Halime listens to Shiva’s unfolding strategy with the same solemn stillness that she showed throughout Caio’s recounting. Nevertheless, there's a distinct shift in the woman's countenance. A spark. A thread of excitement carefully masked beneath a priestess’s discipline.
"It is not only feasible," she says at last, when both Shiva and Caio have finished. "but elegant. You do not merely seek to destroy a serpent, but to coil the serpents around one another until they strangle themselves. That is very much in keeping with the Moon’s will. Understand this, judgement may be Khonsu's domain, but in all the tales told of his ways, he has a particular fondness of clever judgement. Trickery that serves justice is still justice."
Halime clasps her hands before her with an enigmatic smile.
"The plan that you propose uses your enemy's own sins against her. It forces the shadows that she commands to turn on her. It offers no easy escape, for even retreat would leave her allies snarling at her heels. This is how one hunts a serpent. Caio, your instincts also serve you well. The 99 Hundred trust nothing. Not each other and certainly not Clarissa. If they sense that she is manoeuvring them toward a noose, then they will bolt or bite. Either outcome serves you.”
The priestess begins to pace in a slow circle around the two newly anointed devotees, each step measured as though she were walking the edge of Khonsu's blade.
"The viziers, too, are vulnerable. Beneath their silks and etiquette lie appetites, some merely unsavoury and others unforgivable. If you uncover even a whiff of treason, then I can guarantee that it will be enough to fracture their alliances with Clarissa. No vizier risks being found tied to an enemy of the Empire. There is much to do, but your path is true. I will assign two of my trusted Hands to you. Agents who can relay information discreetly and fetch you what institutional access cannot provide. They will not act unless commanded. They exist to support, never to lead."
Finally, she stops before the pair.
"You bring a storm to this city, Children of the Moon, and I believe that it will wash far more clean than you intend. Return to me when your pieces are set in motion and, when the time to strike comes, when the axe must fall, know that you will not stand alone."
The shadows around Halime stretch tall and sharp, as though Khonsu Himself stands behind her.
"Go. Prepare. The serpent coils, but, tonight, she does so unaware."
Shiva beams with unabashed pride as both Caio and Halime agree with the soundness of her plan. She nods as two of the arbiter's Hands are assigned to them, and she immediately considers tasks for them in the time between now and the meeting with Thamur Ozan. But even that would need to wait for now. The team needed to discuss the tactics of the minutiae.
"Thank you, Arbiter Halime. Justice shall indeed be done."
Turning on her heels, she exits the sacred enclosure and gives a smiling nod to the others as they come into sight. She's careful to speak quietly, knowing that prying eyes lurk in even the most unlikely of places.
"We have the blessing and support of The Arbiter of His Justice. But she'll withhold her open support until we've properly dismantled everything our target has built and left her with no retreat. We're going to tear down the security she's built around herself."
"She's working with the 99 hundred here in the city, so we'll convince them that she's a dead end, likely in the literal sense."She then looks questioningly to Caio. "We'll do that first, yes? If you're comfortable catching up with old friends?"
She continues once Caio gives an assent. "Then we turn our attention to the corrupt viziers backing her. We find out who sees to their chambers, who handles their laundry. We learn their vile secrets and air them out once they can be substantiated. All the better, if we can prove sedition among any of them, then they'll scramble to save face and turn on our target. Then we get in with the guard, earn their trust so that we have a route to finding evidence on our target herself, proving her betrayal and her dark dealings."
"Once we have it all, we present it to the Emperor. And we make sure that our target doesn't have any means of escape."
She gestures to the two Hands at their side. "These two agents of the temple have been assigned by Halime to help us gather information and find more covert access to the seedy spaces the viziers might slink to."
Softly clapping her hands together as she finishes her spiel, she looks to the faces of the group. "So, first thing will likely be the 99 hundred while we wait for the arbiter to arrange the meeting with Thamur Ozan, who will get us access to the viziers and inner circles if we properly convince him of our mission."
"Any questions? Oh! And I'd very much like to hear about the nicer brothels of the city when you have a moment, humble guide."
Halime listens to Shiva’s unfolding strategy with the same solemn stillness that she showed throughout Caio’s recounting. Nevertheless, there's a distinct shift in the woman's countenance. A spark. A thread of excitement carefully masked beneath a priestess’s discipline.
"It is not only feasible," she says at last, when both Shiva and Caio have finished. "but elegant. You do not merely seek to destroy a serpent, but to coil the serpents around one another until they strangle themselves. That is very much in keeping with the Moon’s will. Understand this, judgement may be Khonsu's domain, but in all the tales told of his ways, he has a particular fondness of clever judgement. Trickery that serves justice is still justice."
Halime clasps her hands before her with an enigmatic smile.
"The plan that you propose uses your enemy's own sins against her. It forces the shadows that she commands to turn on her. It offers no easy escape, for even retreat would leave her allies snarling at her heels. This is how one hunts a serpent. Caio, your instincts also serve you well. The 99 Hundred trust nothing. Not each other and certainly not Clarissa. If they sense that she is manoeuvring them toward a noose, then they will bolt or bite. Either outcome serves you.”
The priestess begins to pace in a slow circle around the two newly anointed devotees, each step measured as though she were walking the edge of Khonsu's blade.
"The viziers, too, are vulnerable. Beneath their silks and etiquette lie appetites, some merely unsavoury and others unforgivable. If you uncover even a whiff of treason, then I can guarantee that it will be enough to fracture their alliances with Clarissa. No vizier risks being found tied to an enemy of the Empire. There is much to do, but your path is true. I will assign two of my trusted Hands to you. Agents who can relay information discreetly and fetch you what institutional access cannot provide. They will not act unless commanded. They exist to support, never to lead."
Finally, she stops before the pair.
"You bring a storm to this city, Children of the Moon, and I believe that it will wash far more clean than you intend. Return to me when your pieces are set in motion and, when the time to strike comes, when the axe must fall, know that you will not stand alone."
The shadows around Halime stretch tall and sharp, as though Khonsu Himself stands behind her.
"Go. Prepare. The serpent coils, but, tonight, she does so unaware."
The Chronicles of Arden: Sheercleft - DM for Aiden, Bründir, Jex, Thurston, Valaith and Vark
The Chronicles of Arden: Hunters - DM for Alaris, Astrid, Caio and Shiva
Shiva beams with unabashed pride as both Caio and Halime agree with the soundness of her plan. She nods as two of the arbiter's Hands are assigned to them, and she immediately considers tasks for them in the time between now and the meeting with Thamur Ozan. But even that would need to wait for now. The team needed to discuss the tactics of the minutiae.
"Thank you, Arbiter Halime. Justice shall indeed be done."
Turning on her heels, she exits the sacred enclosure and gives a smiling nod to the others as they come into sight. She's careful to speak quietly, knowing that prying eyes lurk in even the most unlikely of places.
"We have the blessing and support of The Arbiter of His Justice. But she'll withhold her open support until we've properly dismantled everything our target has built and left her with no retreat. We're going to tear down the security she's built around herself."
"She's working with the 99 hundred here in the city, so we'll convince them that she's a dead end, likely in the literal sense." She then looks questioningly to Caio. "We'll do that first, yes? If you're comfortable catching up with old friends?"
She continues once Caio gives an assent. "Then we turn our attention to the corrupt viziers backing her. We find out who sees to their chambers, who handles their laundry. We learn their vile secrets and air them out once they can be substantiated. All the better, if we can prove sedition among any of them, then they'll scramble to save face and turn on our target. Then we get in with the guard, earn their trust so that we have a route to finding evidence on our target herself, proving her betrayal and her dark dealings."
"Once we have it all, we present it to the Emperor. And we make sure that our target doesn't have any means of escape."
She gestures to the two Hands at their side. "These two agents of the temple have been assigned by Halime to help us gather information and find more covert access to the seedy spaces the viziers might slink to."
Softly clapping her hands together as she finishes her spiel, she looks to the faces of the group. "So, first thing will likely be the 99 hundred while we wait for the arbiter to arrange the meeting with Thamur Ozan, who will get us access to the viziers and inner circles if we properly convince him of our mission."
"Any questions? Oh! And I'd very much like to hear about the nicer brothels of the city when you have a moment, humble guide."