, David and Dominic would accept anything less than complete and total victory? And what about Baal, Belial and Saminga? And let's not forget an entire Choir who would feel the same way. How do you propose to persuade them?"

The Oracle takes far too long to reply, watching both the Dark Humor demon and the seraph a moment before speaking. "Ha." She turns to face Sunae directly, confrontational for just a second. "Pohang was demons attacking angels and humans. I'm not aware of any nightmare gods involved in that."

((Puck:

Spoiler:  

Not a lie, but weirdly specific. There is intent to misdirect, at minimum.

))

"As for you...and we...and arch-celestials...and slaughtering angels..." she turns around, and her voice turns dark, "why is your side talking to me? I'm no Zeus, no Odin, no god remembered by m---" She stops short of that last word, putting her hands up to her face. A deep breath, and then she continues. "Michael, David, and Dominic are infamously inflexible. Baal and Saminga and obviously Belial are conflagrations waiting to happen." She positions herself towards Cameron, but taking as many of the other humans into her gaze as she can. "No world leader would even admit this dreaming world exists, let alone try to work with us. But you, you all," she includes the two angels now, "are listening. And you have the ears of the likes of Dominic and Kronos," she spits at the latter name, "and the kids on the wires, and the on-the-fence demons of L.A.--don't think I don't know about them.

"There are some gods who would joyfully blow up the world to spite the god of the angels, and I may be able to persuade them to back down, if that god were to give them a little less reason for spite. Just a little. You and I can agree on a little, and persuade our betters to give that little."

((Puck: more resonances in PM. Anyone else have any lore-type powers they want to put in play here?))

[ladyarcana55]

Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC

The Oracle takes far too long to reply, watching both the Dark Humor demon and the seraph a moment before speaking. "Ha." She turns to face Sunae directly, confrontational for just a second. "Pohang was demons attacking angels and humans. I'm not aware of any nightmare gods involved in that."

"Pohang was attacked by demons who were sent by a nightmare god, and we do know which one. The same nightmare god who sent them to destroy Miyamoto Castle, which happens to be a tether for an Ethereal Pantheon. I believe you when you say you are not aware of any nightmare gods involved, but I do believe you are aware of other gods who are involved. Gods such as the Norse and the Loa. You don't have to answer that. You just need to understand we know more than what you exect."

Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC

"There are some gods who would joyfully blow up the world to spite the god of the angels, and I may be able to persuade them to back down, if that god were to give them a little less reason for spite. Just a little. You and I can agree on a little, and persuade our betters to give that little."

"Of course you'll persuade them to back down. If they blow up the world, they destroy a majority of the beings that give them their power and their existence. And the survivors will have too much to think about, they won't be able to give your people the Essence they need. If they blow up the world they potentially destroy a vast majority of themselves. And why? To spite the god of angels? Please. If they would commit a mass suicide for such a petty reason, there are more merciful ways to do so."

"And to be clear, it was not 'that god' who put the restriction on your people, as I recall. It was Uriel and his ilk. Please correct me if I am wrong, Corat."

[tHEhERETIC]

Originally Posted by ladyarcana55

"And to be clear, it was not 'that god' who put the restriction on your people, as I recall. It was Uriel and his ilk. Please correct me if I am wrong, Corat."

Corat hesitates--never a good sign in a Throne. "It's a little more nuanced than that."

"Angels only ever follow orders." Is that snark from The Oracle? "And archangels take their orders from the big one himself."

Corat inhales, stifling the urge to fight. "It's quite a bit more nuanced than that. We too follow our natures, but we have actual leaders who provide us with direction, among other things." A pause. "To prevent chaos."

[tHEhERETIC]

Originally Posted by Puck

Mitch curls his tail around his body, flicking the feathered end of it around his face like a small fan brushing flies away. "My lord, as I'm sure you know is perhaps more open to speaking with you and your kindred then others of Heaven. I bear little to no grudge against your kind and do not mind if you wish to travel to Earth now and then. How do you believe that Ethereals can bring an end to the war between Heaven and Hell?"

Originally Posted by ladyarcana55

"Of course you'll persuade them to back down. If they blow up the world, they destroy a majority of the beings that give them their power and their existence. And the survivors will have too much to think about, they won't be able to give your people the Essence they need. If they blow up the world they potentially destroy a vast majority of themselves. And why? To spite the god of angels? Please. If they would commit a mass suicide for such a petty reason, there are more merciful ways to do so."

"And to be clear, it was not 'that god' who put the restriction on your people, as I recall. It was Uriel and his ilk. Please correct me if I am wrong, Corat."

Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC

Corat hesitates--never a good sign in a Throne. "It's a little more nuanced than that."

"Angels only ever follow orders." Is that snark from The Oracle? "And archangels take their orders from the big one himself."

Corat inhales, stifling the urge to fight. "It's quite a bit more nuanced than that. We too follow our natures, but we have actual leaders who provide us with direction, among other things." A pause. "To prevent chaos."

"Uh-huh. Genocide is nuanced." A long-suffering sigh--this was getting her nowhere. "You," she looks Corat straight in the eye, "tried to defend us once; do you even remember? What did your lovely angel brothers do to you, for such temerity? You stood alone and you got hammered down." She pivots to Mitch. "But if we make an agreement, that doesn't have to happen again."

Ryuki is cold fury, an odd look for the flashpaper temper. He grabs Corat's hand, and extends the other out towards the others, an invitation to show unity. "Back. Off. We will sort that out; it is not your concern."

"But--"

"Shut up and listen. I watched an archangel and an archdemon have a polite chat over a couple of beers, so I know they don't need your intervention to be civilized to each other. They don't need you, but we humans kind of like having some of you around. Do you know why the kami thrive? Not because of some hack cartoons but because their people love them. They summon them, feed them, and then go back to their daily lives. It's that simple, the way I see it. Let people call you, people like me and Glen, let us bear the burden of knowing all this is real and let us decide who is welcome in our world."

The Oracle's face makes it clear she's not pleased with where this is going, but Ryuki's ego is holding hands with his business sense is emboldened by his anger, and he's on the loose.

"The angels are in no hurry to start Armageddon, I promise you, and neither are most people. Demons? Eh, us sorcerers have ways. Let us live," he turns ever so slightly to Mitch, gripping Corat's hand tighter, "let us summon spirits as we have for centuries. The gods consider that excuse enough to be on the ground, and I don't mind. Let us be the gatekeepers so folks like the jizo can come around and play but folks like Zeus and Samedi don't get celestial visas."

"But how can we stop war between the angels and demons if we're not there? A little trumpet playing and you're all toast."

Ryuki scoffs. "They're doing just fine. All I'm seeing from you is extortion."

[ladyarcana55]

Sunae looks at him in surprise, she obviously was not expecting this reaction. But she also knows better than to argue with him, so she just shrugs and lets out a long suffering sigh.

[tHEhERETIC]

Originally Posted by ladyarcana55

Sunae looks at him in surprise, she obviously was not expecting this reaction. But she also knows better than to argue with him, so she just shrugs and lets out a long suffering sigh.

He tries to catch her eye--what, am I wrong?

[ladyarcana55]

Originally Posted by tHEhERETIC

He tries to catch her eye--what, am I wrong?

"No, but I always forget the volcano that lies beneath."

[Lunakitten]

Vato looks at Ryuki, and snarls. “basta ya, como habla este maldito cabron!" You see him stop, snort a small laugh and suddenly start to… shiver?
Shimmer…
And as you watch, the air around him thickens, and Vato and his companions are quickly obscured, then gone. The mist swirls, and starts to send out tendrils that suddenly race around the standing group, enveloping and surrounding them. It’s thick and warm, wet smelling, almost invasive and so sudden there’s just enough time to start to react when it coalesces right next to (and slightly behind) Ryuki.
For the briefest moments, Vato and his companions are there, then suddenly, the two are gone, shrunken into the skulls hanging on the belt of the beautiful, tall, curvy and buxom dark skinned woman with the painted skull on her face who is suddenly breathing into Ryuki’s ear.
*****He'd jump, but there's nowhere to go.*****
“You should not be so surprised t’ see me, Chere.” She purrs into his ear, but somehow everyone hears it. “After all, you call my name, an’ you know dat powerful, non?” She licks his earlobe and the tender part of his neck before she’s suddenly gone, and in front of the group, upstaging the Oracle.
***Corat whips a hand through where she'd been--fast enough to hit her, but not solid enough for such a wily being on her home turf. Ryuki's frozen solid, she has his attention, her power undeniable. She has his attention and because he knows what she is under that form he is horrified by his own reaction.***
“An’ again, I find y’all talking an’ talking an’ never really makin’ more dan lil noise. You lucky I feel so sweet, see?” She runs her hands down her body, drawing attention to her form. “I feel nice, an’ so I maybe gonna be nice to you too.” Her voice goes hard, and you are struck with how well a beautiful face conveys fury. “Because if I don’ --if I think about the way you been tryin’ to play me, well, den I gonna haveta forget how sweet I really am.” You see that the paint seems to be gone and a naked half skull looks impassively at you. Drums start to pound in the distance and suddenly the mist around your feet clings, momentarily tightens at your ankles.
She winks at the assembled group and turns to face Ryuki, her face shifting back to the paint, enhancing the lovely shape beneath.
“So Sorcerer you are, an’ dat I name you here. Why you an’ dis one,” inclining her head at Glen, “think you can make de choice on who is worshipped, who …allowed? “ Her mouth twists with distate. “Why de cherubs let you live, hm? Cause dey know dey can win’ you up an send you wit dis one, wings clipped an’ half sidérered? Let your brothers get cut down, as long as you gon be fine, non? An’ my sisters? An’ me? You gon get you fun but make sure der nothin’ down on Earth dat can challenge you. Angel trust an demon fear de mighty Sorcerer, he walk unimpeded?” She snorts delicately. “Like dat gonna last.”
“Humans always been meddlers, an’ in de end angels an’ demons gonna step on an over you t’ get each other. You need t’ think on who need you, who wanna be wit’ you, an’ who like it when you meddle.”
She addresses the rest of the group. “An’ you, think careful like- wat dey gonna get from dis dat do you any good?” Nodding to Ryuki and Glen. “Dey can go safe, an you? How many friens an’ folks you know en up dead wit dem. How many dat jus’ got in de way? An’ when you get in de way?”
She crosses her arms and looks at each in turn.
“Now, you gonna really throw us away like dat?”

(;) http://img09.deviantart.net/8ede/i/2...nn-d6rq6ka.jpg)

[ladyarcana55]

Sunae quietly sighs and shakes her head.

I knew it was some sort of trick.

Sunae does not show any reaction to the attention Ryuki is getting from this Ethereal in her female form. Ryuki had made it quite clear that he was not interested in any sort of future with her so she sees no reason to waste energy on the violation of something that will not exist.

Sunae only watches and waits for her to answer Mitch's question.