between the shadows and the soul - gallows, fennick, warship

[Straia]

i am the violence in the pouring rain

i am a hurricane

She laughs slightly as Fennick speaks, grinning at Gallows. “I see you have a voice of reason too.” She says, casting a glance to Warship. She knows that her General is none too pleased with her right about now. Though she’s pretty sure he wants a war almost as much as the rest of Beqanna. He was going to glower at her and be grumpy about it like the old man he was, but let’s face it, he’s a General for a reason.

Still, she’s smart enough to know that his opinion matters. It helps to counteract her own, rather more abrasive, opinion.

“You should sleep with two eyes open. The sisters have agreed, mostly, to help the Gates. There were a few that simply didn’t want to side with the Chamber because they don’t like the Valley. Apparently your kingdom still has something of a reputation.” She grins, clearly not thinking this is a bad thing.   “But you’ll need a second eye open on the Dale. The Dale in particular dislikes the Valley. And I wouldn’t put it past the Deserts to join either. Certainly Yael will.” Meddling magicians. She had no taste for the good ones.

They were a little bit screwed. There’s a reason they are talking about this first before just plunging into a war. They would be outnumbered, without a doubt. “I can tell you some of what we’re up against, in addition to the usual kingdom traits that are handed out. Mast can shift into a deer, but honestly, the Gates has almost no traits to worry about, unless someone crawls out of the woodwork. The Dale king is a ghost shifter, Elysteria has light beam emission, Weir can manipulate the outcome of magic,  Tiphon of course has his angel powers.”

She pauses. There was a lot to go over, sadly, and she actually doesn’t enjoy this much talking. Necessary, but terribly boring. “As for the Jungle, Sunday has various powers, though I don’t know exactly what her skills and limitations are, though I suspect she won’t fight. Prauge is back, sadly.  Joscelin can fly without wings and emit light beams, Naga can shift into a panther, and Lyris seems to be able to control storms or the weather or something along those lines. Though lucky for us, it seems unlikely that Rhy will fight in this war, so we don’t have to worry about her. Lagertha’s kingdom granted trait isn’t something I’ve seen, so I’d assume she has something vicious up her sleeve. Speaking of which, if neither of you have something useful up your sleeves yet,” she says, directing her comment at Gallows and Fennick, “you should fix that.”

She’d let them leave it a secret, if they chose. She kept her own a secret. It was far more useful that way, after all, if no one knew it was her doing it. “I know you have three shadows creatures and Flamevein. The Chamber has a collection of horses with various heat and fire skills, a wolf shifter, a necromancer (though I wouldn’t count on him entirely yet) and of course an army of ravens. And we also have Eight, and Evrae.” Straia had finally found her sister’s mother, knowing that with war on the horizon the magician would be lurking. It was easy enough to get the mare to agree to fight on the Valley’s side. Evrae had only ever been looking for excuse to join. Not even really. She probably would have joined anyway. Straia just made sure it was their side.

She knows that they are still outnumbered though. They are strong and skilled, yes, but so is their enemy. Fennick is right, certainly. They need something clever. It’s a good thing none of them mind getting a little dirty. It makes it so much easier to be clever.

straia

the raven queen of the chamber