E:TROR SS Zeit n' Raz

<Gilliam> It was the week after Filial Wisdom had fallen.
<Gilliam> Zeit sat calmly in the highest room in one of Rathess's many towers, calmly taking aim through the window and sniping targets set up across the city with the prototype railgun Jackal had designed for her, pausing and writing down notes on the piece of paper next to her every few shots.
<Gilliam> So far, the range was incredible...but the only reason she was able to hit things was because she was Exalted. The accuracy definitely left something to be desired...
<Sandwitches> A knock comes at the door.
<Gilliam> "Come in," Zeit says, carefully lining up another shot.
<Sandwitches> The door opens, and A brown haired man in what looks like Gold and Red clothes similar to those of a Noble of Lookshy enters the room.  "We need to talk."
<Gilliam> "Raz." Zeit fires...and swears under her breath a second later. She places the long rifle against the window and turns her full attention to her guest. "Whats up?"
<Sandwitches> "I assume you are still jsut as you were when I found you in Nexus.  You still don't remember anything before your exaltion."  Its less a question and more an affirmation.
<Gilliam> A nod. "Thats correct."
<Sandwitches> "...  I'd hoped you'd have regained... something by now"  He sighs.  "But I guess I can't keep putting this off any longer."
<Gilliam> Zeit tilts her head.
<Gilliam> "There's something you didn't tell me when we talked before, isn't there?"
<Sandwitches> "Theres more than one thing."  He admits.  "I'd just... hoped you'd regain what you lost with time.  I've never seen another Celesital Exalted completley forget everything from before their exaltion and not get those memories back within a year..."
<Sandwitches> He sighs.  "But of course, I played the odds and lost yet again."
<Gilliam> "I'm honestly not surprised that I haven't regained anything...When he died, my predecessor was the oldest human in Creation. There's a lot of memories in there."
<Gilliam> A chuckle. "Of course, there's a little bit of irony in him of all people dying as the oldest Solar...but I digress. What were you going to tell me?"
<Sandwitches> "And those aren'-  Nevermind, thats not the point."  he brings a hand to his face.   "The point is, that things back home are turning sour."
<Gilliam> Zeit frowns. "Tell me more."
<Sandwitches> "A storm is brewing in the west.  And dear father has, of course, propped himself directly in the middle of it."
<Gilliam> "...'Dear father'?"
<Sandwitches> "Yes *Amelia*.  Our Father."
<Gilliam> "..." Zeit is silent, though she tenses up at this revelation.
<Sandwitches> "May I see the Locket I gave you?"
<Gilliam> Zeit pulls it out, and throws it to him.
<Sandwitches> Raz looks it over again, and then places it around her neck.  "Each of us had one of these, and each had a unique way to open our own...  but I know that father built a secondary way to open it."
<Gilliam> "Or I can do this." Zeit channels Essence into her finger, and taps the locket.
<Sandwitches> "Repeat after me:  Amelia Franc-"  Raz's mouth keeps moving for a moment, though no sound escapes his lips.
<Sandwitches> He masages the ridge of his nose. "Night Castes."
<Gilliam> Zeit holds up the locket to eye-level, watching as it unlocks itself. "So, whats its purpose, exactly?"
<Sandwitches> "They had more than one use.  The part that matters right now, however, is that they were...  *are* keys to the estate, as well as certain...  treasures...  father held.  Items he had stockpiled in case of emergencies."
<Gilliam> "I see..." Zeit stares at the inside of the locket for a moment, at the picture of herself (in more...feminine clothing) standing alongside two young men and one older one. She then looks Raz in the eye, mentally noting how similar, yet different, he looks to the older young man. "Go on."
<Sandwitches> "I would ask If I could simply borrow the amulet, but I think we both know how this is going to go, don't we?"
<Gilliam> "You want to retrieve those stockpiles you were talking about? Then here," Zeit removes the locket and throws it back to him. "Take it. You're the one who gave it to me in the first place, after all...and its not like I really need it if I wanted access to the places it locks anyway."
<Gilliam> "But..."
<Gilliam> "You said that you had your own one, right? Why don't you just use that?"
<Sandwitches> Raz seems to almost look past her, out the tower towards the west.  "...  It's gone.  It hasn't been mine for...  a long time."
<Gilliam> "...What happened to it?" Zeit says, pulling up a chair and offering it to Raz.
<Sandwitches> "Someone very close to me had it when she passed."
<Gilliam> Zeit winces. "Sorry to bring that up..."
<Sandwitches> "Don't be...  You don't remember your past after all."
<Gilliam> Zeit sighs. "Anyway...What do you need those stockpiles for? And whats this 'storm' you were talking about?"
<Sandwitches> "The Realm is pushing For control of Coral."
<Sandwitches> "And if it succeeds...  then everything in the west will come tumbling down."
<Gilliam> "...Yeah, I can see that being a shitstorm in the making." Zeit reaches over the table and picks up a glass of water, taking a sip. "Having read a little bit of history...I get the feeling this isn't a move the Scarlet Empress would have made."
<Sandwitches> "...  No, it's not."
<Gilliam> "Coral was almost a vassal state of the Realm anyway, seperate only because of national pride...What are they trying to gain here? Is it one of the Great Houses trying to gain political or military power for themselves to gain an advantage in the war for the throne?"
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<Sandwitches> "It may look that way to outsiders, but there are....  levels to coral that an outsider wouldn't be able to see.  The government *tolorated* Realm involvement.  It never needed it, and the Realm controlled much less there than you think."
<Sandwitches> "As for why...  its partially because Memnon wants to strengthen her posistion..."
<Gilliam_Schoolguy> Zeit takes another sip, leaning back in her chair and listening intently.
<Sandwitches> "If I don't do something about it, and She succeeds, then There is a good chance that the Silver Prince will devour the west."
<Gilliam_Schoolguy> "The Silver Prince...the ruler of that Shadowland archipelago, yes?"
<Sandwitches> "Yes."
<Sandwitches> "The Realm taking Coral, would overturn an agreement in place that would prevent him from making any further moves in the West.
* Sandwitches is now known as Sand|Out