Log:Ghost and Rice Wine

2014/06/09 	 Ghost Paragon

1

The Hacker's Rage, Harrisburg
The inside of this bar is smoky and, because of a low ceiling and dim lights, feels cramped even when it's nearly empty. Garish neon signs advertising various brands of beer hang in the front window, but even their acrid light fails to penetrate very deep into the room. A number of mismatched tables and chairs are scattered haphazardly across roughly half of the room. Most of them appear well-worn, and some are obviously missing pieces, though not yet so broken as to render them nonfunctional.

One side of the room is almost entirely taken up by the bar itself, and the bottles, glasses, and various other paraphernalia behind it. This place still uses human bartenders... possibly because they're cheaper to replace than robots; the regulars appear to be a tough crowd. The remainder of the room boasts three beat-up pool tables, only two of which possess a complete set of balls. A tight passageway hidden in a back corner, behind a cigarette machine, appears to lead to restrooms, though you shudder to think what shape they might be in. In the opposite corner is a staircase. It's whispered that a group of rather dangerous men has made a tradition of an occasional high-stakes poker game in the room above. None of the regular patrons ever goes near it.

Ghost is seated at a table in the tavern. There's a half empty bottle of rice wine on the table and a glass in her hand. Even with the cramped quarters of the tavern there's space all around her table, as if nobody wants to go too close. Maybe it's the presence of a hulking brute of what seems to be an earth elemental stood just behind her.

Paragon gets interrupted from her midnight guerrilla gardening efforts by a member of the Watch notifying her of a fae-related disturbance at the local bar. "Thank you for warning me. Since I doubt the cops will respond, I suppose I'll check it out," she says with a salute of respect to the Watch member. "Keep up the good work!" she says before leaping off in the direction of the tavern. It's not far before she lands just outside the dive bar and walks casually inside. As she pushes the door open, some of the accumulated smoke escapes, allowing a brief breeze of fresh air to circulate in the bar. As the door shuts behind Paragon, her eyes sweep around the room. It's not hard to find the source of the 'Fae Disturbance', but Ghost was the last person she expected it to be. She walks up slowly, eyeing the earth elemental bodyguard.

Ghost looks up. Drunk or not her hearing is exceptional. "Hi, Paragon. Have... a drink." she says. Her words are as precise and clearly articulated as usual but the pauses in her speech and the glazed look of her eyes shows just how intoxicated she already is. "You're my... friend. You... wouldn't distrust me... would you?"

Ghost shouts, "A glass... for my friend."

Paragon's flicker a few times. She nods politely to the earth elemental, then sits down across from Ghost. "Usually I don't drink when I'm on duty, but I don't think they have anything strong enough to affect me here," she says with bemused tone in her voice. She leans forward on the table, rests her elbows on it, and clasps her hands together, engaged in what Ghost has to say. "Of course I'm your friend. Why would I have any reason to distrust you?" she says with ease.

Paragon glances about the room, trying to gauge the mood of the locals. Surely the Watch member must have been mistaken about Ghost being belligerent. But her speech does seem a bit off, and this doesn't seem like her usual past time.

Ghost gulps down a large swig of wine and refills her glass, spilling some of the wine from the bottle onto the table as she misses the glass briefly. "I pledged my honor to them. My... honor. I swore... to serve them faithfully. And then.. the ungrateful bunch of pointy eared suspected... me... of being a goblin spy! After all I've... done for them."

Well that explains that. Paragon looks back to Ghost, more than a little appalled. "How could they suspect you of that? What proof do they have?" she asks with concern. She tries to sound soothing as she reassures, "I'm sure we could get this cleared up if we talked to them...refuted whatever evidence they claim there is against you."

Ghost waves her hand wildly as she says, "I found out... who the real spy... was." Her face twists with anger and sadness. Pointing her forefinger at a old faded poster advertising a no longer brewed brand of beer she fires a stinger needle at the poster, and misses, the needle *spanging* off the wall beside the poster and ricocheting away, fortunately into the ceiling. "He... was my friend too."

The other occupants of the tavern move further back away from Ghost after the shot.

Paragon's eyes grow in diameter as Ghost gesticulates with potentially dangerous effect. She reaches forward and tries to clamp her hand gently over Ghost's hand to block any other errant stinger needles. "Ghost...there are normals here. This isn't the best place to lose control. Perhaps I can take you somewhere safer? I'm sorry about your friend. That's awful news." She looks at the other patrons as they back away, then looks back to Ghost. "Was your friend actually a bad person? Was he coerced into spying?"

Ghost shakes her head. "He was a... goblin. In the Embassy! A shape shifter talented enough... to fool Princess Liandere until she... cast a reveal spell. He was... just doing his duty... to Wyrmwood. Just like I... did mine... when I spied on the Goblins for.. Undermoon." Ghost doesn't try to pull her hand free from your grip.

Paragon holds onto Ghost's hand more tenderly, gently lowering it so she can rest it on the table. "After he was discovered, what happened? To your friend?" she asks delicately.

Ghost gulps more wine, "He... was captured. He tried... to escape. But Princess Liandere... was there. She's... why don't people... realise..? She's probably the most... powerful witch... in all of Undermoon. Librarian Lyost never had... a chance to get... away."

Paragon nods slowly. Her voice is soft and compassionate, echoed inside her metal shell. "So your friend, Librarian Lyost, is in Undermoon Custody?"

Ghost nods. A tear seeps down her left cheek. "I... tried to convince... Princess Liandere that... killing him would only perpetuate the... hostility between Wyrmwood and... Undermoon. We kill one of theirs. They kill one of ours. The conflict... goes on. I said that Lyost was... a good librarian. Put him back to work. Maybe... one goblin will learn to respect and like Undermoon? But it's... the King who decides. And he'll be.. angry about what Lyost did."

Paragon's hand loosens its grip a little more on Ghost's hand as it twitches slightly. She reaches forward with her other hand, instinctively wanting to gently wipe the tear away with a light brush of her finger tips. "Don't cry," she says softly. "I can't stand to see friends cry." She contemplates quietly for a moment to consider her next words. "Is there anything I can do to help your friend without getting you in trouble?"

Ghost shakes her head. "No... You can't even go... into the Embassy. Not until I've put a protective... enchantment on you. It's all in... the hands of the King... now. The same King that... ordered I be denied all information and not allowed... to be in the presence of... any of the royal family. I'm a... Companion to Princess Stephanie. They wouldn't even let me see... her." She's weeping slowly now, tears trickling down her cheeks. "I will serve the Princess. And drag... the fae realm into the modern... day. But to the Seventh moon of Hothgar with the court and the nobles and all the... stuck up smug opinionated ."

Paragon remains silent for a while, watching Ghost sympathetically. "I'm sorry for all of that. I wish there were something I could do. I don't believe in capital punishment, but it sounds like the King will execute Lyost. The Embassy...would it only disable my cybernetics?" She wipes at a few more tears and lowers her hand, looking down at the table. She asks heavily, as if weighing a big decision. "Is he worth saving?"

Ghost sighs, "I don't know. I think so. He is a goblin. He spied on... Undermoon. That was his duty to his country. I spied on Wyrmwood. That was my... duty to Undermoon. We aren't so different. All that was different... is which country we worked for." Ghost doesn't seem to have heard, or maybe is not answering your question about what will happen if you enter the Embassy unprotected by her enchantment.

Paragon says, "You seemed to suggest he could still be allowed to work for Undermoon. What makes you think he'd reform? Did he agree to switch sides?"

Ghost smiles drunkenly, "A known spy is no threat. You just make... sure he or she has no access... to confidential marterial. Lyost was a good librarian. He can work... in the library. As he is no threat any more... why kill him?"

"I agree. Why?" Paragon continues staring at the table with a fixed gaze, her mind trying compute ways to have Lyost spared without risking Ghost's already damaged reputation. "What if he leaves Undermoon and Wyrmwood? Exile to earth would mean he wasn't a threat or an asset to either side."

Ghost shakes her head. "That... No. That wouldn't work. He would make his way back to Wyrmwood and resume... his spying duties. That's what I... would do... in his place."

Paragon frowns a little behind her faceplate at that news. "So then what would stop him from trying to flee back to Wyrmwood if the King went with your suggestion to have him work in the library?"

Ghost empties her glass in one gulp and pours more wine. As Paragon is holding her right hand she has to do that with her left hand and more wine ends up on the table top than in her glass.

Paragon suggest quietly, "Maybe you should slow down on the drinking there and pace yourself." She slowly releases Ghost's hand and rests hers on the table. She lightly taps her fingers on the table top as she ponders the situation.

Ghost explains drunkenly, "He... would be under the observation of... the rest of the Embassy staff. He wouldn't be allowed a chance... to flee back to Wyrmwood."

Ghost says, "He's good at... what he does. So am I. He's like... me. He's probably the *best* there is at... what he does. Shapeshifting. Like I'm the best there is... at finding things out. We should have him in our team. In... the Princess Guard."

Paragon nods slowly. "If you really have faith that he would be manageable, I'll support you however I can to save Lyost. So...short of breaking him out of the embassy, how can we save his life? Is there anything that would sway the King?"

Ghost looks up with sudden alcohol inspired enthusiasm. "I'll tell the King not to... execute Lyost. The King owes me that. They all... owe me that. I won their war for them. They owe me a favour. They owe me lots of favours!" She nods, and then her head sinks down to the table as she passes out with her face resting in the puddle of spilt wine.

The Earth elemental sinks down through the floor doing no damage en-route and is gone a few moments later.

Paragon blinks as Ghost passes out and the Earth Elemental disappears. "Somehow based on how ready they were to accuse you of spying, I don't think you winning the war for them will count for much," she says sadly to the unconscious Ghost as she slides out of her chair and moves over to Ghost's side of the table. Being careful to watch her strength, Paragon carefully grabs Ghost by the shoulders and sits her up a little, grabbing a napkin from the table and cleaning off the wine and the tears. She then gingerly picks Ghost up, cradling her in her arms. As she carries Ghost towards the exit, she looks to the bartender on staff and shrugs helplessly before turning around and pushing the door open with her back.