Welcome to Gaia! ::

::Yuthaweh stood with the distinct impression that the conference was over.::
Those are agreeable terms. I will have the requested material ready for you upon your arrival and I will explain its funtions and commands to you when we complete this transaction. Also, bring a knife, you will need it to activate the golum.
::Not wanting to be rude, Yuthaweh waited to be dismissed.

::Having been dismissed by Seren-Xi, Yuthaweh made it back to his mansion without incident. It was about time he did some work. But first..
Yuthaweh made his way across his lab to a section of wall that looked paneled. On the table beisde him was pad of illuminated buttons. He reached up under his right seleeve and twisted sharpely. There was a loud clicking sound and his arm came of. He pulled it slowly out, admiring with bittersweet apraisal, one of the best pieces of work he ever made. His own right arm. He place it gently on the table beside the pad and reached over it to press, with his good arm, a series of buttons. The panels in the wall shifted, a chamber beyond decompressing as a complicated series of cogs and pumps pushed the display sectoion out. Two large shield golems, each like a suit of armour and as tall as 7 feet, lay imobile. Beside each one was a necklace with a hollow crystal in the middle. Gently he touched one with a hand and then retracted it. He would leave the display unit like this until Seren came...then she wouldn't be able to see him manipulate the buttons. His labrartories greatest protection was the ignorance of the lesser minded. Anyone intelligent enough to understand half the defences and secrets of his workshop deserved to find them...taking them would be another matter. Walking through the empty house, he came to his study. Pulling off his shoes he depoisted them next to the door, where one of his scurrying spider golems picked them up and hurried off to put them in their place. He stretched out into his favorite highbacked chair and rested his hands on the armrests. His personal spider golem scurried over to the shelves. He indicated a book at random from his memory, one in a long list that he had to read. Then he stopped.::
Golem...bring me my journal on the shield golem supplment and the book on ocular sensory preception and reactions.
::The Golem brought one book down in its augmented manibles before scurrying off to find the other. It twittered inc confusion.::
Oh? Right, of course, the red one...yes that one...
::grabbing the indicated book it brought them over to Yuthaweh who spread them out on the sidetable. It was going to be a long night, but he may be able to have a better hand in this than he thought. Seren would have her watchdog and Yuthaweh his insurance.::

Lexine was so absorbed into her thoughts and fears about her report that she noticed it too late when she veered too close to another Council member, nearly bumping against his arm with her heavy cloak. She had finished her work rather quickly, and fretting about what work had piled up in her office since she had gone on leave, Lexine found that she couldn't sleep without stopping by and checking on things. Not among her personal mail delivered to her apartment were any letters from her fiancee, so she also worried a bit about that as well.

"Oh...I'm so sorry..." she said, pulling away from the older imposing man. She recognized him, Council Member Erig Van Pyroshk was one of the represenatives, she remembered. And a passive mage, of course. Lexine smiled thinly, no reason to be that afraid, you silly girl.

The people in the streets were fretting about something: it was clear in the way they were grouping together that some rumor was flying madly through the crowds. Whenever she passed close to a group though they shushed, possibly intimidated. She could have sworn she heard the leader's name though.

"Council Member Van Pyroshk," she asked formally, "have you any idea what these whispers in the street are about?"

((Sorry it took so long to respond!))

"Dead? He's dead?" She clapped a tiny hand over her mouth to supress her cry of disbelief, while the other kept a weak grasp on her report. The young man who reported this nodded, then looking terribly uneasy bowed very briefly and ran off, back into the crowd.

"That can't possibly be true," Lexine said to Erig, hugging her arms over her chest, upset and quite nervous. Her voice not much louder than a whisper. "How sad...he was such a strong leader..."

Although Yuthaweh had left long ago, Seren-Xi remained seated in her high backed chair for more than an hour after she dismissed the man, almost motionless in the gathering dusk. As the afternoon sunlight, which had been streaming through the glorious windows along one wall, faded to a dull orange-gray and the shadows lengthened around her, she pondered the developments of the day. It was high time, she decided, to scout about the two cities. She needed to survey the effects the news would have when it reached the council, gauge the mood of the populace, and, most importantly, the reaction of certain of her rivals must be noted. No doubt they would be up to no good. But, Seren told herself, perhaps she would check on Yuthaweh first, and see what he was up to. The scientist had seemed far to clever for his own good. Well. She would soon find out what the man had up his sleeve.

Sighing, the old woman shifted, at last, in her seat. Reaching a graceful hand across to a table by her side, she sipped a glass of spiced wine slowly, noting with pleasure the warm burning of the liquid sliding down her throat. After the envigorating effects of the alcohol began to stimulate her nerves, Seren stretched her shoulders and neck, looking searchingly around the room as she did so. As usual, her targets were the long shadows cast by the rooms six large pillars. Choosing the shadow closest to her, Seren reached out with her mind and bent her will towards the darkness. After a few seconds, a shadowy shape began to emerge. The shadow twisted and left the floor, changing into a smoky smudge with no shape. Then it twisted again and a shape was formed; a man shaped thing, no bigger than a small child but thinner than the most ill-nourished urchin. In the blackness that was it's body it was possible to make out details in it's form; a thin face, featureless save for huge snake-like eyes, and long, thin fingers that tapered into tiny points. Seren smiled, pleased with her shadow-construct, but she was too practised in her arts to be impressed with her own prowess. This construct was but an easily created trifle to one as experienced as she.

Knowing that she would not be disturbed, Seren prepared herself to let her conciousness flow into the diminutive shadow-form, but then hesitated. Perhaps, given today's events, caution was called for. Reaching out to another shadow, Seren quickly formed a towering, but ill-defined shadow guardian, broad-chested with an impossibly small waist, and gave it something of a mind - just a simple protecting instruction. The huge man-shaped beast appeared as if a wall of blackness. Seren mentally ordered it to stand alongside her chair. Then, reaching with her mind once again for the smaller construct, Seren carefully let her conciousness flow from her body and into the shadow body she had created, her lips quietly mouthing the necessary incantations. Seren was careful to leave a small part of her mind/will in her corporeal self, providing an inextricable link back to her own frail body. Thus, if her real body were in danger this link would alert her of it and drag her conciousness forcefully back, dissolving the shadow-body in the process.

Looking, now, through created shadow eyes, the creature with the mind if Seren-Xi calmly observed it's now rigid, but still living former body, it's wrinkled blue eyes wide open staring at nothing. The mind of Seren percieved the ever constant buzzing sensation that always accompanied a shadow host body; the crackling hum of her own magic working to sustain the construct. Moving soundlessly across the marble floor like oil across the surface of a lake, the shadow figure moved across to the window, and, sliding impossibly through a crack no more than a figure width in size, Seren-Xi crept stealthily out into the ever darker night.

Soldner was not a large clan, in the least. Intimate relations were restricted to being in-clan only, in order to keep their unique blood (which is one of the things that factor into their martial prowess) alive and pure, and the members had a general mindset of not wanting a large family.

At most, Soldner might have had 200 members, discounting children that had not yet been branded. Due to this, all the members lived in a single, large building, convieniently allowing quick access to any of the mercenaries in the complex. An austere mercenary clan may have been something unseemly among the haughtyness of the Upper City, but it was there. No matter where you go, there's gonna be mercenaries.

The Soldner Head Quarters looked almost like a Gothic cathedral. It's huge, towering granite walls were supported and reinforced by a series of flying buttresses, which extended far into the plain yards surrounding the elongated building. The building was free of windows of any sort, as well as decoration, showing the austerity of the clan.

The yard around the building itself was nothing but concrete, with no plants to be found. It seemed the clan used this space for training, judging from the various unattended blood splatters and whatnot spaced few and far between on the cold ground.

The main door of the building was not especially large, only 15 feet high, and seemed disproportionate against the huge wall into which it was placed. It was made from oak wood, reinforced by heavy iron bindings.
Around the entire thing was a wall of granite, about 20 feet tall, with an opening directly in front of the door. There was no need for a gate here.

Two banners hung from tall, sturdy wooden cross shaped poles in front of the opening in the wall. The banners were adorned with the ominous symbol of the Soldner clan; a blood red cross that extended fully to the borders, on a pitch black field. The banners were well pronounced, the poles upon which they hung being about 60 feet tall each. The banners were also extremely thick, so much so that they would be able to stop any arrows fired at them.

At this time, there was a little bit of activity about the building, but not as much as during the more daylight hours. A few mercenaries trained in the yard, some were returning from assignments, others just stood around in their free time, getting a well deserved break from their lives.

That's what Raserei intended to do, at least until he got his new axe from the dealer back in the Outer City. He'd still have to report to the Leader of the clan, of course. Leader liked to keep track of who was and was'nt home at the time. Well, he'd better do that quickly, thought Raserei as he passed between the two huge banners and through the gate... Leader also liked his mercenaries to be prompt.

The shadow-creature with the mind of Seren slunk silently back into the room it had left hours ago to prowl about the city. Seren-Xi's true body, motionless and empty, remained as she had left it, the shadow guardian she had installed still rock-steady in guard posture beside her chair. It took but a small effect of concentration to locate the mental link she had left, binding her to her body. Careful, as always, Seren allowed her mind to slide back along the thread, and returned at last to the relative safety of her own flesh.

Seren-Xi opened her eyes. Almost the instant her mind returned to her body, Seren began to shiver. A shadow held no warmth, and to the mind of Seren, occupying a host construct was like sitting naked in a pool of ice-water. Although, while her mind was in the shadow, it did not notice the cold; it was only once she returned that her true flesh reacted. The shivering after re-occupying her body had always annoyed Seren, as it was the one aspect of her magic she had never been able to master. Her body was not cold, her mind was merely telling it she was cold - that's all it was, an illusion. And one which showed weakness, Seren told herself - it showed her mind was not in complete control of her body. That was why, above the obvious safety concerns, she was careful never to let anyone see her enter or leave a shadow form.

Forcing stiff neck muscles into action, Seren looked around the room. Besides the hulking form of the shadow guardian she had put in place, the now darkened room was empty. Her servants knew well to leave her alone when they found her body un-occupied. Slowly, her joints protesting as she did so, Seren rose from her chair and made her way to her bed-chamber, a quick mental instruction to the shadow guardian by her side telling it to follow. It's silent feet made no sound on the marble floors of empty hallways.

Seren was comforted by what she had observed in the city. Yuthaweh had been as good as his word, it seemed - a c***k in the curtains had shown the shadow-Seren the scientist himself, asleep, two hulking guard golums laid out in his work-shop. And the talk in the streets had been encouraging. News of the Head councilman's death had been well-recieved by many of the people she had over-heard; skulking in the shadows. The time to begin an offensive campaign was perhaps sooner at hand than had been expected.

Tomorrow, Seren decided as she reached the high vaulted doors of her own rooms, she would visit a shop she knew of for the knife Yuthaweh had asked for, see the man himself, and also, perhaps, act on a hunch she had picked up on her nightly outing. Acting on the implications of a conversation overheard by chance from the shadows nearby, Seren made her mind up. A well-known mercinary clan was due a visit in the coming days. And one thing she simply must do was see Lexine Becke.

::Yuthaweh's eyes opened. He sat up in bed and pulled the covers off neatly. Swinging his legs over the edge of the bed he found his slippers. He looked up at the lens of the house's bedroom visiual implant.::
Resume daytime perimetre sweeps.
::One of the house golems brought him a glass of water and some bread and jam for breakfeast. Yuthaweh liked to be practical for the morning and reserved the more elegant dishes for dinner, when he was awake enough to enjoy them. It was early enough that Yuthaweh had time to wash up and get ready before Lady Seren-Xi arrived for her golems. SHe had only indicated she wanted one, but he had prepared both incase she was suitably impressed. He doubted she would be otherwise. Once imbued, his golems functioned regardless of conditions. He could proudly say that the only reason that the few of his creations ceased functioning was because of significant physical damage. ::
House, have the golems shut all the doors in the main hallway and front foyer except those required to reach the lab. Lock those doors until I say otherwise. Also, have them clean the labratory from any loose tools and extra materials. I only want the projects themselves to be on the table, everything else should be neatly orginized.
::The console across the bed pinged an affirmative.::
And notify me when our guest arrives.
::Carefully he put on his labcoat and folded the right sleeve up so that its empty cloth wouldn't get in his way.::