EVENT #5: SOVEREIGN CITIZENS (VENERA)

[aionmods]

Sovereign Citizens

VENERA

In contrast the Aion's last visit, they now arrive in Venera on a completely average day... or so it seems. Unlike Godsblood, Venera has been given no warning as to what's about to befall it; the Kenoma are simply authorized to arrive and begin their bloody work without fanfare. Even their entourage of Achamite soldier don't stick out that much; in the time since the plague left, the city has refilled with occupying forces. Notably, the Hylician ones seem to be keeping out of the way, almost as if they've heard some things and would rather not be involved too closely in what's to come.

As opposed to the ghost town it was during the plague, Venera is now reasonably active, with most attending to their usual business. Shops are open, and its people are withdrawn but superficially friendly when meeting strangers. Initially, the targets of the Kenoma hit list will have no way of knowing what's coming for them, but after the first couple attacks word will begin to spread. Those that have recently been engaging in seditious behavior will become harder to find, leaving their usual homes and workplaces to stay elsewhere, and making other attempts to escape the Regent's attention.

Once those alerts have been raised, the Kenoma will have to engage in more detective work to find their targets, questioning other Venerans and seeking out fugitives in the homes of their family and friends. In the meantime, some of those who believe they are in danger may become desperately enough to seek out the Pleroma directly, imploring them for aid. Unfortunately, seeking out one sect may just as easily draw the attention of the other. Most uninvolved Venerans will be too terrified to intervene one way or another, reluctant to aid in the persecution of their neighbors but fearful of consequences. If your Aion travels openly, it will take some effort to pin them down long enough to hold a conversation.

SEEDS OF DESPAIR

Several days into the culling of Venera, the Aions will have witnessed the city gradually withdraw into itself. The streets become vacant as more and more people decide it isn't worth the risk to be seen outside, abandoning work and play alike to hide out in their homes, refusing to answer their doors to all except the most desperate pleading. Those that can't avoid their daily obligations are quiet and morose, trying their best to remain unseen and unremarked upon.

If your character has been observed as a Kenoma, either now or in their previous visits to the city, the citizens will look upon them as if they are the messengers of death. If you are seen as a Pleroma, they will resist your gaze, as if fearing your presence alone might leave them marked. In rarer cases, you will see those with stronger spirits, with glares of hatred or determination. They are powerless now, but seeds have been sewn, and whether they are the seeds of despair or of action are yet unclear.

By the time the Kenoma's hit list has been fully addressed, several have been killed and several more have been rushed from their homes to flee the city entirely. There have been holes left in the tapestry of the community they were once part of. One way or another, their absence will be felt keenly by those they left behind.

QUESTIONS

What is the best way for Aions to travel to Venera?
Estinien has plans to get an early start for the Pleroma by teleporting to the Lover's shrine and flying somewhere closer to set up a portal from the ocean caves near the Godsblood Lodestone to a spot of farmland closer to Venera. Paul will be setting up a portal directly from Achamoth to one of the Achamite outposts in Venera.

How much force can the Kenoma use while interrogating Venerans?
While they are generally not permitted to kill Venerans who haven't tried to physically fight them, they will be permitted to apply both physical and mental pressure upon those that refuse to provide them with information regarding the whereabouts of their targets. This duress should be proportional to the resistance the Veneran is offering. The Regent is not inviting them to terrorize Venera on a level to a level they cannot reasonably blaim themselves for.

Comments

[sterngaze]

[Liem takes the force of her stare and the force of her words with the same quiet, composed expression, the same grave eyes. He deserves the bitterness she hurls back at him; he sowed it months ago, the last time they met in Venera’s deathly quiet streets, where he had failed her so utterly. Now here they are again, but this time he is the one who has approached her hoping to find someone capable of standing against the onslaught of despair. He cannot blame her for being angry.

Even now, he cannot go back on the words he said to her all those weeks ago. His despair has not left him; all he’s lost is his single-minded determination to pursue it. The bleak, alien force pushing him onward, forbidding him to look back or second-guess, lacks the adamance to keep him in motion when he’s thrown his entire being against it for the sake of innocent lives. And now that he isn’t hurtling down the pit the Regent’s people tossed him into, he’s able to look up and focus on the cracks in the walls.]

Perhaps it would be, for her, [he allows.] But the Regent hasn’t targeted these people out of mercy; they want to inspire terror in those left behind, to secure their obedience. And that…

[He hesitates, seeking words for what had flowed so effortlessly from him in the space between sleeping and waking: his duties, his failures, his sins and faith, balanced on a scale beyond his understanding or control. There were people back in his own country whom he had executed solely to protect Abadar’s gospel from being twisted in their mouths. They had left behind friends and families of their own, just like those the Regent now killed for the sake of their order.

But Liem was not raised by the Regent’s faithful. And he has not sworn his life into their service.]

The Regent is not my god and does not have my loyalty. I will not bear their sins, nor can I trust that such a tyrant would create a world worth living in.

I am not going back to that place.

[warmare]

[Perhaps it would be, he says, and Hayame sneers, her lip curling back with disgust and prepared to face the same man she had found the last time she came to Venera. She can’t even claim the reaction to be one of compassion or disagreeing with the idea that sometimes a person was better off dead, she isn’t that kind and she isn’t that stupid. But she had been just foolish enough, apparently, to hope he was. Like he had been, in that dream.

But that foolishness called “hope” is somehow rewarded. … Unless this is a trick.

Hayame stares at him, level and silent. Is he truly a defector? She isn’t naive or arrogant enough to think that her words had been what had gotten through to him but… had this? Was he willing to serve until it meant killing people? “Innocent” people? Did the influence of the black sludge weaken over time? There are too many things she doesn’t know.

But she had told Estinien that in addition to the people who had “killed” him, who she swore to help capture to pay her debt… there was one more person that she wanted captured and brought back to Greentruth, even if that meant subjecting them to painful experiments to remove that strange foreign substance that wouldn’t be thrown up.

This man. And he had just walked up to her, disavowed the Regent…]

Your shard.

[She holds out her hand, the elegant shape of fingers and tan skin marked by the scars and callouses of rough living and archery.]

Give it to me.

[sterngaze]

[Liem’s solemn expression freezes in shock when she holds out her hand in plain demand. He had expected her to want him to give proof of his intent to her, or perhaps if not proof then at least collateral, but what she asks goes beyond a simple bit of insurance against treachery. Without his shard, he’ll be powerless at best. At worst, he won’t even have the strength to move.]

I can’t do that.

[He says it earnestly, but he knows it sounds like an excuse. Even if she had any inclination to trust him after their meeting in the realm of dreams, his actions during the Innocence moon had certainly squashed that fledgeling desire. Nonetheless, he remains firm in his denial.]

You can have anything else of mine. My blade. My bow. Or…

[He struggles to think of something she might accept that wouldn’t also hinder his ability to be useful if they find themselves in trouble. If he’s toothless, what use will he be in protecting the woman he’s trying to save?

Then, he hesitates.]

I have my god’s book with me. The only remnant of my world that I possess. You can have it.

[warmare]

[Hayame does not actually know what she asks of him. She imagines the shards to be... akin to holding a man's heart somehow in your hand, that their body would not die as long as the shard was intact. She had not conceptualized that, if they could be removed safely from the body for spells and Communion, that there would somehow be a limit to how far they could be taken away from the body, or that it would render the body without sense or powers. (Because surely... the shards weren't them, they were just some strange magic tool...)

But he refuses. Of course he does. To have hoped for that trust was disgustingly foolish of her, when she should have known this was likely all a trap and she would need to shoot him through the eye and take the shard by force. Once she got it back to Greensblood... she could oversee more magical persons attempt to cleanse the black sludge out.

His offer of his god's book might sound permissible as a substitute, except last time she had heard...]

What use for swearing upon is a sacred book to a man who claims his god's grace has left him?

[She stands taller, towering over him with a growing pressure fueled by doubts and suspicion, bitterness over her failure to convert the one person she has owed enough to try.]

Or do you claim to believe in it once more?

[sterngaze]

[Liem’s eyes widen when the disguised Pleroma answers him. The grip on his glasses tightens. His pale face looks stricken, and for a brief moment as heat flares behind his breastbone, gathers at his temples—for a moment, he even looks angry.

But he breaks off his gaze quickly, enough so that the gesture might just seem one of shame. The dull, bruise-like spots of colour blossoming on his bloodless cheeks could easily be from shame as well; certainly that seems much more in-character for the soft-spoken man than the alternative.]

You’re mistaken.

[Slowly, he moves to slide the lenses in his hand into a pocket of his coat—and from the same pocket, he withdraws a well-worn leather book, embossed on the cover with the image of a golden key. Its spine is creased from the motion of countless openings; the gilt edging its pages has faded as those pages have been turned time and time again.]

I didn’t lose my faith in Abadar. He was killed. He was killed by the same being who brought us here.

[The quiet words are painstakingly even in defiance of some tightly leashed emotion, spurned and buried beyond even his ability to name, but his grip on the holy book is gentle. He extends his hand in clear and deliberate offering.]

This book has been with me for longer than you’ve drawn breath. It is the only blessing I have been granted in this place, where even the ghost of my Lord holds no sway. I would sooner lose both eyes than see any harm come to it.

[warmare]

[If there are any two emotions that Hayame knows intimately... It is anger and shame. She recognizes their nuance far better than she can ever identify things like kindness, charity, or sympathy, and when she sees emotion flare up on his face...

She's almost something like relieved. When they had last met in Venera, it had enraged her how resigned he had been, no matter what she did to him and what violence she inflicted on him in attempting to force the black sludge out of his body. Not that she had considered him a particularly tempermental man, not when she had met him in that dream between stars... but to see it now means... Perhaps the sludge's influence on him had waned. Perhaps something had changed.

Perhaps he still believed in his god, even if he were dead. Hayame does not know that sort of faith. To please her masters, she knew just enough of the Buddhas to fake the sort of religion expected of a warrior, having sutras read for the dead, such as that... But no god had ever answered the prayers of the jinba. If he believed, though...

The third emotion she understood well was revenge.]

... Then you may have my assistance.

[It cannot be said that she does not give reverence when it is called for or due. If she believed him when he spoke of how important this thing was to him, then she would give it the treatment such a thing deserved. Careful, ensuring that their fingers never brushed, she reaches out for the holy book and takes it for herself, her own touch gentle in contrast to the violence they've met out even just since she arrived in the city.

From the saddle bag fastened to the harness around her "waist", Hayame pulls a folded handkerchief. There in front of him, the illusion of the two-legged woman who still looked like her wraps the book in the cloth and then tucks it back away. It's safe, for now, a hostage to his commitment to betray her so-called master.]

... And you may have this book back once we set foot in Greentruth and you are purified.

[sterngaze]

[As Hayame accepts Abadar’s book from him, Liem follows its path with his eyes, regarding it with the longing intensity of a child watching their guardian walk away after leaving them in the care of a stranger. He knows that his patron can’t really watch over him any more, and that if any scrap of power did remain with the god, his vigil over his last living servant wouldn’t be ended simply because of the loss of his book. But that doesn’t prevent the pang of grief he feels at seeing it tucked away in cloth and held hostage inside her bag.

Nonetheless, when he lifts his gaze back to Hayame’s face, his expression is focused. He still has no desire to join the Pleroma’s quest to revive their worlds; he still finds it a futile and even cruel goal, born more from sentiment than real virtue. But that doesn’t matter. He has far more trust for the sentiment of those in support of the Pleroma than he does in the mercy of an ageless tyrant.]

Then both it and I am in your care.

[He inclines his head slightly towards her, accepting her terms. If nothing else, he still has to admit that he isn’t sure what exactly the Kenoma’s infection did to him in that desolate cavern beneath the Citadel. Regardless of the virtue of the Pleroma’s mission, if he is yet under the thumb of some pernicious spiritual poison, he has every reason to want it lifted.]

And both my knowledge and my bow are at your service. Please call me Liem.

[warmare]

[At the very least... the way he looks at the book makes Hayame feel slightly more comfortable about taking it in lieu of the only thing that would actually make her able to trust him. More fully, at least.

It's foolish, and just another pathetic sign of the loneliness and displacement from a world that made sense, a culture she knew, but... "I'm in your care". It's how people are supposed to talk, the more ritualized manners she had been born into and told to perfect in preparation for sale. So she does not bow, not to an enemy, but... she does incline her head, just a single inch less than he does, her fetlock-length hair sliding briefly over her shoulder.

That was his name, then. "Liem".]

Hayame.

[In turn... she supplies her own, far later perhaps than most would consider proper. Adjusts the saddlebag, in subconscious assurance that she would take care of what she has been entrusted... as long as he maintained his part of the deal. The bow he carries is not a type that she is familiar with, but she accepts the possibility that he is skilled enough... and points with a toss of her head to the streets leading out of the courtyard.]

If we are to speak further, then, let it be elsewhere.

[She would need more information about this target of the Regent, they would need a plan... and as poor as she considers herself to be with words, there may need be many of them. A side street or back alley might be more suitable to a longer conversation.]

[sterngaze]

[Hayame. Finally, after months of intervening time and multiple fraught meetings, he finally has a name to associate with this strange, fierce woman. He's spent so long thinking of her only as "that centaur" that the moniker seems slightly unintuitive. But it occurs to him that after today, the two of them will probably have the opportunity to learn quite a bit more about each other.

Liem shifts his weight in readiness to move, relieved by her suggestion to continue talking in a less public place.]

As you say, [he assents, moving when she does in the direction indicated.

She'd seemed somewhat less conspicuous while seated in her disguise, but despite the apparent loss of her equine hindquarters, she still stands every bit as tall as he remembers. He feels a prickle of wariness walking next to her, conscious of how blatantly suspicious such activity would be to anyone from his own sect. Even someone who didn't recognize her as a member of the Pleroma would inevitably note her impressive stature and wonder what he might be doing with her.]

I didn't know you could disguise yourself like that.

[Although his gaze is primarily occupied roaming warily around the street, he does spare a short glance back up at her. He notes that her disguise doesn't alter the clip-clop of hooves he hears next to him when they move.]

You weren't using such magic when last I saw you.

[warmare]

[Hayame is well aware that her glamor is not perfect. She wasn't able to conceptualize herself as anyone else, and so though she'd barely managed to give herself two legs... she hadn't been able to change her face or her height. Even though she appeared as a human, it was only illusion... beneath was a jinba, with a jinba's large body and a jinba's hooves, and all the glamor could do was trick the eyes, not the nose or the ears. It certainly couldn't prevent someone from noticing if they bumped up against her.

But she did try to do some things to mitigate it. Like the bundle of sticks she grabs up from beside where she'd been sitting, swathed in her ragged cloak, like a peasant who had come into town to sell kindling. The wood disguised her bow... and the clacking of the sticks slightly masked the sound of hooves.

When he says he didn't know...]

Neither did I. I should not be able to.

[Her face looks just slightly sour. Coming from a world without magic, it feels wrong to her in all sorts of ways to know that she was supposedly responsible for casting this "spell", despite how so many she'd met seemed to assume she ought to be comfortable with magic for some reason just because she as a "Centaur".

From the main courtyard, she leads this so-called Liem to a side street, one of many she'd scouted out before, so that she could steer them into a little park built between larger buildings, one with large bushes and shady places. Ones to slightly obscue themselves in. Only once they're there does she ask,]

... How much time do we have?

[Before they needed to retrieve this target he wished saved.]

[sterngaze]

[The look Hayame makes when he asks her about her illusory disguise tells Liem all he needs to know about how used she is to magic and how well she’s taking to its use in this world. He hasn’t yet learned any new magical techniques aside from the ritual to use communion, and a few small spells to replace those he used to cast by the grace of his god. Magical disguises are certainly beyond him, but it seems obvious that she has no desire to discuss hers.

When they reach what seems to be a small park, he spends a moment listening for signs of any unnoticed eavesdroppers before he’s satisfied that they’re alone for the time being.]

I don’t know. I’ve done my best to keep other Kenoma away from the trail, but we don’t all share information. Someone else could be getting closer without my knowledge.

[That’s the challenge with trying to beat the other Kenomas to the targets on their execution list: not everyone there is playing by the same rules. And although Liem has been doing his best to present a dutiful face to the others in his sect, he knows not all of them are fooled.]

I told the others that I would be bringing this woman in today, so most of them should be attending other things. I’m most concerned about the soldiers, and the possibility of other aions who don’t trust my resolve.

[warmare]

[Hayame has not spent much time considering how it was that the Kenoma operated, beyond "upon the orders of the Regent". That was the only part she cared about, after all, and seeing as her mission wasn't to infiltrate or gather information but to hunt and kill, to capture if she had the time and leeway...

But she files it away.]

Then it must be today.

[Her arms cross beneath her bound breasts, her expression dark and contemplative. A woman... fine, it should not be that difficult to move a single woman in to the safehouse she had been instructed to use by the group planning to rescue as many of the natives as they could.]

What part of the city does she dwell? Can she move quickly?

[sterngaze]

[Liem's posture remains alert and tightly drawn as he turns his attention to Hayame, his pale-fingered hands resting as light as birds on the strap of his crossbow, but some measure of assurance finds its way into his bearing when they begin to discuss their plan of action. Any situation, no matter how dire, begins to seem more bearable once he starts moving to address it. The act of starting to plan, of transitioning from stillness to motion, always helps him focus on what's important.]

She lives in the college district, most of an hour to the west of here.

[It occurs to him that the distance might be less to someone of her stature, but she likely can't walk as quickly while trying to maintain her disguise. In any case, she's going to need to keep to his pace unless she intends on leaving him to his own devices.]

She's young and of sound body, so travel shouldn't be an issue. But I may need your assistance to convince her that we're trustworthy.

[He frowns slightly; relying on Hayame to persuade anyone is a somewhat dubious proposition. His job would have been easier if he'd found a more personable Pleroma for the job, but they'll have to work with what they have.]

Is there somewhere near that district that we could bring her?

[warmare]

[... Is there somewhere? Hayame wracks her brain for the map of the city that she has vaguely worked out in her head, not even realizing that she feels exactly the same as the man across from her in this moment. As long as they were moving, as long as she could throw herself into action, doing something-]

There is a safehouse that should be close enough.

[She will not say it's location out loud, nor will she tell him of it until they've actually reached the door... Unlike some of her "teammates", she is not a trusting idiot.

But as for the other thing he mentions... He needs her to convince the woman that they were trustworthy? Hayame had no illusions as to her abilities (she did not think). She was a master archer, skilled enough with the blade and the polearm, an experienced tracker and hunter... But she had never considered interacting with other people to be a talent of hers. After all... her stablemaster had never required words of his jinba. All that had been needed or wanted from her had been obedience, short answers, and agreement.

And now that she was without those pressures, surrounded by people who expected her to... speak, and convey her feelings, and make arguments-]

... How is it you propose she be convinced? Simply telling her she will be killed if she does not go to ground will not be enough?

[sterngaze]

Good.

[Liem muses aloud as he considers the area they’ll need to get to and the neighbourhoods around it. He doesn’t ask for more detail about the safehouse; for now, it’s enough that Hayame knows of one that will suit their needs. It doesn’t make sense for him to know more about it in any case. If they conduct this rescue together, he’ll be able to rely on her to guide them. And if they happen to get separated because of enemy interference, it will be best if he doesn’t know where she and the target are headed, just in case he ends up in Kenoma hands.

Instead, he turns his attention toward the matter of getting the woman to actually go with them. Doubt thins the line of his mouth.]

That will likely convince her of her danger, but it might not persuade her to come with us.

[He regards Hayame consideringly, regarding her wintery expression without optimism.]

I made no secret of my affiliation the last time I was in this city, and I spent some time in the district where the woman lives. If she recognizes me, she may resist the idea of going anywhere in my company.

[warmare]

[At least he is not so foolish as to press her for information. It would serve only to make her distrust him more, begin to think that despite the fact that he seemed genuinely reluctant to hand over the sacred text that he might have more alternative, information gathering motivations beneath acting far better than she was capable of.

Uncomfortable with admitting her failings, but understanding the... need, to be clear about things, Hayame's jaw is tight, her fingers tight on her arms. It wasn't as if Liem would struggle to envision how she debated, how quickly in their last Veneran encounter that she'd resorted to violence and force when her words had failed. So her first solution...]

... Then we kidnap her ourselves, if need be.

[Surely that... was acceptable?]

[sterngaze]

[The pained frown that crosses Liem’s face should make his opinion of Hayame’s proposed solution abundantly clear. It’s not a terrible idea. If diplomacy does end up failing, then as a last resort they may indeed need to consider it. But “kidnap the target for her own good” is the sort of plan that is inevitably going to introduce complications; he’d like to avoid that if at all possible.]

If we must, then we will.

[He offers his reluctant agreement just to have it on record; if they absolutely can’t get the woman to come with them, Hayame can rely on his assistance to bring her to the safehouse either way. Nevertheless, he adds quickly,]

But only after we’ve exhausted other options. Having to bring an unwilling or unconscious person with us is the worst possible scenario; if there’s any chance your input might convince her to come willingly, I don’t think we should discount it.

[warmare]

[As far as Hayame is concerned, it's actually quite simple. She can't imagine a human existing that she could not easily overpower in a contest of sheer strength, and if it was just a young woman? Even easier. Tied, slung over her withers, gagged so she couldn't alert others with her voice... and just kept that way until the safehouse or somewhere she could be released.

Easy.

But as for convincing her willingly... Liem isn't the only one wearing a pained frown.]

... What? I just announce that I am some follower of the Pleroma, and she trusts me?

[Do the natives here know those words, or are they the realm of the aions and those who deal with them? Hayame has avoided interacting with the populace of this world that wasn't hers, that she didn't care for nor want to have to care for, so much that... she didn't even know.]

You may think too highly of me.

[She means her skill at diplomacy, but. Perhaps it is ironic to say, when she had once pinned all of her feeble hopes on him.]

[sterngaze]

[Liem takes in Hayame’s objection with equanimity, unsurprised by her scepticism. When she voices the possibility like that, it does admittedly sound rather unlikely. Anyone could say that they were aligned with the Pleroma, that the Regent was their enemy. There isn’t necessarily anything she could do to prove herself trustworthy to a person set on viewing Liem and his companion as her enemies.

Still, he considers an extra few minutes spent trying to do things the peaceful way to be time well spent, even if it might not end up bearing fruit. The worst case scenario is that they fall back on the kidnapping plan they’ve already agreed upon.]

Perhaps you’re right, and it won’t avail us anything. Perhaps you won’t even need to say anything at all; she might be willing to go with us immediately. But we won’t know until we try.

[He seems to be about to suggest that they depart to go do just that, but then he pauses, looking at her consideringly. His eyes narrow beneath the wide brim of his hat.]

Although, if we could avoid the possibility of me being recognized, that might sidestep the main issue. You learned that disguise magic recently, didn’t you? Could you teach it to me?

[warmare]

[That... is not a bad idea.

Hayame's expression is schooled rather well, because she has been raised since literal birth to serve humans, and part of that behavior included not allowing any emotion, especially negative, to show on her face. But she was taught by humans, too, and so while her more human-looking features are more controlled... her equine parts are a bit more expressive.

Her tail flicks out with interest. Supposedly... any aion could do it, no? She'd heard of the Kenoma using them in Godsblood, so. Teaching him would not be akin to potentially giving the Regents' servants an advantage they did not already possess...]

I could try.

[But before she agrees to such a thing...]

... Give me a piece of your clothing first. Something close to the skin.

[... At least she's not demanding his shard again?]

[sterngaze]

[Hayame's demand does give Liem pause, though by the slightly bemused look on his face, this time it's simply one born of surprise. The only purposes he could imagine for such a thing would be for tracking or for some arcane magical use, but although he wouldn't have assumed either would be within her capabilities, the former seems somewhat more likely. After an uncertain moment, he sheds the cloak from his shoulders, laying it down and placing his crossbow atop it, and he begins undoing his coat.

The Veneran clothes he's adopted during his time here are new purchases, but the undershirt he wears beneath them is the same one he brought with him from Achamoth. Once he's stripped off his coat as well, he untucks his shirt and rucks it up to expose the simple grey fabric beneath. Liem frees the hem and uses the short knife from his belt to cut off a strip of it.

He looks considerably smaller without the drapes of cloak and jacket disguising him, covering up a lean torso tapering to narrow hips. Even in the shade of the little park, the uncovered skin at his waist shows starkly white. He lets his overshirt fall back over it as he holds his torn offering out to Hayame.]

Will this suffice?

1/2

[warmare]

[Even though she is the one who asked for it... Hayame has to wonder why some of these Achamite servants are so eager to strip themselves. At least that golden man had questioned why she was doing it... well, actually, perhaps that meant this Liem character was smarter, and doesn't need to ask. Very well. She hopes it is that one.

He's also more dignified, thankfully. Interacting with Barnaby had prepared her (well, only somewhat) for a more shameless display, and there's a moment when he pulls up his shirt that she anticipates something more lurid and instinctively starts to avert her eyes just enough to keep an eye on potential attacks but hopefully spare her dignity, ruddy color just barely noticable high on her cheeks, but-]

[warmare]

[... Good. Someone here had manners. (And... rather disgustingly pale skin. Strange, that the color could look perfectly beautiful on a white jinba but so unnatural on a man.)

To cover her brush with embarrassment over thinking he'd be doing far more disrobing, Hayame snatches the fabric from his hand and, careful to maintain a rather intimidating degree of baleful eye contact.... brings it to her nose to inhale slow and purposefuly, filling her senses with his scent.

Something tangy like a citrus fruit... The overarching fragrance of Venera... A hint of spice that pricked in the back of her nose... Man... and then something wrong, and strange, like meat from a hunt left to cure when it was still mostly fresh... but not fully. One of her brows raises, looking for some explanation in his appearance. His ears were misshapen slightly... he was pale... but that means nothing definitive for her beyond "perhaps not human", something that happens in this place.

Or perhaps he prefers not to cook his meals. For now, she doesn't ask.]

I will teach you the glamor... But know this. My nose is keen. If you do try to betray me... if you try to trick me with that cowardly magic... I will know you still.

[She just warns, one last step before she's willing to share what she had been taught herself.]

[sterngaze]

[Liem is too busy slicing off a piece of his clothing to notice the scandalized blush that threatens to bloom over Hayame’s cheeks, but he does watch with a slight raise of his eyebrows as she brings the cloth to her nose and very deliberately draws in its scent. The purpose behind her gesture is clear enough, but despite the implicit threat, he can’t help but find the gesture at least a little bit, well, intimate. His mouth firms to a thin line as he forcibly ejects the thought from his brain.]

I will remain on my best behaviour, [he tells her soberly. Although he had no intention of deceiving her, the precaution it still a wise one. Sliding his knife back into its sheath, he sets about straightening his shirt back into its proper place.]

Is it simple to perform?

[warmare]

[Her point made... Hayame moves to open her saddle bag and take out the text that he had handed her earlier, intending to preserve the scent as long as possible by keeping it in something that should smell vaguely of him already rather than mixing with other possessions. Allowing the book to fall open to a random page, she almost inserts it... but she does give a cursory look his way. Was such a thing sacrilegious to his damaged faith?

He is.. frowning, slightly. Considerate, not because she is religious or respectful to others but because she has sworn to keep the book safe until she returns it to him when he honors his side of the agreement to turn himself over as a traitor to the Kenoma... Hayame gently (reluctantly) closes it and places it back, moving contents around to place the cloth beneath the book instead.

She would give it a few more whiffs later to make sure she memorized it before the hints that would identify him faded, and also prepared herself for the possibility of needing to pick his muddled scent out of the crowd.

That done... she turns her body slightly away from him (but not her head, she's not letting him out of her sight) so that she can loosen her shirt and dig under her bindings to take out the obsidian, arrowhead-shaped gem out from the center of her diaphragm. She could just phase it through her clothing like others did, but... she refuses to believe she is magical, or capable of magic, even though it was... obvious. Once it's in her hand she fixes her clothing and turns back holding it up to her forehead and banishing the glamor over her body, reverting momentarily back to her proper form... visually. It had never changed, that was why she had chosen Venera over Godsblood, where the odds of people bumping into her invisible flanks or rump were higher).]

It is so simple you will doubt how it could possibly work.

[Frowning herself, now, she shifts her weight between one foreleg and another, wishing to stay like she was... but she can't. Anyone who saw her as she was supposed to be seen... would know her as an aion from a different world at a single glance. She didn't have the luxury it seemed almost every other aion did. But that is just a single bitterness on a mountain of others. So she shoves it down.]

You must envision the appearance you wish to take on and make some special sign.

[She leads by example, touching the shard to her forehead and drawing a simple sigil with it... before her own glamor flickers, splutters with how instinctively she attempts to reject it, then finally settles and she appears again as she had, like a human version of herself.]

... Like so.

[Hopefully for this plan he would turn out a better hand at the art than she was. But everyone else she's met has, so she isn't too doubtful.]