[M] Peace Summit of Hexin

[Minkasha]

Jianyu openly observed the humble general across the room in the time the walking corpse of the Archlich approached him. Her soft steps could not disgust him further, the masks and plays littered throughout the Deathborne stifled any respect he could form. The general, the nameless one who kept things delicate with his words was of much more than he portrayed. One can find a great truth of a man’s nature by his company and enemies. The general playacted His Fatal Grace, but forgot he sat comfortably with Baigujing and openly displayed himself to be a looter, a thief.

Resting in a fashion to be overlooked was Wei’s necklace on the neck of a Kensei Jianyu could see served the nameless general. ‘Shameless the Dragon Stone too…you are vermin, feeding off the dead as you do. I see through your sloppy ploy’ He glared back at the Archlich when finally she was in front of him. Her, the general, and those of the other side of the amphitheater were all carrion opportunists.

His Fatal Grace stared at her magics and listened with visible irritation, tolerating her close proximity to him. At times his wings twitched or flapped down in single boasts of speed, provoking wind to make his hanging features move where his face would not.

“Tch!” The actions of the Shogun and her defilement of Wei’s incorporeal form jerked Jianyu from stillness to let out a chastising sound of air to come from his lips. The Archlich proposed many things only mortals would arrogantly say, that she resisted the ways of death. No, she was still very much dead, existing in an unnatural way. It was only the Burning Spirits who gave any sort of immortality. She represented no one but herself. However, he was chillingly silent until a laugh erupted from the Greatest of Nan when she gestured to the very same opportunistic, word-crafting general he already marked for his greed.

Of course it would be this man who held Wei’s body. He was nothing but fog, no integrity to solidify him.

Jianyu stared down at Wei of Nan with a high rise of his nose. Closing his eyes Jianyu had to break from the world and weigh the twists the living nightmare around him was morphing into. A minute passed while he weighed a many series of thoughts, ignoring all the eyes waiting on him for an answer. His grace was held in his poise, he didn’t move but did not appear stiff.

“…Wei of Nan, return to our world and I will guide you to the west plains of Hexin where you would perform seppuku before the dusking sun. You insult your title, and leave a stain on the Nan’s line. Dignity is what my love for you can return, maybe then what will be written of you will be redeemable. You were taught better, but you are dead.” He ended matter-of-factly, ending his relationship with Wei with rising eyes onto the Archlich. “If peace of mind for your commonality under mutual banner with us is what you are wanting to gain from me, then there is a greater grievance to address. My family would treasure what was worn on Wei’s body during his fall. What is insulting, Archlich, is the demon who wears his prized necklace in front of me. I want his clothes, his weapons, and his Dragon Stone”

He bore into with red eyes much more fierce than the pleading dead in front of His Fatal Grace.

[Evening Rain]

Arael's eyes glimmered with sinister amusement as the dark lady was rebuffed by Jianyu. He has more spirit than sense. A puffed up peacock with neither tact nor a willingness to accept the opportunities that came to him. A slave to his ideals? Perhaps. Arael despised people like that... and yet despite it all, his fluid grace, his aura of wisdom and reverence... it reminded the Darkener that his foe was more than a self-important braggart. His foe was lethal and dangerous. He was beautiful, but all of that could be turned against him. This one is dangerous too. I need to learn more of him.

Arael would work on that in the future. For now, it was his time to speak once more. The elder's ruthlessness in dismissing Wei could be used to Arael's benefit - provided he had enough time to pull some strings. Seppuku would never be a bad option, he supposed.

Arael's eyes shifted from Koryza to Jianyu, where they watched with veiled contempt. Intentionally, he allowed his face to show such bare strains of amusement and scorn that only an extremely perceptive individual would pick up on them. So subtle was his demeanour, that his expression seemed to most eyes nothing more than calm and polite. This was his way of gauging Jianyu's own intuition. If he saw anything out of place, it would prove that he was an enemy worthy of true respect.

"If I may, your grace - I would be happy to relinquish custody of Wei of Nan's clothes and weapons. Indeed, I shall give you his body, as well - so that you might honour him in the tradition of your people, should you wish it. As for the amulet he wore... forgive me, but might I suggest that you presume too much? This artifact was a gift from the shogun. Hokarimitsuji gave it to me as a symbol and token of our own alliance." Arael explained smoothly and blandly. "To pass it on to you would be disrespecting our new friendship. As much as I appreciate your profound insights, your grace, I could not so callously discard a gift from a friend."

[Tolvo]

Koryza raised a magical brow on a plane outside of normal mortal sight. Her second face looked to Arael following which she nodded in agreement. She turned and approached Guanyu and held out a sickly hand which he took in his own. Guanyu seemed to not be phased by the disgust others held for the Deathborne. At Arael's side Baigujing bowed his head to Jianyu and spoke to him shortly. "I would like to add Jianyu, no hard feelings. I forgive you for your hand in my death. I'll look past it and towards our nations' collective futures. I hold no grudge and hope we may call each other friends even some day."

[Minkasha]

Lunacy. He was surrounded by lunacy. His Fatal Grace studied the holding hands of the Emperor and Archlich. He wondered what had happened to the world in the two months he had to remain sequestered in Nan, not the literal events, but on the spiritual level of the Dragons, of the Fire and Smoke. What had become of everything? His plumaged ruffled behind him, and he ignored anything Baigujing said, addressing the general.

Listening to the general, digesting his words was a difficult game inside of himself. The slippery tongue conceived doubt that was certainly unnatural but by his self-mastery, noticed. Jianyu’s face again was stripped of anger or assertive potency, having to endure the general’s words as some forcible pacifier. His heart was being violated by trickery, but the mind was disciplined to know better. However Jianyu couldn’t keep the same degrees of passion, having to rekindle them yet again.

“You do not address me correctly,” Jianyu reprimanded him firstly, speaking calmly “Nan will receive what you offer and what you keep away. The Traitor’s tendencies to gift give have certainly become more revolving since my first knowing of her. She had not been particularly giving, even when young. The Dragon Stone was a symbol of love for Wei. What is disrespected is a gift given to someone who knew The Traitor at greater length than you.” He pointed down to Wei himself, “What say you specter? Do you deny what I have said? Your life you forfeited, did you forfeit your worldly possessions too?”

[Evening Rain]

"Oh my." Arael clicked his tongue in a chiding manner. "You despise and revile the dead, and now seek to learn his opinion? I would find it most troubling to see your credibility damaged by consorting now with the very thing you despise. Why ask the deceased and the departed when you can ask the living, breathing original owner of the amulet? Surely this little trinket is not worth your integrity." Arael turned his eyes to the shogun, allowing her a chance to speak on the matter.

Then, with a humble bow, Arael deferred his apology to the elder of Nan. "Forgive me, O-Ancestor. You carry so many titles that I confess I am not sturdy enough of intellect to remember them all, and convey them in the correct manner. It furthermore seems that I have you at a disadvantage. Please accept my humble apology for failing to give you my name. I am Arael Zandramas, and it is my exquisite pleasure to make your acquaintance." Arael cocked his head slightly as he watched the eldest of Nan's response.

[Tolvo]

The Wight King Jar Eel was perplexed atop his throne. He seems to be getting sick, at least he looked sicker than he normally did. He was loud and boisterous. "Why do they battle with wits? The two are acting like a couple of tits." Rozalia turned to him with an arched brow and he pointed in the direction of Arael and Jianyu. Koryza raised a hand at the Wight King and Rozalia. Telepathically she spoke to them, they seemed to get quiet and looked downward in response to whatever she said. Then she messaged Arael within his mind. "Will you stop already? The annoying bird man is already angry enough we need him on our side, you're pushing him away."

Wei stood up defiantly and waved his hand. "No, I will not. I am not to be anyone's plaything any longer. I am not yours to toy wit nor the Deathborne. Forgive me O-Ancestor, but I am Wei of Nan, the White Tiger. The Dragon Stone is mine and mine alone, gifted to me by the love of my life." Hokarimitsuji tried to put her hand on the chest of the spirit but simply phased through again. "Dammit, him being like this is getting me going. How long would it take to get that body? I can't wait to take Wei for a spin. I don't care about that stone, do with it whatever." Even Guanyu recoiled slightly at this and turned away for a moment to regain his composure. He coughed and interjected himself into the conversation. "What exactly is going on over here?"

[Minkasha]

Jianyu observed what happened and his plumage surged to full arc overhead. Time and time being insulted by General Araeal, this game of circles started by the Deathborne. It found an ending with disrespectful defiance. The array of red eyes stared over everyone in front of him and His Fatal Grace cast aside his hand with a quick gesture, matching his plumage to swiftly fall to the ground in matching emotion. For now, this was going no where and with the unwinding of the snake Araeal was showing himself to be, this social arena was in his favor. A string of disrespects.

"Do as you will." He dismissed Wei's soul and gave a light head nod to his faction's side of the amphitheater, giving Shi a knowing look to remind her of meeting, and quietly sat down to observe passively.

[Evening Rain]

And so he knows when to back down. Interesting. That makes him a more dangerous foe than I had anticipated. Arael gave a calm nod, and also sat - mirroring Jianyu's own movements. He replied to Koryza with an apologetic tone. "Forgive me, my lady. My spies gave me loose information on this one, and my own analysis confirmed my thoughts. He is our enemy already. I was simply trying to learn more about the sort of foe he could be. I shall leave him be, for now."

Looking back to the shogun he gave a quiet smile. "But it seems that the elder of Nan does not wish for his company. As she has dismissed him, and he refuses to accept any rule but his own - I ask you, my lady, and you Guanyu - in the absence of His Fatal Grace's judgment, what would you bid me do - with the tiger's corpse in my custody?"

He seems to have changed his mind in regards to the peace of death.

[Tolvo]

Koryza nodded towards Arael. She was back to her serene and calming self. "I would have you return the body to Hexin and bring both the spirit of Wei and a necromancer to resurrect him. We'll then leave the necromancer under command of house Nan, perhaps they will find some use for them." Guanyu looked a bit perplexed at the whole affair. "I agree with her, I believe. Even if he may be undead, Wei is still my cousin. It might do well for mortal and undead relationships as well to have him as a middle ground. At least I think so, I'm still new to these Deathborne-It's Deathborne correct?" The Archlich nodded yet again as Guanyu continued. "I'm still new to these Deathborne concepts." Wei bowed in his incorporeal form to everyone present. "Thank you for discussing this. I would like to return to my family, my children, and ensure they do not share my same fate. I have to think about the future of Nan, and of the Five Kingdoms."

With many of the matters being settled and no more open disputes being made the rest of the talks mostly focused on Hexin and Mersus. The relationship of the two and Guanyu and Koryza's desires for peace between the Ryudeshi and Deathborne. A recess was called for so that many could rest while the talks would continue for days. Mostly various ministers were left to figure out minute details among both factions and their representatives. The Deathborne and Ryudeshi had reached their agreement and in time they would come to find themselves as allies on the battlefields they'd share.