2305/Kingmaker: When Does It End

Kingmaker: When Does It End
Date of Scene:	02 July 2020
Location:	Limbo - Other Dimensions
Synopsis:	Julian's soul has been recovered! We're saved! Or are we?
Cast of Characters:	Emma Frost, Julio Richter, Ruth Aldine, Julian Keller, Illyana Rasputina, James Proudstar, Rahne Sinclair

---

Emma Frost has posed:
The Kingmaker and his two demonic companions stop their discourse, peering at the young heroes in their various guises and garbs. Perhaps it is good that Illyana has dampened her presence, because they have refused to kneel to her, and her presence might cause...

Difficulties.

But it is to the rock-a-dile the hissing reptilian woman speaks. "Are you here to buy, sell, or trade? Full souls for full."

Julio Richter has posed:
The rocky figure of the Julligator does a little dance on his stone claws at the sudden attention, bows to each of the Three, and answers, "To buy, if I can meet the price. To trade soul for soul, if the one I seek is too costly in another coin." He straightens up and grins at them -- this face doesn't really have an alternative -- and awaits their response. There's an air of slyness to this creature that belies its timidity in the face of these powerful demons.

Ruth Aldine has posed:
Well fine!

Ruth totally got snubbed. So instead of remaining close to the table, she shrugged her shoulders and turned.. slinking her way to the back of the crowd. There was no sense in standing next to Julian, his thoughts were too loud with brooding. But back out of the tent and into the marketplace, but remaining close just in case.

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller keeps his stumps in his pocket, just in case the Kingmaker had been keeping track of personal events in the life of his victim. Kind of like keeping track of the purse after you've already mugged the lady, but demons were obviously weirdos.

He keeps an eye on Ruth to make sure she doesn't wander off again and bumps shoulders lightly against Gabby in a reassuring gesture that hopefully won't knock her off balance or call attetnion to himself. He's not even here, la la la la la la.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Ra, ra, Rasputin, waiting outside: Demon Queen.

Since passing her warning to Rahne, Illyana has swallowed her presence and commiserated with the very realm she embodies, and that embodies her, to stay silent. Radio silence would be loud next to that drowning of power, hammered into quiescence. She waits outside the soul exchange in a bitter marketplace on the fringes of Limbo where only the truly damned, those renegades from her long shadow, congregate. Here is not rich, not spellbinding in its beauty, but a place of cut-throat deals and economics of might. She slouches into the dusty souk lit by lights, roofed over, aisles and halls surrounded by those selling just about everything. But not /far/.

No where is far here for her. Still, she emerges from the building in that humbled appearance, halting to stand near a supportive pillar. The polyglot tumbles of demonic languages around her are as familiar as the streets of New York to her friends. Removing herself from the situation isn't exactly comforting, perhaps, but it gives them room to deal. To find a price for a man's soul, pay cheap, and run.

James Proudstar has posed:
Jimmy Proudstar continues looming, casually sauntering closer to where Juliodile is making his bargain. Not TOO close...he's not trying to put anybody more on edge than they already are, but close enough that it looks like he isn't a complete waste of a bodyguard by wandering too far away from his employer he can't possibly be of any use.

Emma Frost has posed:
The red horned demon waves his hand at the tables. "Fine which one you are interested in and we will come to terms on prices."

Julio Richter has posed:
The sensible part of Julio notes with a spark of worry that his little entourage is dwindling; the Empress and the Hermit are outside; Strength, Temperance, and the Hanged Man alone remain at his back. Then again, he is currently ruled by the aspect of the Fool, and that fool sees a potential to turn even this situation to his advantage.

"Ah, yes, yes, let me peruse your wares," he says, with another bow and a continued toothy grin. He claps his clawed paws together -- it's really more of a clacking sound -- and then says, airily, "Assayer! Bring my assayer forward!" He turns to peer directly at Julian, rocky eyes rattling around in their sockets. "Look, now! Find me the soul that will woo my little bird close enough for a love-nip."

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
    The red wolf is on the prowl. Rahne is circling, slowly, towards the Three...those green lupine eyes upon the unassuming one between the female and the red-horned devil. There was a moment's hesitation as Ruth steps out of the soul emporium....but the werewolf lets her go. There is more than one way to keep track of a person than sight...and Ruth's scent is fresh upon Rahne's palm, from when she patted the seer mere minutes ago.

    Or was it minutes? The nature of Limbo is starting to affect even those who have visited it more that others...and even Rahne isn't sure just how long they have been standing here, in front of the Three.

    Can't think of that now. Instead, she brushes up again Julian, seemingly accidental, as her hands reach down to place themselves upon his shoulders. But, as she leans down to murmur her apologies, it is not apologies she offers, but revelations, whispered in his ear.

    "That one in the middle. Business suit. He's the one ye want. He took it."

Ruth Aldine has posed:
Ruth didn't travel -too- far. Still within eyeline if the way was shown to the others. Close enough to be smelled by Rahne and clearly within the sights of Illy. The nonchalant way of which she grazes the wares that were close by, not speaking to anyone, never touching, both hands behiind her back and bent, looking ahead and looking past and saying nothing when barked at.

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller almost wobbles a bit when Rahne presses on him, nodding neutrally to her words. He's angry, yes, at confronting the thief but, really, was it the demon's fault that his father was a lowlife piece of shit who would sell his own children for a boost in his bank account?

He floats forward, his TK keeping his feet aloft and giving him a somewhat ethereal presence (he hopes) as he starts to concentrate on the various amulets, looking them over. He's not sure how to do this but there's no doubt he's feeling something. A twinge. An ache. An absence.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Limbo's corrosive effect might be lessened but a little with the Demon Queen's focus tilted of late to brighter climes. But still she is a poison and poisoned in kind, soul-shattered. Nothing can be done to ease their pains other than bear the burden, the majority of it, silent and sparing. Illyana doesn't pull at the torc-like creation around her neck or the bracelets on her wrists. The hood up over her hair and her face renders like anyone else out here, pretending at importance, feigning unimportance. Her Third Eye, the sixth sense, that magical perception unfolds to the marketplace to test for any variations, hints the Three are shifting the playing field in a bad way or some mutant makes a mistake she has to rectify.

Ruth slipping free is an obvious goad. She slides that way to follow after the other woman, moving with that downcast manner of someone prepared to shroud herself. But where she goes, the blonde keeps careful track and physically walks after if need be.

James Proudstar has posed:
For a few moments, Jimmy Proudstar lets his attention fall away from the Three and focuses instead on what else he can see or hear, both within this structure and outside. Mostly, he's looking and listening for signs of potential ambush, or at least hints that someone or anyone might be on to their game. There is a streak of impatience that he's ruthlessly stamping down. An urge to just pull that sword on his back and start hacking away at their enemies. Even as he knows how counterproductive that would be.

But it's hardly the first time the big man has held anger in check. Likely won't be the last, either.

Emma Frost has posed:
From a side door, a good looking young... human? man in his mid-20s appears. He almost looks human, that is. Save that his eyes glow with a green aura, and there are hints of corruption that those who are attuned to magic can see. A human in Limbo, you see, doesn't survive for years unscathed.

He kneels before the Three. "I found the instigator. She has been taken care of." He pulls an amulet, charred enamelled, missing two of the five stones it usually is set with, and hands it to the man in the suit. He then pulls out two of the stones, separately, and hands one each to the red demon and the reptilian. "Unfortunately, I damaged her too much. She will be some time in healing, but with her soul in your possession she will submit as she must."

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
    The hands release Julian as Rahne continues onward, her meanderings gradually closing in. The wolf does pause, as the human appears. A curious expression is given to him as she pauses to let him pass. An expression that remains in place as he offers the amulet to the man in the suit. Oh, her good-for-nothing preacher father didn't have a sermon handy for dealing with actual selling of souls. There is little that Rahne understands of the transaction...but it also means she watches with intent. And...it doesn't take long to see, at least for Rahne.

    They...are surrounded by amulets. Souls, one and all. However are they going to find one very specific one?

Julio Richter has posed:
The Julligator would clearly like to loom over the shoulder of his assayer as he searches the stock, but this hovering business is creating an artificial height deficit that just makes it impossible. Instead, he skitters around behind him, peering first around one side, then another, making little appreciative or questioning noises as Julian focuses on this or that ornate bauble.

But soon a handsome man arrives in the room, and our capering rockodile has some assaying of his own to do. The pleasing face and the whiff of corruption are interesting, to be sure, but the treasures being passed around could easily be more so. Trying not to be too obvious about it, he tries to sneak a whiff of those split-up stones, seeing if his geomantic senses can pick up on anything. To be sure, these are only stones in a metaphorical sense, but just as his current form is impinging on his mental state, perhaps the stone face these soul fragments present to the world will put them into his particular purview.

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller closes his eyes. Ruth gains greater insight, greater wisdom without eyes. Maybe it will work for him. His telekinetic power isn't precisely akin to telepathy, but some of the roots are the same. he can almost feel or touch things with his mind, after all.

Someone else might pick up amulets, weigh them, hold them up, but Julian can't do that, not with his hands. Only with his mind.

Amulets shift in the grip of Julian's consciousness, tinkling lightly or rotating one around another. Suddenly, he almost stumbles, the familiar taste of one bauble catching him off guard and he gasps.

A golden amulet slowly separates from the others, the five gems in it catching fire and glowing with the same green power as Julian's aura while it draws near to him.

"This one."

Ruth Aldine has posed:
Ruth stops in her tracks, her hands falling from their captured place behind her back. It was almost as if she were having one of those silent seizures, but without eyes.. no one tells her how spaced out she really was. The flood draws her to turn around to face Illy's direction, her lips quirking as she gestures a chin towards the tent. Something strange was happening, but not strange enough for her to approach the tent with haste.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Amulets upon amulets. Pieces and wholecloth. Not for nothing are they seeing into a forbidden world, the one that might allow those few trusted friends to really understand Illyana better than she realizes. Maybe they don't.

Muddy eyes narrow, the lone reaction to an intangible pull on the blonde. She murmurs a word in a fairly imperfect accent: <<Ndeen>>. No matter what it means. If it's meant to be heard, it'll be heard by Jimmy some distance away and she is damn well counting on it. <<Bishik'isn. Nch?'?>>

James Proudstar has posed:
Jimmy manages to school himself from canting his head too obviously at the words that he's pretty sure nobody here is speaking regularly (if poorly). There's that shift again, though trying to keep it casual. A step closer to Julian, halting at the midpoint between him and Julio. And eyes following the new arrival as he makes his...report? Trade? Whatever it is.

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
    Green eyes turn to focus on Julian. Rahne remains on high alert, her body tense, ready to leap at the first sign of trouble. But...watching the amulet drift to Julian. The recognition. Even Rahne, novice to mystical awareness as it were, can see that it belongs to Julian.

    So. Now it is a matter of what to trade. And will the trade go as planned.

Julio Richter has posed:
"Excellent!" the Julligator crows as he turns, greedily snatching the chosen amulet from Julian's telekinetic grasp. His stone paw clamps down on those points of resonant emerald fire before the nostalgic soulstones can give too much of the game away.

It's worth noting that wherever he faces, at least one stone eyeball swivels to keep the enticingly corrupt gentleman who interrupted their transaction in view. He's getting nothing from the soulstones he just handed over, morphic resonance with his domain or not, so he simply strides up to the Three, gives the newcomer an ingratiating crocosmile, and then holds up the soul Julian picked out of the pile.

"This one! This rich boy's soul will be simply perfect," he calls out. "What, lords and lady, is the price that you demand?"

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller hasn't noticed his brother yet, if he would recognize him even if he was. He seems somewhat transfixed by the amulet, leaving it floating before him. He wants to snatch it up, to abscond with it, but even he knows that's probably not the wisest idea. Still, there's a quavering intensity to his aura as he wraps himself in telekinetic might, shielding himself from the outside. He won't give it up easily.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
When all actions are done, hope alone remains. Faith in others. Trust in the meaning.

Look, Illyana really sucks at the latter, the middle is a dangerous road, and the first perhaps all she has left even now. Her fingers curl around the dull cloak she wears, kneading and rolling the somewhat pliable fabric without shredding it. No such claws or back-bent legs define the fall waiting. But it's there, vibrating, a chained and present silence screaming in the spaces between nightmare and waking dream, and she waits in fraught silence for the action. At a distance, all she can do is guess. Is wait. Is watch. <<Pay.>> It's English, broken syllable, one note to Rahne and Jimmy. Pay, pay, and go.

Ruth Aldine has posed:
Yeah. Something was amiss. This particular crowd, Ruth didn't need to dig too hard to hear the words from Illyana to Rahne and Jimmy. When the words echoed through her mind, she immediately steps up. Walking towards Illyana with a calm pace even though the words were urgent, her hand held out towards the cloaked woman, with a nod added.

"Okay."

James Proudstar has posed:
There's a moment of (internal) panic from Jimmy as Illyana makes her imperative. He has...at least something of an inkling as to the price of all this and while he is not OK with it...he also knows it's Illyana's choice to make. When your girlfriend is the sovereign ruler of an entire dimension you sometimes just have to accept that they're gonna have to do things that you might not agree with or like.

So he clenches his jaw and waits. And hopes this isn't a huge mistake. He wants Julian to be whole...truly...what was done to him was a heinous crime that he in no way deserves. But...yes, bit of a conflict of interest there.

Meanwhile, he steps closer to Juliodile once more, since it's looking like it's near about time to seal the deal and if anyone is going to try pulling a fast one (besides them), it's probably right around this point.

Rahne Sinclair has posed:
    The solitary word, faint but recognizable, is picked up with the sharp ears of the werewolf. There is a momentary glance as Rahne catches sight of Jimmy. The clenching of the jaw...the step closer to Julio. This is something that he is not comfortable with either. It gives a strange sort of comfort to the Scot. She is not the only one that is not pleased with the deal.

    Still....all she can do now is go along with the plan. They have come this far. It is now time to seal the deal. Rahne pads towards the doorway out, muttering to the rockodile about going to get the proper currency...and hoping that their little seer is not too far away with her cocoa bean equivalent.

Emma Frost has posed:
The trade is made. Ironically, perhaps... there doesn't seem to be much value held by the bauble in Hellion's telekinetic grip beyond that held by any of them. There's no real bartering. The color of the gems are different... Illyana's fake soul has gems of opalescent white, while Julian's soul shimmers with green glow. There aren't many of the whites on the table.

They seem rare.

"Ahh, a pure one," laughs the red-skinned demon, the faux soul floating in air. "We'll take it, surely. They are quite difficult to break, so I can understand your dilemma."

Julio Richter has posed:
It does take the Julligator a bit longer than expected -- not to mention a bit more effort -- to pry the amulet free of Julian's telekinetic hold. His many, many teeth chatter together, both eyes now scraping around to lock on the neon-coated face. It's taking all of his will to dampen both Julio and Cipactli's desperation to a subtle cant of posture, but his stone eyes practically scream: Let it go, you dope, before you blow the whole deal!

Eventually, Julian does relinquish the item, just in time for Ruth to arrive. "Ah! My accountant!" the Rockodile enthuses, free claws doing a greedy little dance before he takes the false soul Illyana has produced for them. He presents it to the Three, bows, and grins (of course). "Yes, yes, a fair trade: I take this one, the pure one goes to those more skilled to take advantage of its richness," he agrees, spinning a plume of flattering words through his reptilian teeth.

Julian Keller has posed:
Julian Keller releases the amulet at last after holding it for a moment. It isn't even entirely a matter of will, there's a pull there, an attraction. Handing it over seems unnatural. He recalls, for a moment, the figure of Gollum clinging to the ring. He'd loved those movies as a kid.

So he lets go and pushes himself back a bit, forcing himself to still his breathing and not to feel panicked at the feeling of being so very close to something so precious.

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
Trust is ugly. Trust hurts.

It bleeds. Illyana stands without, her go-between in Ruth beautifully cooperative. Every element in her scraped-raw soul jangles in wordless intention, one that seeps from the bones of Limbo into the quintessence of her mind, and she turns her face away to review in the painstaking dullness of class schedules, multiplication tables, the number of cuts necessary to fell a mature oak. To cut that body into pie-- Not that one.

Julian isn't running out. Julio has not returned. Jimmy is somewhere in there, the evocation of a snickersnack inches from his fingertips if need be. Ruth and Rahne, too close, Gabby not quite there. Her lip curls. The darkness stirs little by little, bleeding with an itching impatience, a desire that needs an outcome.

"Who sells the black ichor salts? This one's master wishes them for a ritual," she asks the nearest shopkeeper in the alley behind. Oooooh boy.

Julio Richter has posed:
Finally clear of the Soul Proprietorship Exchange, Julligator capers to a deserted alleyway where they can all vanish away from this lawless section of Limbo. "Such good help I've been," he says, leering at Julian for a moment before his stone eyes loll around aimlessly again. "Such good friends we all are. Such a good, good boy in this false stone skin. You can have him back, now."

The stone maw opens wide -- hilariously wide -- and peels back, hoodlike, to reveal the familiar face of Julio. The young mutant immediately coughs up a wad of dirt and blood and starts gasping for breath, but the stone skin keeps peeling and peeling back. Finally just the claws on his hand are left, gripping as if clasping his hands.

A bodiless voice echoes to him, and only those nearest him can hear: "Go, now, little druid. Do more good work for Tlaltecuhtli. Bury more hearts to feed the river of blood." Julio looks sick and moves weakly as they all depart this place.

James Proudstar has posed:
Jimmy casts a sidelong glance at Julio as he returns to (relative) "normal." He's silent a moment before he adds:

"Well that didn't sound good."

Illyana Rasputina has posed:
"Blood for the blood gods," Illyana quips in a slightly flat tone. She rocks off her heels, joints cracking with tremendous tension being released only a bit. "No drinking or excessive actions in the next month. Control runs thin."

Her shoulders slant back and roll, unable to release the tension, all of it a bound point. For a dark, shivering moment staring off to the horizon, she loops her arm around Jimmy's waist and pulls herself in. Pulling him would be hopeless. "Time to work. Then home."

Where is home?