[Silence]

>>>>>[Isn't that Ehran guy one of the few of the old Princes that doesn't have five or six death squads hunting for him?  And who'd Harlequin?]<<<<<
     --Siouxsie(22:23:40/08-24-75

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

>>>>>[ Ask Bull.
          Then duck. ]<<<<<
          -- The Wyrm Ouroboros (01:30:00/08-25-2075)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[Prince Ehran left before the 'trouble', when the great dragon Dunkelzahn asked him to chair the DIMR in his will. As such, yes, he is not one of the ones being hunted. Prince Oakforest isn't being hunted by the Ghosts, I believe, but he is making trouble for Lofwyr in Europe. And the Ghosts, from all accounts, are content to leave Prince Laverty alone, provided he doesn't make waves, and doesn't show up in Cara'sir. Which suits Prince Laverty fine, I'm told, so long as he has young elven mages to teach.

As for Harlequin, there was a time when he was something of an urban myth. He and Ehran have grudges going back centuries, if the stories are true. And if you saw the footage from Denver, you'll know that he is someone who can go toe to toe with a great dragon in a duel. All the Elders are powerful mages, the equals of adult dragons, even capable of standing up to a great dragon. Of course, I'm pretty sure that they'd lose in the end if the dragon got serious, but Ghostwalker didn't seem to want to wreck too much of his domain in the fighting. Where Bull comes into this discussion is because other than his rivalry with Ehran and his recent fight with Ghostwalker, the only thing the Laughing Man has been known for is his habit of snatching a bunch of runners, and using them to hold the line against... well against things that clearly want 'in' to our world, but can't get here yet. Yet. And from the tales, this is the kind of thing that makes even insect spirits drek themselves. Let that sink in for a bit. Then get yourself a drink.

If you ever meet one of the Elders, be very polite, be very respectful, do exactly what they tell you to, and don't overstay your welcome. Basically, same as if you run across a dragon.]<<<<<

--Iceblade (07:39:23/08-25-75)

[Silence]

>>>>>[Ouch....  I have aches in places I didn't know I had.  I asked Uath about that Harlequin guy.  Big mistake.  Just got done doing "training exercises" that make the usual sadistic crap look like a walk in the park.  Afterwards he says I'm not ready to do any work for the guy, and tells me if an elf in facepaint offers me a job, turn it down.  Then tell him where the guy is, so he can get a sniper to "Plant one in his left cheek." 

All I know is that if I see this guy, I'm gonna shoot him in the face, and run like hell.  Because apparently those exercises were based on things that Uath did in jobs related to Harlequin.  I am not that tough, I am not that stupid, I am not expendable, so I am NOT FRAGGIN" GOING!!!]<<<<<
     --Siouxsie(12:01:50/08-25-75)

>>>>>[On a side note, I'm going to curl up for the next few days and nurse all of these bruises.]<<<<<
     --Siouxsie(12:03:45/08-25-75

[Chrona]

>>>>>[All right all right, I'll bite. Who the frag is Uath and why do you hang around the guy?]<<<<<

     --Chrona (18:07:17/08-25-2075)

[Silence]

>>>>>[This is Siouxsie's...Well, I guess the best way to put it is his Matrix nanny.

As for your question, Uath is the leader of the clan that protects the Emerald Light Grove.  As to why Siouxsie hangs around him, it's part of the deal for him hanging around here.  Basically, if he wants to stick around, he needs to be learning from one of us, and it was decided by the clan and the Grove that Uath would be his teacher.  His little sister has been with us since she was rescued from the gang that was using her to get a handle on Siouxsie.  She's a sweetheart, who's taking to her reading lessons very well, and may end up joining the Grove when she gets older.  Beyond learning to read, the little one is getting the lessons in her talent her brother never got, which is kind of a shame, because for all he's a pain in the rear, he's got a lot of potential.

Bit of background, though:  A couple months ago, the clan was contacted for a job.  The job was to find the daughter of some people who had been kidnapped.  The people who took the assignment found the girl, and the gang.  After they found the girl and returned her, the matter of the gang went up to the clan, and it was decided that they should be dealt with.  It seems they had been torturing young Awakened to turn them towards the darker paths.  It was agreed that this was a Bad Thing, and most of the clan went on the warpath.  Good news is, the children are all safe, those without parents have been adopted into families that care for them.  Bad news is, we haven't found who gave the gang that idea.

As to the programming on the 'link, I did that.  Mostly because he's a little pain.  Frankly, I've seen Uath blow up a 'link just by turning it on.  Any more questions about Uath can be addressed in person, to him.  We don't tell his biz, and he doesn't talk about ours to outsiders.]<<<<<
     --Sanctity Rose(14:57:15/08-25-75)

[Mirikon]

>>>>>[Siouxsie, having met the man, I can tell you quite plainly that shooting him in the face with anything less than a full auto assault cannon won't work. I hate to stress this point too much, but we are speaking of someone who went toe to toe with Ghostwalker, and was still standing, ten minutes in. You CANNOT handle him. I don't care how good this Uath or his sniper is, they CANNOT handle him. The only people who can are his fellow Elders and the Dragons. If Harlequin ever shows up and wants you to do a job for him, treat it the same as if Lofwyr himself was in front of you, asking you to do a job. Do the job, hope you get back with life and soul intact, and pray to whatever diety or spirit you wish that you never so much as become a blip on their radar. Harlequin, while not considered an 'equal' to the dragons, naturally, is considered a 'peer' by some of them. Treat him accordingly.

Or, to use a reference that even the least magically inclined of you will understand, a report came to me from a 'friend' in the IS. You know how Harlequin and the Azzies teamed up to bring chaos to Denver a few months back? You know how he got the Azzies on his side? Apparently, he walked directly into Aztechnology headquarters in Tenochtitlan, and openly waltzed past every layer of security in the place, before telling Domingo Chavez's secretary that he wanted a meeting. He then proceeded to wait in Chavez's office (disabling multiple groups of the elite of the elite Azzie soldiers with ease), until Chavez came to see him personally. And then he walked out of that meeting, with Aztechnology ready to help him with his scheme against Ghostwalker.

I am what you might call an accomplished combat mage. Even so, I would be unable to blow away multiple Ocelomeh warriors in a single spell. And I personally think I'd have better odds of taking on all the Leopard Guards alone than defeating Harlequin even ten on one, with people of my caliber or better.]<<<<<

--Iceblade (08:50:23/08-26-75)

[Smiley]

>>>>>[Shooting Harlequin in the face... Hahaha! Funiest drek I've read in days!]<<<<<
     -- Smiley (14:19:09/09-26-75)

[Chrona]

>>>>>[I almost spilled my blood all over Ice when i read that. Imagine the mess it would leave?]<<<<<

     --Chrona (19:34:17/08-26-2075)

[Silence]

>>>>>[Right, so shooting this Harlequin guy in the face is a bad thing.  Got it.  Trying to talk my way out of it, and running for the hills doesn't seem to be an option either, from what you guys are saying.  Fun, fun.

In other news, Managed to summon my first spirits.  Sucked worse than doing that overcast Mana Barrier to hold off that wonderful lesson in maintaining focus.

And Rose, I will get even, one of these days.]<<<<<
     Siouxsie(14:00:15/08-26-75)

[Wolfboy]

>>>>>[Sioux, if Harlequinn ever shows up and wants you to do a run, contact me. He wont let you out of it, but I'll try to get you through it in one piece. As for Tank Girl, her number is in the contact list of the link i sent you. If you need a back up rigger or a retrieval from a hot LZ let her know, she loves taking that Skraachaa on close air support runs

Longshot, get back in contact, i have a safe zone for you if you need it.]<<<<<

----Wolfgar (17:28:42/08-26-2075)

[The Wyrm Ouroboros]

>>>>>[ Geez, you people.  Harlequin is no better or worse than anyone else.  If he approaches you for a run, treat him like any other damn Johnson - because that's what he is.  As a matter of fact, you should be more willing to say 'no' to him and walk away, just because of the rumors about depth of the drek you get into on one of his little forays.  He doesn't kill everyone who declines to work with or for him; hell, Lofwyr doesn't do that, not even Alamais did that.  (Well, not and keep his cover.)
          Is the crap he has you do weird as hell?  Yeah, sometimes; sometimes it feels like you've gone to Hell itself.  But jumpin' Jesus on a pogo stick, if Harley did all the shit you people talk about, he wouldn't even have time to play Dawn of Atlantis.  And from the back-channel chatter, up until recently he spent lots of time on DoA.
          So keep your panties dry, kiddies. ]<<<<<
          -- The Wyrm Ouroboros (18:45:00/08-26-2075)

[Silence]

>>>>>[I seriously doubt Harlequin is ever going to be contacting me for a run.  My concerns are more along the lines of the Cutters and the Spikes.  Not dragons and elven Elders.  Tank Girl should have her half of the betting pool now.  And frankly, I'm more likely to need a chummer to look good and distract the marks while I do my thing than a hot extraction.  Though I will keep her extraction skills in mind, should they be needed.]<<<<<
     --Siouxsie(18:44:20/08-26-75)

>>>>>[You little shit!  A flash-bang in my panty drawer?!?!  I aughta kill you!]<<<<<
     --Sanctity Rose(18:48:45/08-26-75)

[Longshot23]

>>>>> [Well, that was . . . interesting. Don't know the why of it, either. S-K & Azzie had another go-around, thanks to me - wonder if I could bill them?
Anyone know of a spirit manifesting as a suit of plate armour?
Oh, and Sanctity Rose - what did you mean by darker paths? Not just toxic, right?] <<<<<

-- Longshot (05:08:13/08-28-2075)

[Kylen]

>>>>>[Chrona, you know I'll have your back. I may not know as much as Ice, but I can pull some resources as needed through Grandfather. Even if it's just simple reagents or a safe place to do the research.

Coyote is slowly teaching me about spirits, so I'll be honest when I say I want to be involved partly for the learning experience, and partly to back up some friends.

It's just odd to think that I happened to pull the interest of one of the major (or maybe minor) trickster spirits. Still figuring that out too.]<<<<<

     --Card (03:33:30/08-28-75)