Blast of Wind to Fan Our Hate

As he padded into the throne room, Scar's sole gaze at said throne was to note the conspicuous absence of its usual occupant. His gaze lingered on Regina as he stalked across the floor, then down to the rest of the gathering Thorns as he ascended the stairs to take up a position on the opposite side of Maleficent's throne from his fellow Council member.

As he took up his position, he offered Kron a small nod before turning to face the rest of the gathering as Regina spoke up. A small smirk crossed his face as he heard the enormous reptile snort, making his feelings well known. It was quite clear what the iguanodon thought of the possibility of taking losses in battle. In fact, he suspected that if Kron was calling the shots, this war would be a constant, head-on fight that would end up with one side or the other ground to dust.

"Moreover, what do we stand to gain? What makes this...New York so valuable to us?" he added on to Regina's demand as his own gaze settled on the Man of Shadows, as the queen beside him called the man.

"Now, now, y'all, I'm just pointing it out as a prime target."

If the Shadow Man, as most of his allies knew him, was at all disconcerted by the show of power arrayed before him, he gave no sign. The doctor's posture as he stood before the gathered leaders and high-ups was collected, controlled, unfazed by the steely gazes being turned his way. He met Queen Regina's gaze with cool self-assurance concealed by only the faintest act of deference.

Compared to his Friends on the Other Side, nothing in the living world could frighten Facilier.

Still, these were the same beings who, whether they knew it or not, were going to help him repay his debt to those 'Friends' once and for all. Words needed to be chosen carefully, to entice, to promise... in other words, exactly what he was good at. One slender finger traced the end of his moustache for just a moment.

"See, I may have a little deal going on that's told me a lot about this place; and looks to me that it's just ripe for the plucking."

Action matched word; on the word ripe, the doctor outstretched his hand. A subtle puff of purple smoke quickly coalesced into a juicy apple resting on his palm, just at the peak of ripeness; and what was more, the surface of the fruit seemed, in minute detail, to display an etching of New York's skyline. He let the image remain for a moment, then rubbed his hands together; the apple dissipated like so much mist.

Leaning forward, the doctor leant over the table, supporting himself on his hands. Violet gaze briefly took in the others present, before focusing back on the two most influential people in this gathering: Regina and Scar.

"See, here's what I've learned. This New York is unaffiliated so far; no ties to the Suns there. No calling in reinforcements in shinin' armour when we bring the fight to their doorstep. Souls there ain't out for anyone but their own selves... true anywhere in the world, but nowhere so much as the Big Apple."

Generalising? Maybe. But it was Facilier's experience that no place got a reputation like that unless there was at least a grain of truth to it: and what he'd seen from Rita's card reading had showed considerably more than just a grain. And besides, his other words were also true; there wasn't a place in the world that wasn't drowning in greed and self-interest. Even Rita's desire to protect people from the war, that he had played on so handily, sprang from that same source; she wanted to feel special, to feel needed, and sought that by helping kids who had nowhere else to turn.

And greed and self-interest were exactly the things he knew how to exploit.

"Y'all show yourself the dominant power in New York, some of them'll be falling over one another to get in your good graces. Most won't even bat an eyelid, so long as you leave their own comfortable little lives alone. And with the merging world scattering the States far and wide, there ain't a government in a position to protest."

And, of course, Facilier had his own contribution to offer to the attack, when it came. It was true that his 'Friends' were feeling much less generous with their assistance these days; the doctor was aware that his failure with the froggy prince had left him on dangerously thin ice. The only reason he was alive at all was because no-one else had risen to take his place in N'Orleans, and the dark spirits needed someone to pursue their interests in the war. Nonetheless, a battle would turn such a harvest of souls that his Friends could hardly resist it; they would, he was confident, allow him a fresh crop of Shadows for any battle he can instigate, to increase their own harvest of the wayward souls it would cut loose.

He would mention that, in time. But he didn't want his Friends' assistance to be the deciding factor; not when, eventually, he hoped to cut himself loose from them. If the assault was only approved because he'd promised their involvement, that would be another debt they could add to his account.

No more.

That wasn't to say it was the only remaining argument he had up his sleeve. For now, though, Facilier paused. You feed too many promises at once, your audience was liable to choke on them. Sometimes that was exactly the desired result, because it dropped people's guard and made them agree to things their better judgement would otherwise protest against; but in this case?

In this case, he wanted to see how this was going over, first, before he directly answered Scar's specific question. The answer he held to that, however, Facilier felt absolutely confident was going to be a convincing one.

Kron’s small eyes widened to match the rest of his bulk. He watched the little fruit with the reflections in it, dazzled for a moment. But though the Iguanodon was more than impressed, his face didn’t show much more of it. This was all over his head. But they didn’t need to know that.

A snort cleared more dust from the ledge his head hovered into the room over. It still sounded like the same question. Should they, or should they not, get more territory? Yes. Yes they should. Any reptile with a spine knew that was always the way to assert strength. Luckily the human Queen was finally talking about something worthwhile.

”If there’s an attack to be led, I’ll do it. I might not know much about this city’s defenses,” cold condescension boomed from the Herd leader, and a mocking half-small came to match it, ”but if it’s a nest of more humans, my lieutenant Bruton and I will have no trouble trampling them down.”

"Well, gee, I think it's just the swellest idea, don't you guys?"

Bellwether had been sitting and taking notes. Maleficent had told her to attend the meeting in her place. The others seemed to have found that hard to believe but Bellwether assured them Maleficent was very interested in New York and what they had to say and that she was fine with whatever they decided. Maleficent was out on a top secret mission as far as Bellwether and now the others knew.

Listening to the takeover of a city was exciting. In Dawn's mind it was just a preview for when they had the same discussion about Zootopia. Listening to Facilier's suggestion just made her nod in approval. But she kept her muzzle shut pretty much the whole time until Scar piped up to ask for opinions. The sheep had plenty of those to give, more than wool.

"So let's see if I got this right, Kron will lead the charge unless someone objects?" She scribbled as she spoke, furiously taking notes for Maleficent. "I'm sure New York will crumble. As will any city really, honestly, I can't think of a single specific one we should attack, really."

She cleared her throat. "I know I'm a little lamb sitting at the big wolf's table but I think the ideas you guys are coming up with would make a devil proud," she said, "And you're working smart, good job! Anything I can do to help perhaps?"

Eager eyes hungrily flicked from member to member.

While the conversation had gone on, Helga had been listening. It may not have looked like she'd had a lot to add, or much interest in what Facilier or the others had had to say, but she did. Her gaze was cold and her brow was creased in deep thought. Taking New York did have its benefits, and Facilier wasn't wrong even with his broad generalizations. Helga had seen New York with her own eyes once upon a time. She'd seen how the attitude of the general populace tended to be. With that taken into account, it would be easy to see it as an option full of opportunities. New Yorkers wouldn't raise a hand to look out for anyone else... much less stop them.

Still, the blonde remained quiet. Her gaze shifted from Facilier to the others as each voiced their thoughts in turn. Scar did raise a good point, she found. It would be worth considering that, even though the Suns had no stake in New York, someone might still get wind of the attack in some form. Kron leading the charge wasn't a bad idea, either. She hardly knew him, but the dinosaur did seem like the sort that would lead an assault without batting an eye. Still, the gears turned even as Shan-Yu spoke.

"Shan-Yu makes a good point. I agree," Helga said when Shan-Yu finished. "As the Shadow Man said, New Yorkers only care about themselves. They'll be more concerned with saving their own skins when we attack than anything. If we don't cut off their escape route by the ports, people will escape. Someone will undoubtedly get word out that we've taken it, and we'll be vulnerable to a counterstrike. So." She shifted her position in her chair and let her fist drop down onto the table to emphasize her point. A smirk formed. She hadn't taken much action in the war just yet, but now seemed as good a time as any.

"Unless someone objects," Helga said, "I have two suggestions. The first would be a second group. Smaller than the first, but enough to do its job. Kron will lead his to take the land, and I will take a group to cut off the ports. Unless someone else would like to volunteer." Helga let the thoughts hang in the air for a beat. As she moved her fist, unclenched it, and leaned back in her seat again, she continued.

"Second point. We need to make sure the Suns won't interfere. Thus, I propose we send a smaller force to keep the Suns occupied."