Scion: Hero (IC)

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Once Liliana told the group that the satyrs were instantly recognizable to scions, the mission became much simpler. Brand wouldn't have to cast as wide a net as possible in hopes that someone in his audience would be titanspawn; he could target them directly with his social manipulations.

Of course, if the satyrs could also spot scions at a glance, that could complicate things all over again.

Not for the first time, he found himself wishing he had some experience dealing with titanspawn. His adversaries back in Dublin had all, to the best of his knowledge, been purely mortal (albeit ruthless and occasionally well-armed). Except, perhaps, for her... but that was neither here nor there. Brand pushed aside the sudden rush of memories, forcing himself to refocus.

The plan was fundamentally unchanged. Brand mingled at the party, telling jokes, spinning stories, flirting with the girls and boys, and generally charming the crowd as best he could. And once he had a few of the satyrs paying attention to him, he launched into a story featuring Carnwennan.

Standing on a table, gesturing wildly, raising and lowering his voice, varying his speed of speech; Brand used every technique he had picked up in his... previous profession, every tip and trick to keep the audience hanging on his every word. The story was a heavily abbreviated and modified version of Hunting Ground, a book he'd found last night when looking for myths about the white-hilted dagger. Probably pure fiction (though he could never be completely sure about that nowadays), it featured Carnwennan being found, stolen, hidden away, used for extortion, wielded to slay a powerful supernatural being, and ultimately handed off to yet more powerful supernatural beings. If any of those things caused the satyrs to reek of guilt, he'd know he was on the right track, and which part or parts of the story triggered the guilt could also be very informative. From there, he could decide whether to approach the satyrs more directly.