Q3YQVJbn

1[19:56.18] <DM> So we begin. 
2[19:56.31] <DM> You rest. 
3[19:57.11] <DM> Jumping forward in time, as you did after Kharvalath, there is still some part of one's body that disagrees, and the nights of sleep after such a jump are often unusually restful. 
4[19:57.24] <DM> All of you dream, in some capacity. 
5[19:57.34] <DM> Whether they be self-directed, or not. 
6[19:58.13] <DM> Shala dreams of Azri, before he was twisted into the monster that he became - no, before he was shown to be what he is. 
7[19:58.36] <DM> Back when he was all she had, the sole source of survival for a young girl from the Runs. 
8[19:58.42] <DM> The chance to make a new life. 
9[19:59.21] <DM> The ember of Flame called Vaalo dreams of a man she never knew, a man who pulled her out of a forest of chains.
10[19:59.28] <DM> He has a bird on his shoulder. 
11[19:59.52] <DM> The bird cries, once, and they both disappear into sparks. 
12[20:01.21] <DM> Mel dreams of bringing home fresh meat in the snowfields of the Kieli, coming into the door to her modest abode with Sovi.
13[20:02.21] <DM> Her husband looks up, but his face blends into Kir's, and then Repriever's, and then Calcis', and it laughs, and says "tragically good," before spiders spill out of its mouth onto its chest and you awaken in a cold sweat from the nightmare.
14[20:04.29] * Mel sits up in bed with a jerk, and realizes she's next to Repriever.
15[20:04.29] <DM> Repriever dreams of watching Aridai in the snow, on his knees, broken as Kallos walks away, holding Arta and Calcis both. 
16[20:04.50] * Mel places a hand over Repriever, and lies back down.
17[20:05.29] <DM> And you feel the rage and frustration that Aridai feels, but in you it is a roaring flame, and the ground cracks under Kallos, a second emergence, a torrent of fire to consume your true enemy - 
18[20:06.10] <DM> The shockwave tumbles you backwards towards an awakening at Melchior's touch. 
19[20:06.21] <DM> And Penumbra, of course, does not dream.
20[20:06.28] * Repriever opens his eyes, but doesn't stir. 
21[20:06.29] <DM> But she has many things on which to meditate as she chooses. 
22[20:07.55] * DM changes topic to: A Handful of Dust Session 116: Quiet Dawn - ＋https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz-RiM2yFAQ，
23[20:09.20] <DM> It is a quiet dawn. 
24[20:09.36] <DM> The Reme entered the canals of the city some time during the night, gliding quietly upriverr. 
25[20:09.40] <DM> upriver*
26[20:10.25] * Repriever carefully removes Mel's arm and sits up on the edge of the bed.
27[20:11.04] <+Mel> "Sorry if I woke you."
28[20:11.15] * Repriever tries to resummon his arm while answering her.
29[20:11.29] <+Repriever> "Just dreams."
30[20:11.56] <DM> UMD check, Repriever. 
31[20:12.05] <+Repriever> ?roll 1d20+21
32[20:12.05] <%tBot> Repriever: 37 ([16] +21)
33[20:12.37] <DM> Bright, red, roiling fire coils from the stump, girded in Celestial runes that fade into the illusion of hand-shaped flesh. 
34[20:13.16] * Repriever flexes the hand, but maintains an overall slumped posture. His focus is turned to some unseen things occupying corners of the room.
35[20:13.47] * Mel lies down again, watching Repriever out of the corner of a half-closed eye.
36[20:14.03] <+Repriever> "The angel should never have spoken to you like that."
37[20:14.14] <+Repriever> "It is me, but it also isn't."
38[20:14.23] * Repriever doesn't know how to explain it.
39[20:14.38] * Mel nods lightly.
40[20:15.17] <+Repriever> "Calcis pushes me, each and every time."
41[20:15.29] <+Repriever> "Urgency."
42[20:15.38] <DM> A celestial admonition. 
43[20:15.39] * Repriever rakes his hair, still watching his ghosts. 
44[20:15.47] <DM> That Arta moves towards her own destruction. 
45[20:16.36] <+Mel> If her destruction is the course for a better world, however...
46[20:16.46] <+Repriever> "When she is with me, guiding me, empowering me... I can see what I need to do and know I can do it."
47[20:16.53] <+Repriever> "Or I believe I can..."
48[20:17.45] <DM> Twice, now.
49[20:17.48] <+Repriever> "That angel belongs to her. It is the piece of me that she sent to Azhedat, reflected back at me from heaven."
50[20:18.00] <DM> She has counseled the destruction of the Apastron immediately, or at least pushed you towards it. 
51[20:18.16] <DM> Is it what the world needs? Or is it what Calcis' guilt needs? 
52[20:19.14] * Repriever holds his head in his hands, knees propped on his elbows as he slumps on the bed's edge.
53[20:19.35] <+Repriever> "And it spoke prophecy," he says bitterly. 
54[20:20.11] * Repriever removes the bandage from his arm to hear the visions surrounding him.
55[20:20.35] <+Mel> "Remember that the future is always probability."
56[20:20.42] <+Mel> "There is no absolute prophecy."
57[20:21.32] <+Repriever> "I pray that's true."
58[20:22.38] <+Repriever> "Illian doesn't like it when I mute our father," he says, changing his tone to a lighter one. 
59[20:23.00] <+Mel> "Hmmph."
60[20:23.02] * Mel chuckles.
61[20:24.04] * Repriever returns his gaze to the empty corner of the room.
62[20:24.41] <+Mel> "Visitor?"
63[20:24.47] <DM> There is a thump. 
64[20:24.47] <+Repriever> "I've never been very good at that," he says, softly.
65[20:25.13] <DM> And a crack appears in the panel of the cabin's wooden wall. 
66[20:25.39] * Repriever watches this unfold, not really knowing if it is real or a vision.
67[20:25.51] * You are now known as Hin
68[20:25.57] <Hin> "What in blazes are you doing down there?" 
69[20:26.10] <Hin> "Repriever, do not cast magic at my walls." 
70[20:26.17] * Repriever blinks.
71[20:26.52] <+Repriever> "I..."
72[20:27.18] * Repriever looks to Mel once he realizes that wasn't just a vision.
73[20:27.33] <+Mel> "What did you see?"
74[20:28.01] <+Repriever> "Kharvalath disciplined Illian."
75[20:29.15] <+Mel> "He's a passenger in your mind, and he's using you to cast magic."
76[20:30.19] * Repriever wears his consternation on his face. 
77[20:31.04] <+Repriever> "If that's true, would you kindly stop?" he asks the dragon. 
78[20:32.35] <+Repriever> "Well your lessons could be less destructive, or you'll have Hin to deal with."
79[20:33.35] * Repriever turns to kiss Mel before rising, unsteadily, to his feet. His exhaustion is evident in his every stoop and sag and heavy breath.
80[20:34.05] * Mel reciprocates the kiss, and takes the return of Repriever's spirit arm that he is recovering, at least to an extent.
81[20:34.41] <+Repriever> "How is that possible?" he asks another corner of the room.
82[20:37.33] <+Repriever> "Well, then," he sighs, then turns back to Mel. "We missed the solstice. I'll be in the galley."
83[20:37.58] <+Mel> "I'll be there in a bit."
84[20:38.07] * Mel sleeps in just a bit longer.
85[20:39.52] * Repriever continues talking to his tag-alongs as he descends to the galley in his exhausted and mentally worn state, where he promptly starts cooking breakfast.
86[20:40.57] <+Penumbra> In the office, Repriever would pass by Penumbra in silent meditation.
87[20:41.57] * Repriever does not bother her unless she looks at him. 
88[20:42.01] * Shala rises last, when the footsteps and galley clanging becomes hard to ignore
89[20:42.51] <Hin> When you make it to the deck, you'll see that the Reme has sailed upstream of Tetraea proper. 
90[20:43.07] <Hin> In the wooded suburbs of the city, a hasty encampment has been set up by the river.
91[20:43.38] <Hin> A rough palisade and berms of earth encloses thousands of ssethkar pulled from the Imperial Isle as it fell, or from the sea around it.
92[20:44.22] <Hin> Refugees from the Apastron's assault, so desperate that they would choose being befouled by humans over death at the wight army's hands.  
93[20:45.44] <+Repriever> Assuming Repriever is wearing some kind of baggy, light fabric pants and isn't beboping around the galley nude. 
94[20:48.46] <+Repriever> The breakfast is a hodgepodge of anything and everything he can gather from the ingredients onboard. He piles more dishes on as he works simply to distract himself from his own thoughts, and as a form of penance for missing his holiest of days.
95[20:50.49] * Mel gets up, gets dressed, and does some writing in her journal, pondering meta-essences.
96[20:52.03] <Hin> Eventually, Vy sheepishly pokes back around. 
97[20:52.13] * You are now known as Vyriscine
98[20:52.20] <Vyriscine> "...hey..." 
99[20:52.30] <+Repriever> [to who?]
100[20:52.33] * Vyriscine still isn't sure if she's allowed to just come and go, but doesn't seem to know what else to do.
101[20:52.44] <Vyriscine> [to Mel in the galley, and/or Mel and Repriever if they're eating together] 
102[20:52.53] <+Repriever> [Mel is in Penny's cabin still]
103[20:52.56] <+Repriever> [with the pen]
104[20:56.19] <Vyriscine> I'm guessing she walks in on Repriever then. 
105[20:56.26] <Vyriscine> and maybe Shala, if she's around. 
106[20:56.38] <Vyriscine> Kir is probably also helping with the cooking. 
107[20:56.47] <Vyriscine> He usually likes to do that.
108[20:57.58] * Shala grabs a chair and rests her chin on her hands
109[20:58.35] <+Repriever> "Hello."
110[20:59.32] <+Repriever> "You were all such bad children. You know that, right?"
111[20:59.38] * Repriever says to the purple.
112[20:59.43] <Vyriscine> "I was the worst." 
113[20:59.59] * Vyriscine breathes.
114[21:00.11] <Vyriscine> "How much do you remember," she says quietly, heaping on a few sausages. 
115[21:00.28] <Vyriscine> "Do you remember...everything?" 
116[21:00.38] <+Repriever> "That would be telling."
117[21:00.48] * Repriever sears some more sausages. 
118[21:00.56] * Vyriscine bites her lip, opens her mouth and then closes it. 
119[21:01.02] <Vyriscine> "We settled things."
120[21:01.15] <Vyriscine> "You gave me my orders, I made what was asked."
121[21:01.28] <Vyriscine> "And I didn't get in your way or work with the humans."
122[21:01.31] <Vyriscine> "Until this all started."
123[21:01.36] <Vyriscine> "You know that." 
124[21:01.41] <Vyriscine> "I would never betray you." 
125[21:01.47] <+Repriever> "And I've made breakfast," he adds casually.
126[21:01.57] <Vyriscine> "Right, so. I owe you for that, too."
127[21:02.21] * Vyriscine laughs, nervously, gnawing on a sausage.
128[21:02.26] <Vyriscine> "He's really gone." 
129[21:02.54] <+Repriever> "No one's ever really gone."
130[21:02.57] <+Repriever> [you know I had to]
131[21:05.18] * Vyriscine half-whimpers over a sausage. 
132[21:06.05] * Repriever slumps against the table before pulling out a seat for himself. He's pushing himself too far.
133[21:06.57] * Repriever stares into Vyriscine's eyes as he takes a bite of bread. 
134[21:07.26] <Vyriscine> She meets the gaze, then breaks it. 
135[21:07.57] <+Mel> [Vy wishing Mel was here intensifies]
136[21:08.33] <Vyriscine> "Yeah these are...what do you humans put in these sausages anyways?"
137[21:08.38] <Vyriscine> "Boars? Ferrets?"
138[21:08.40] <Vyriscine> "They're great." 
139[21:08.50] <+Repriever> "Ssethkar, mostly."
140[21:09.07] * Vyriscine coughs lightly and takes a long sip of water. 
141[21:09.32] <+Repriever> "No, you're right. Boars or ferrets."
142[21:10.04] * Repriever has immense bags under his eyes.
143[21:11.41] * Repriever squirts sausage juice as he tears into a link. 
144[21:12.15] * Vyriscine lets out a tense sigh. 
145[21:12.20] <Vyriscine> "Oh, oh that's great."
146[21:12.28] <Vyriscine> "Because you know, ssethkar, they're, uh." 
147[21:12.37] <Vyriscine> "They're people." 
148[21:12.41] * Vyriscine raises her eyebrows. 
149[21:13.09] * Shala raises her eyebrows
150[21:13.13] <+Repriever> "So were all the humans your siblings ate."
151[21:13.40] <Vyriscine> "Ky-!...priever." 
152[21:13.47] * Vyriscine looks from side to side. 
153[21:13.55] <Vyriscine> "You know I ran." 
154[21:13.58] * Vyriscine whispers. 
155[21:14.04] <Vyriscine> "I didn't want anything to do with this." 
156[21:14.20] <Vyriscine> "With eating, or conquering, or any of it." 
157[21:14.43] <+Repriever> "That's why you're my favorite."
158[21:14.49] * Repriever gesticulates with a half-sausage. 
159[21:18.40] * Shala doesnt have favorite lizards anymore
160[21:19.33] * Vaalo bleary eyed enters the room and sits
161[21:20.06] * Shala chews on some rough breakfast meat, taking time to pull strands of it from her teeth between bites
162[21:20.34] <+Shala> "Today is as good a day as any. I should see my friend fully returned."
163[21:20.50] * Repriever nods.
164[21:21.17] <+Repriever> "Some new life to brighten this place up."
165[21:22.35] * Shala nodded
166[21:22.42] <Vyriscine> "Oh yeah, Shala."
167[21:22.57] <+Shala> "We'll have it done before lunch, and she can join us for dinner."
168[21:22.58] * Shala sighs
169[21:23.07] <Vyriscine> "You're a Conjurer and stuff, right?" 
170[21:23.19] <+Shala> "And stuff indeed."
171[21:23.23] * Vyriscine starts digging around in her bag. 
172[21:23.47] <Vyriscine> "I don't usually mess with extraplanar summonings but I picked this up a few decades ago..."
173[21:23.52] <Vyriscine> "I thought you might be able to use it." 
174[21:24.03] * Vyriscine hands over an ancient scroll, embossed in an archaic form of Tower Kasathic. 
175[21:24.24] <Vyriscine> "Consider it a gift from your new favorite dragon." 
176[21:24.29] * Vyriscine grins. 
177[21:24.36] <Vyriscine> [You learn Lesser Planar Binding and Planar Binding] 
178[21:24.51] * Shala takes it awkwardly and peaks a bit of a look, tucking it into her outfit 
179[21:24.58] <Vyriscine> [ ＋https://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/p/planar-binding， ] 
180[21:24.59] <+Shala> "This is certainly a *start* "
181[21:25.17] * Shala tries to hide her excitement 
182[21:25.52] <+Repriever> "So where is the girl now?"
183[21:26.48] <+Repriever> "I'd be glad to take something back from the Eyeless."
184[21:28.03] <+Shala> [where exactly is she lol]
185[21:28.06] <+Shala> [on the reme]
186[21:28.25] <+Repriever> "You should get Mel and Penumbra to help you with this. I don't think I'll be of much use."
187[21:29.17] * Mel enters the room.
188[21:29.26] <+Mel> "Someone say my name?"
189[21:29.38] <Vyriscine> "Well, she's mostly done."
190[21:29.47] <Vyriscine> "Thing is, you know, she's got half a soul, and the memories aren't all there."
191[21:30.01] <Vyriscine> "So if she has a remarkably different personality from what you remember, that's not, uh, exactly my...fault." 
192[21:30.08] <+Repriever> "We've done plenty with less than that."
193[21:30.52] <+Shala> "My friend, Mel."
194[21:31.27] <+Mel> "Yes?"
195[21:32.05] * Repriever has his gaze fixed on Vyriscine as he nibbles food.
196[21:32.29] * Vaalo perks up as mel comes in
197[21:32.50] <+Mel> "What news about her, Shala?"
198[21:33.02] * Mel does a quick look around the room before returning her eyes to Shala.
199[21:33.02] <+Shala> "I wish to return her."
200[21:33.32] <+Shala> "We could use the help now, I think."
201[21:33.40] <+Mel> "I'm not certain I heard all the details from you and Repriever, but I'd be happy to do what I can."
202[21:33.45] <Vyriscine> "Alright!" 
203[21:33.58] <Vyriscine> "Well, I've got her in a handly little pocket dimension where I was building her."
204[21:34.13] <Vyriscine> "So much better for cleaning up all the fluids than working in a real lab."
205[21:34.14] <+Mel> "You were purging the nameless' influence from her, right?"
206[21:34.22] <Vyriscine> "Cause you can just collapse the demiplane!" 
207[21:34.25] <Vyriscine> "Heh." 
208[21:34.30] <Vyriscine> "Oh, well, not really."
209[21:34.45] <Vyriscine> "Well, a bit of testing on that."
210[21:34.52] <Vyriscine> "But mostly I was just making her a flesh golem." 
211[21:34.55] <+Mel> "I mean, it either scatters them all over the place, annihilates them or dumps it all out in one place. What type of topology are we talking here?"
212[21:35.22] <+Mel> "Flesh golem seems like a kind of inelegant way to describe it. How have you been restoring her?"
213[21:35.28] <Vyriscine> "Uh, well, I usually go for a toroidal recursion with an illusion of 3-dimensional space-" 
214[21:35.30] <Vyriscine> "Right." 
215[21:35.52] <Vyriscine> "Well, they got me the soul, right."
216[21:36.05] <Vyriscine> "From, whatever hellhole it was trapped in, some nameless possession thing." 
217[21:36.07] <+Mel> "The illusions are nice for sanity's sake but it makes a hell of a splatter pattern when you close the pocket. But yeah, we'll talk about that another day."
218[21:37.02] * Mel nods
219[21:37.09] * Shala is hearing only bits and pieces of this conversation
220[21:37.13] <+Shala> "So what do we need to do"
221[21:37.17] <+Shala> "Vir"
222[21:38.22] <Vyriscine> "Oh, nothing, really."
223[21:38.44] * Vyriscine places her violet cape on the table, and withdraws it, and then Mathilde is lying splayed out just next to the breakfast dishes. 
224[21:38.47] <Vyriscine> "Here she is." 
225[21:39.21] <Vyriscine> "She's in suspended animation." 
226[21:39.32] <Vyriscine> "She can eat regular food and she'll excrete mostly like a human does."
227[21:39.51] <Vyriscine> "Reproductively, she's sterile, I don't really know how to mimic a human egg sac." 
228[21:39.55] <Vyriscine> "Or whatever it is." 
229[21:39.58] * Repriever is briefly annoyed at the naked woman laying on the table while he's eating.
230[21:40.13] <+Mel> "So you said this was in the style of a Flesh Golem. And I hope you're joking about your human anatomical knowledge."
231[21:40.21] * Vyriscine grins. 
232[21:40.32] <Vyriscine> "Of course. I know the egg sac is called an 'ovary'." 
233[21:40.33] * Mel smiles upon seeing it is mere japery.
234[21:40.43] * Mel puts her serious face back on.
235[21:41.08] <+Mel> "So you had a fragment of her soul that was cleansed, and then had to partially restore her body from... what components? What's the medium?"
236[21:41.24] <Vyriscine> "Well, I started from scratch." 
237[21:41.32] <Vyriscine> "But I worked off of some designs that Shala gave."
238[21:41.38] <Vyriscine> "So this is only an approximation of her old body." 
239[21:42.18] <+Mel> "Designs?"
240[21:42.20] * Repriever looks at the body in stasis to compare to what he saw in the pocket dimension. 
241[21:42.20] * Mel looks to Shala.
242[21:42.46] * Shala shrugs
243[21:42.55] <+Repriever> With my expert fake-person eyes, what do I deduce?
244[21:43.11] <Vyriscine> It's pretty darn good!
245[21:43.23] <Vyriscine> She looks very similar. 
246[21:43.33] <+Repriever> Could she pass as human?
247[21:43.44] <Vyriscine> "Yeah, Shala drew me some pictures, and I made some models and stuff." 
248[21:44.06] <Vyriscine> "I tweaked the illusory models until Shala was satisfied with an approximation I could start building from."
249[21:44.20] <+Mel> "So what state was she in before this? Part-spider?"
250[21:44.24] <+Shala> "My designs were...practiced. I'm not surprised it is a near replica." 
251[21:44.31] <Vyriscine> "Also, her bones are a metallic alloy instead of that cheap calcium stuff you humans have." 
252[21:44.38] <Vyriscine> "That's just an upgrade."
253[21:44.52] * Shala runs her hands through her hair 
254[21:44.57] <+Shala> "Oh Matty forgive me."
255[21:45.20] <+Repriever> "She'll need to be interrogated when she awakens."
256[21:45.29] * Shala nods
257[21:45.55] <+Mel> "Remember, pretty much every state is better than the unnameable."
258[21:46.01] * Mel says to Shala, semi-reassuringly.
259[21:46.01] <Vyriscine> "Well, you'll have to ask Repriever and Shala about that." 
260[21:46.03] <+Penumbra> ?roll 1d20+11
261[21:46.03] <%tBot> Penumbra: 30 ([19] +11)
262[21:46.09] <Vyriscine> "I was just handed a soul, which seems mostly purified." 
263[21:46.14] <+Repriever> "I told you we'd get her back, Sha," he says softly.
264[21:47.42] * Repriever finishes his plate, desperately hungry and still unsated, but pushes it aside and looks to the Violet. 
265[21:47.51] <+Shala> "Let's see if she's in a state to be interrogated right away..."
266[21:47.57] <Vyriscine> "Right, so." 
267[21:48.17] <Vyriscine> "When you're ready, just feed her this potion."
268[21:48.34] <Vyriscine> "It'll jump start the normal rhythm and she should feel and act like a regular human, albeit a slightly more resilient one." 
269[21:48.52] <Vyriscine> "You...may wish to clothe her first."
270[21:48.57] <Vyriscine> "I'm a magician, not a tailor." 
271[21:49.46] <+Shala> "Hmm, something loose and flowy."
272[21:50.01] * Vyriscine changes topic to: A Handful of Dust Session 116: Quiet Dawn - ＋https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgtKuNBFdcM，
273[21:50.16] <Vyriscine> "I can cast that, I guess..." 
274[21:50.19] * Mel summons a tactile illusion.
275[21:50.27] <Vyriscine> "Oh, yeah, that's better." 
276[21:50.31] <+Mel> A loose, white sundress appears.
277[21:50.41] <+Mel> "Any colours or familiar patterns she likes?"
278[21:50.47] <+Shala> "Who knows..."
279[21:50.51] * Vyriscine hands the awakening potion over to Shala. 
280[21:51.10] <+Shala> "Much is likely to be different."
281[21:51.25] * Shala slowly tips it into her mouth
282[21:51.57] * Mel makes it white with iridescent, rainbow trim around the collar, cuffs and hem.
283[21:52.00] * You are now known as Mathilde
284[21:52.16] <Mathilde> "Butterflies...and moths and cicadas...eating..." 
285[21:52.19] * Vaalo stands behind mel
286[21:52.31] * Mel moves over so Vaalo can see.
287[21:52.33] <Mathilde> "And no it's going to slow it'll never get away from the nest it's full"
288[21:52.50] * Repriever stands up from his seat, poorly. 
289[21:52.52] * Mathilde 's eyes snap open. 
290[21:53.06] <Mathilde> "And it's waiting. Under the earth." 
291[21:53.16] * Mathilde gives a deep, rattling breath. 
292[21:53.25] * Mathilde hyperventilates. 
293[21:53.31] <Mathilde> "Tell me it's real." 
294[21:53.33] * Mathilde whispers. 
295[21:53.40] * Mathilde looks around. 
296[21:53.43] * Mathilde looks around and around. 
297[21:53.59] * Mathilde 's eyes fix on Shala. 
298[21:54.05] * Vaalo touches mel's arm, and reaches forward, curiously
299[21:54.11] * Mathilde laughs, chin jerking forward. 
300[21:54.17] <+Shala> "Hi."
301[21:54.23] <Mathilde> "I always wanted this, so..."
302[21:54.26] * Mathilde starts to cry 
303[21:54.39] <Mathilde> "So tell me it's not just some spider's cruel game to take it all away at the last second..." 
304[21:54.45] <+Mel> "Fuck the spider."
305[21:54.49] * Mathilde 's shoulders are shaking. 
306[21:54.53] <+Shala> "Well, no, but our situation is not much better."
307[21:54.56] * Shala retorts
308[21:54.59] <Mathilde> "Over and over and over it...it makes you think that..."
309[21:55.03] * Mathilde starts to laugh.
310[21:55.11] <Mathilde> "Business as always with you Tell Ashara." 
311[21:55.27] <+Repriever> "Before we go any further, what is your name, mancer?"
312[21:55.58] * Repriever is very watchful. 
313[21:56.00] <Mathilde> "No. No no no no no." 
314[21:56.05] <Mathilde> "I don't know you're real, let me..." 
315[21:56.19] * Mathilde fumbles for a wand, and sighs in frustration. 
316[21:56.38] <+Mel> "You don't have anything on you right now, beyond illusory robes."
317[21:56.48] <+Mel> "We can get you things as you require."
318[21:57.02] <+Mel> "You can call me Mel, I'm a friend of Shala's."
319[21:57.15] <+Repriever> "Your name, please."
320[21:58.16] <+Repriever> "Simple. Easy. True."
321[21:58.26] * Mathilde snaps her fingers, and says "Anklet." and a red salamander appears in a puff of flame and crawls up her ankle, under her dress. 
322[21:58.37] * Mathilde sighs, shortly. 
323[21:58.44] <Mathilde> "My familiar is here." 
324[21:58.53] <Mathilde> "So this is either a very good illusion or...Mathilde." 
325[21:59.00] * Shala exhales
326[21:59.13] * Repriever sighs and sits back down.
327[21:59.18] <+Shala> "One important test passed." 
328[21:59.35] <+Repriever> "This is real, for better or worse, Mathilde."
329[21:59.44] <Mathilde> "How's Pokey." 
330[21:59.54] <+Shala> "You can ask him yourself."
331[22:00.04] * Mathilde says, on her hands and knees on the dinner table. 
332[22:00.06] * Mel looks like she's going to talk, but steps back, to give Mathilde some more familiar faces.
333[22:00.07] * Shala roots around in her hair and pulls out the tiny scorpion 
334[22:00.36] <+Shala> "He woke up early just to see you."
335[22:00.53] <Mathilde> "He was always doing more work than his mistress." 
336[22:01.33] <+Shala> "I wish that I could be so lazy. That's probably why I brought you back."
337[22:01.36] * Shala sighs 
338[22:01.41] * Mathilde holds out her hand, as if a lady accepting a dance partner, and Anklet scuttles around her arm to crawl up Shala's and go talk to Pokey in their secret small animal language. 
339[22:01.57] <+Shala> "It is tough being the world's foremost conjurer these days."
340[22:02.06] * Shala takes it 
341[22:02.08] * Mathilde lets out a peal of laughter. 
342[22:02.11] <+Shala> "There's alot we need to tell you."
343[22:02.23] <Mathilde> "Luckily, you can now pass off the burden." 
344[22:02.42] <Mathilde> "Let me guess, the oceans have been transmuted into salt and demon kings rule the land." 
345[22:03.20] * Repriever lets them talk while he cleans up the dirty dishes, hauling them to the wash basin one handful at a time. 
346[22:03.20] <+Shala> "1 out of 2 isnt bad"
347[22:04.17] <+Shala> "And things are getting....celestial."
348[22:05.11] <+Repriever> ?roll 1d20+19
349[22:05.11] <%tBot> Repriever: 32 ([13] +19)
350[22:05.56] <Mathilde> There is a sound of crashing glass from the galley. 
351[22:05.58] * Repriever suddenly spirals to the floor near the sink.
352[22:06.37] * Repriever growls in frustration at broken dishes.
353[22:06.42] <Mathilde> "Better than the alternative I suppo-oh" 
354[22:07.13] <+Mel> "Repriever, you're barely standing upright, stop trying to help in small ways and help in a big way by resting."
355[22:07.16] * Repriever rubs at his jaw like he's been struck.
356[22:08.36] * Repriever bites his tongue and gets up, visibly angry. 
357[22:08.53] <+Repriever> "You're right. Keep an eye on her, Mel."
358[22:09.31] * Repriever exits the galley and the scene.
359[22:09.54] * Mel sits in the background, writing in her journal and keeping present. Vaalo can look at Mel's drawings if she wants, or listen to the friends meeting.
360[22:10.11] * Vaalo watches mel draw
361[22:10.12] <Mathilde> "So he's the geriatric guardian that the Tower bounties discussed.."  
362[22:10.22] * Mathilde gives Shala a knowing glance. 
363[22:10.36] <+Shala> "Off and on geriatric."
364[22:10.57] * Shala corrects her
365[22:11.04] <+Shala> "Sometimes he's quit winsome."
366[22:11.07] * Shala whispers
367[22:11.20] <+Shala> [quite]
368[22:11.32] * Mel smiles slightly.
369[22:11.53] <+Shala> "Our crew is complicated. They each have a thousand stories to start."
370[22:13.24] <Mathilde> "Oh, I can imagine."
371[22:13.37] <Mathilde> "I've only gotten distorted tales from the battered remnants of your enemies."
372[22:13.58] <Mathilde> "And more than a few winsome fellows on this galleass..."
373[22:14.13] <Mathilde> "Kir, and Akvan, yes?" 
374[22:14.50] <+Shala> "Ahh....yes" 
375[22:15.05] * Mathilde nods slightly, giving Shala the 'tell me more' look. 
376[22:15.27] * Mathilde is now seated on the edge of the dinner table, stroking her salamander in her lap absent-mindedly. 
377[22:15.31] <+Shala> "Kir is here. Akvan, there's a story there too but he is gone."
378[22:15.49] * Shala looks at her hands
379[22:16.02] * Vaalo is transfixed by the moving pen and the ink left on paper
380[22:16.05] <+Shala> "Usually there is something we can do but not for him." 
381[22:16.27] * Mathilde purses her lips. 
382[22:16.33] <+Mel> "He's obliterated, save some major alterations of reality."
383[22:16.47] * Mathilde lets out a sigh. 
384[22:16.55] <+Mel> "But his annihilation brought forth the birth of this young one here."
385[22:17.17] <Mathilde> "And they told us making pacts with devils was dangerous..." 
386[22:18.13] <Mathilde> "Oh!"
387[22:18.24] <Mathilde> "Speaking of pacts, do you know where Azri is?" 
388[22:18.37] <+Shala> "He is where he always is." 
389[22:18.40] * Shala purses her lips 
390[22:18.51] <+Repriever> [in her heart]
391[22:19.02] <Mathilde> "Everything is falling apart at the Tower since he left, the Planar Council is at each other's throats and on the brink of civil war they say...or were, before I..."
392[22:19.14] <Mathilde> "I can't remember anything from Zarmahl." 
393[22:20.08] <+Shala> "There's not much worth remembering. It went fully to hell and the usual vultures picked up the pieces."
394[22:20.47] <Mathilde> "Thing about vultures."
395[22:20.57] <Mathilde> "Remarkably vulnerable to missiles when they're beak-deep in carrion." 
396[22:21.16] * Mathilde stretches an upper arm theatrically. 
397[22:21.33] <Mathilde> "So."
398[22:21.40] <Mathilde> "Miss world's foremost Conjurer."
399[22:21.54] <Mathilde> "And High Athtar Azri Bel Azimel's heir apparent."
400[22:21.58] <Mathilde> "What's the plan?" 
401[22:22.35] * Shala looks to Mel 
402[22:22.42] <+Shala> "There's a dozen things need doing at once."
403[22:23.08] <+Shala> "Had we decided what the first thing would be?"
404[22:23.43] * Mathilde quirks her head. 
405[22:24.09] <+Mel> "I think it'd be prudent to try and find what cooperation we can with the Sealed Cities myself."
406[22:24.46] <Mathilde> "Are the geostatic disturbances continuing...?" 
407[22:25.07] <+Mel> "Which ones do you refer to? I confess to being largely responsible for one of the larger ones."
408[22:26.46] <Mathilde> "Earthquakes."
409[22:26.59] <Mathilde> "Emanating across the Lethic Sea from Sealed City points of origin."
410[22:27.25] <Mathilde> "We were tracking them, they hadn't reached the Towerlands yet but I believe the Calcissi Isles were quite disturbed." 
411[22:27.42] <+Mel> "Yes, they're not islands anymore, conventionally."
412[22:28.01] <Mathilde> "Oh no." 
413[22:28.05] <Mathilde> "Did they sink?" 
414[22:28.30] <+Shala> "The other one."
415[22:28.41] <+Repriever> [tell her to look outside :p]
416[22:29.11] * Shala points outside
417[22:29.14] * Mel smiles slightly.
418[22:31.00] <Mathilde> "Oh!' 
419[22:31.11] <Mathilde> "We're...in the Isles." 
420[22:31.21] <Mathilde> "Wait." 
421[22:31.28] <Mathilde> "Noooo." 
422[22:31.35] <+Mel> "Yup."
423[22:31.36] * Mathilde blinks a few times. 
424[22:31.56] <Mathilde> "Four-armed gods, what did you DO!?" 
425[22:32.17] <Mathilde> "A permanent, self-sustaining...the Isles!?" 
426[22:32.23] <Mathilde> "Afloat? Like clouds?" 
427[22:32.47] <+Mel> "Created a thaumaturgic circuit powered by the reverence for Calcis with 4 nested metacircles and a magical intelligence granting the islands limited self-awareness."
428[22:33.25] <+Mel> "They're supernaturally light and manipulate the air around them to move."
429[22:35.04] <Mathilde> "So you imitated surface level climate -" 
430[22:35.07] <Mathilde> "Shala, that's BRILLIANT!" 
431[22:35.43] <Mathilde> "And you're her artificer? You must make such a team." 
432[22:35.56] <+Repriever> [lol]
433[22:36.09] <+Mel> "She's the arcanist, I'm the occultist, broadly."
434[22:36.36] <Mathilde> "Yes, but you're also clearly clerical..."
435[22:36.37] <+Repriever> "She's being modest," he says, reentering the galley.
436[22:36.48] <Mathilde> "This uh, temple-priestess outfit, I think, came from you." 
437[22:36.48] * Repriever is sweating.
438[22:36.49] <+Mel> "Most of my work is with energy transmutation-"
439[22:37.03] <+Mel> "Hahah, well, I'm a bit of an illusionist too."
440[22:37.10] <+Mel> "I try to do a bit of everything."
441[22:37.14] <+Repriever> "Mel."
442[22:37.28] * Repriever stops at the table to rest, leaning on his hands. He looks even worse somehow.
443[22:37.38] <+Mel> "Yes?"
444[22:37.50] <+Repriever> "We need to scry the Sealed Cities again."
445[22:38.15] <+Mel> "I did get dragged off by dimensional gendarmes last time we did that."
446[22:38.20] <+Repriever> "There is no time left."
447[22:38.25] <+Repriever> "I've seen it."
448[22:38.35] <+Mel> "Oh?"
449[22:38.59] <+Repriever> "It's either this or we take our friend's offer from last night."
450[22:39.16] * Mel inadvertently shouts "Beh!"
451[22:39.26] <+Mel> "I'll prepare a circle then."
452[22:39.29] <+Shala> "There is a reason I say I'm the foremost Conjurer...Mel is the foremost everything else."
453[22:39.53] <Mathilde> "Hmm...I suppose this kind of work is a bit out of your element.."
454[22:39.55] * Repriever looks at Mathilde, realizing how rude he was to barge in a sickly, topless man. 
455[22:39.56] * Mel starts marking out a thaumaturgic circle on the floor, and dimensionally anchors herself.
456[22:40.03] <Mathilde> "Shala, I need to hear everything!" 
457[22:40.07] * Mathilde pays Repriever no mind. 
458[22:40.16] <+Repriever> "You're gonna want to stand back, mancers."
459[22:40.45] * Repriever wipes sweat from his eyes. 
460[22:41.09] <+Repriever> "Kir! Get your ass in here!"
461[22:42.13] <Mathilde> Kir jogs in, still wearing a cooking apron - he had taken over most of the cleaning. 
462[22:42.25] * Mathilde pays Kir significantly more mind. 
463[22:42.42] * You are now known as Kir
464[22:42.45] <+Repriever> [just wait for my angel wings, gurl]
465[22:42.48] <Kir> "I arrive - oh, hello." 
466[22:42.58] <+Mel> "Kir, Mathilde, Mathilde, Kir."
467[22:43.12] * Mel says, drawing out her circles. She points to Vaalo to show what she is doing.
468[22:43.27] <Kir> "Yes, she mention you - mercenary for golden dragon, yes?" 
469[22:43.33] * You are now known as Mathilde
470[22:43.37] * Vaalo draws them in general vague echoes in the air with sparks trailing from her hands
471[22:43.39] <Mathilde> "Just a part-time job, really." 
472[22:43.43] * You are now known as Kir
473[22:43.51] <Kir> "He killed me." 
474[22:43.56] * You are now known as Mathilde
475[22:44.11] * Mathilde ponders that a moment. 
476[22:44.21] <Mathilde> "Well I sort of got him back for that." 
477[22:44.45] <+Repriever> [I thought she said she didn't remember zarmahl]
478[22:44.53] <+Repriever> [kill her!]
479[22:45.31] * Mathilde scratches her head, then shaking it a bit. 
480[22:45.47] * You are now known as Kir
481[22:45.49] <Kir> "Okay." 
482[22:46.26] * You are now known as Mathilde
483[22:46.39] <Mathilde> "Either way, neither of us really made it back from Zarmahl in one piece." 
484[22:47.01] * Repriever rounds the table to be nearer to Mel's work.
485[22:47.22] <+Repriever> "I had to go a long way to get him back."
486[22:47.28] * Repriever says without looking at the mancer. 
487[22:47.46] <Mathilde> "How..."
488[22:47.51] * Mathilde shudders.
489[22:47.56] <Mathilde> "Why am I alive?" 
490[22:48.04] <Mathilde> "Shala?" 
491[22:48.09] <+Shala> "Welcome to the club"
492[22:48.14] * Shala smiles meekly
493[22:48.37] * Mathilde takes her hand and leans on her shoulder. 
494[22:48.46] <+Mel> "That's pretty much all of us here."
495[22:48.49] <+Shala> "To be honest, your return came with less complications than mine did."
496[22:48.58] <+Mel> "So far."
497[22:49.03] <Mathilde> "In a way I can't properly express, I can feel acutely that neither this body nor this mind are mine." 
498[22:49.17] <Mathilde> "But it is immensely more pleasurable than what came before." 
499[22:49.32] <Mathilde> "So, thank you." 
500[22:50.02] <+Repriever> "You're not alone in that, either."
501[22:50.08] <+Shala> "It might time time...or more magic. We'll fix it."
502[22:50.24] * Shala looks at Penumbra, somewhat unconvinced of what she's saying 
503[22:51.18] <+Repriever> "It doesn't matter, mancer. You're stuck with us now. We're real hard to get rid of."
504[22:51.40] <+Repriever> "You'll be okay."
505[22:52.02] <Mathilde> "Especially if I'm the apprentice of the greatest conjurer of the era." 
506[22:52.15] <Mathilde> "Isn't that right, BEL Ashara." 
507[22:52.17] * Mathilde winks. 
508[22:52.26] * Repriever coughs coarsely. 
509[22:52.41] * Shala is aghast
510[22:53.04] <Mathilde> "Why not? The Athtars elevate families all the time." 
511[22:53.28] <+Shala> "When I'm Athtar, there will be plenty of elevating to go around..."
512[22:53.30] * Shala mutters
513[22:53.35] <Mathilde> "If you knew the gossip on how many old bloodlines had been exaggerated..." 
514[22:53.53] * Repriever laughs.
515[22:54.07] <+Repriever> "If you knew what's in her blood."
516[22:54.23] <Mathilde> "All the more reason then!" 
517[22:54.39] * You are now known as DM
518[22:54.40] <DM> Alright.
519[22:54.41] <+Repriever> "How's it coming, Mel?"
520[22:55.08] <DM> Once Melchior has completed her preparations, we'll begin. 
521[22:55.15] <+Mel> "I think I'm ready."
522[22:55.40] <+Mel> "So this bit is standard scrying safety, and tied into it is the anchor apparatus."
523[22:55.54] <+Mel> "It's going to take something pretty fantastic to pull me out of this, this time."
524[22:56.01] * Repriever gives Penumbra a weakened but certain glance that says she should be ready for combat.
525[22:56.37] * Repriever approaches Mel and her work.
526[22:56.40] * Penumbra responds to his eye contact, the Spear of Calcis dipping slightly as she extends her senses for any sudden incursions
527[22:56.57] * Mel reaches to her belt and unclasps her skull.
528[22:57.01] <+Mel> "Hello again old friend."
529[22:57.15] <+Repriever> His sword belt hangs on his pajama panted hips. 
530[22:58.27] * Mel begins to reach out towards the familiar pattern, the force that cloaks itself, the hiding place of the essence of earth, to which she and her history is so intimately tied.
531[22:58.54] <DM> To clarify.
532[22:58.59] <DM> What are you scrying? 
533[22:59.09] <+Mel> First off, future gaze, do I augur any negatives to trying to scry into the sealed cities?
534[22:59.24] <+Mel> And due to my lack of personal experience with them, I'm choosing a familiar object to base my scry on.
535[22:59.26] <+Repriever> [I assume one of the mini gadgets from kir]
536[22:59.29] <DM> Oh yes, many. 
537[22:59.48] <DM> But as for likely, short-term negative occurrances. 
538[22:59.58] <DM> A fairly low chance anyone dies in the next hour. 
539[23:00.08] <DM> But non-zero. 
540[23:00.36] <+Mel> "Kir, if you've got one of Kallos' crafts, they could be helpful right now."
541[23:00.37] * Repriever slides Nameless out of its scabbard.
542[23:00.58] <+Mel> "Alternatively, I'll just work with the alignment of Earth."
543[23:01.00] <DM> Kir hands over his bracer. 
544[23:01.34] * Mel reaches into the spirit of Arta as Kir passes this treasure into her hand.
545[23:01.35] <+Repriever> "Shala, if things go wrong teleport everyone out of here."
546[23:02.12] <+Mel> In one hand she bears her skull, in the other Kir's bracer. She stands within a circle designed to protect from external backlash.
547[23:03.00] * Mel communes with Kallos' creation, pulling her sight towards the realm of its creator.
548[23:03.34] <DM> As you do, a disembodied voice fills the room, emanating from the bracer. 
549[23:03.37] <+Mel> The Cicada awakens, a triangle of golden dots on Mel's forehead.
550[23:03.57] <DM> "Alright kids, you've got my attention." 
551[23:04.05] <DM> The voice of Kallos Bellan. 
552[23:04.11] * Repriever grins.
553[23:04.36] <+Mel> "Kallos. We seek audience and access. How fare the secret places?"
554[23:04.38] * DM changes topic to: A Handful of Dust Session 116: Quiet Dawn - ＋https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDkcgbIZ6EE，
555[23:04.44] <+Repriever> "I've never been so glad to hear that voice."
556[23:05.15] <DM> "I can't say I haven't missed you, either." 
557[23:05.20] * You are now known as Kallos_Bellan
558[23:05.45] <Kallos_Bellan> "...but I don't know if this will go the way you want." 
559[23:06.00] <Kallos_Bellan> "I assume by now, Kir has told you the deal." 
560[23:06.10] <+Repriever> "He has."
561[23:06.18] <+Repriever> "But deals are for victors."
562[23:06.37] <+Repriever> "And right now we're not doing so good."
563[23:06.45] <Kallos_Bellan> "Yeah." 
564[23:07.02] <Kallos_Bellan> "The old me would have still been up there." 
565[23:07.16] <Kallos_Bellan> "Fighting the good fight alongside the heroes." 
566[23:07.34] <Kallos_Bellan> "But since the Five, I've realized things about this universe." 
567[23:07.57] <Kallos_Bellan> "Do you understand my perspective?" 
568[23:08.02] * Repriever steps closer to the circle.
569[23:08.15] <+Repriever> "Aridai is at the Well."
570[23:08.35] <Kallos_Bellan> "...Aridai is dead, Assan." 
571[23:08.43] <+Mel> "Somewhat."
572[23:08.46] <Kallos_Bellan> "And so is Calcis." 
573[23:08.48] <+Mel> "It doesn't change where he is."
574[23:08.54] <Kallos_Bellan> "And Sael." 
575[23:09.09] <+Repriever> "You and I are all that's left, Bellan."
576[23:09.24] <Kallos_Bellan> "Yeah." 
577[23:09.46] <+Repriever> "And I'm sorry."
578[23:09.57] <Kallos_Bellan> "You don't need to be." 
579[23:10.00] <Kallos_Bellan> "I chose to leave." 
580[23:10.31] <+Repriever> "That was a long time ago, old man."
581[23:10.39] <Kallos_Bellan> "I chose to leave because I realized that no matter what happens, the underlying structure of the universe is wrong." 
582[23:10.53] <Kallos_Bellan> "We all know the Ritual is a rigged game." 
583[23:11.17] <+Repriever> "I'm not smart enough to save them. You are."
584[23:11.26] <Kallos_Bellan> "Azri thinks he can rig it back in our favor. I think it's cute to think you can come up with a plan Bel won't anticipate, hasn't prepared for." 
585[23:11.35] <Kallos_Bellan> "There is a way to save everyone."
586[23:11.38] <Kallos_Bellan> "Everyone human." 
587[23:11.51] <+Mel> "That's not everyone, of course."
588[23:11.59] <Kallos_Bellan> "No, it's not everyone." 
589[23:12.14] <Kallos_Bellan> "Do you understand why Calcis and I separated?" 
590[23:12.39] <+Repriever> "Because you are fundamentally different."
591[23:12.40] <+Mel> "I don't think I really do."
592[23:12.49] <+Mel> "Differences do not preclude connection."
593[23:12.56] <Kallos_Bellan> "Because Calcis, at her core, believed that the Divines were the salvation of the world and of all possible worlds." 
594[23:13.14] <Kallos_Bellan> "And I, at my core, believe that the Divines need to be fundamentally expunged from the nature of creation." 
595[23:13.39] <Kallos_Bellan> "Now I think you understand." 
596[23:13.50] <+Repriever> "And here I am, coming to you. I need you, Kallos."
597[23:13.59] <+Repriever> "The alternative isn't worth it."
598[23:14.44] <Kallos_Bellan> "You need me, to solve a temporary problem."
599[23:14.49] <Kallos_Bellan> "Invading, magical armies." 
600[23:14.57] <Kallos_Bellan> "But the problem is magic, Repriever."
601[23:15.03] <Kallos_Bellan> "Magic that we don't control." 
602[23:15.28] <Kallos_Bellan> "And magic fundamentally stems from these divine, elemental forces that are both beyond us and are easily corrupted to break the fabric of existence." 
603[23:16.02] * Repriever rubs at his face and rakes his hair.
604[23:16.25] <Kallos_Bellan> "Anything I do to help you, is just a band-aid on the gushing wound of the universe." 
605[23:16.32] <Kallos_Bellan> "So yes, I have a plan." 
606[23:16.36] <+Repriever> "That's all any of this ever was!"
607[23:16.57] <+Repriever> "We're taking hits faster than we can staunch them."
608[23:17.27] * Kallos_Bellan sighs. 
609[23:17.40] <+Repriever> "If the Well falls, you fall."
610[23:17.44] <+Repriever> "We all do."
611[23:18.00] <Kallos_Bellan> "...I have an alternative, that I'm not willing to explain to you here and now." 
612[23:18.18] <Kallos_Bellan> "But suffice to say, it will remove us from any possible threat from this world." 
613[23:18.19] <+Mel> "There are alternatives we've considered."
614[23:18.34] <Kallos_Bellan> "But I hear your request."
615[23:18.34] <+Mel> "I have envisioned a myriad of worlds, demiplane arks."
616[23:19.04] <Kallos_Bellan> "There's also the little fact of the Essence of Earth." 
617[23:19.31] <Kallos_Bellan> "Under no circumstances am I going to see it go to the ritual, to see the last people of value on this planet slaughtered for a wizard's ambition." 
618[23:19.46] <Kallos_Bellan> "But as for military aid."
619[23:19.57] <+Mel> "People of value?
620[23:19.58] <+Mel> "
621[23:20.03] <Kallos_Bellan> "You." 
622[23:20.17] <+Mel> "Hmph."
623[23:20.23] <+Mel> "We're of little value if nothing else remains."
624[23:20.32] <Kallos_Bellan> "If you agree to my request to help me remove magic and the divines from this universe, I'll give you everything."
625[23:20.44] <Kallos_Bellan> "My titans, my armies, my most secret and powerful weapons." 
626[23:21.14] <Kallos_Bellan> "Then we'll end this foolish ritual and alter Creation to favor the human species and alchemic progress." 
627[23:21.18] <Kallos_Bellan> "Or."
628[23:21.26] <Kallos_Bellan> "You can continue to stand on the side of the divines."
629[23:21.46] <Kallos_Bellan> "And if you choose that pathway, you'll need to cut your way into the heart of the Sealed Cities, kill me, and prize the Essence of Earth from my cold, dead, fingers." 
630[23:22.09] <+Mel> "If you have your plan, what need have you of us, for it?"
631[23:22.20] <Kallos_Bellan> "...I don't." 
632[23:22.28] <Kallos_Bellan> "I just don't want you all to die if I can avoid it." 
633[23:22.43] <+Repriever> "You don't want to make this an absolute, Bellan."
634[23:22.45] <Kallos_Bellan> "I've let enough people die already." 
635[23:22.48] <+Mel> "There is more in this world worth protecting than just the human species."
636[23:22.54] <Kallos_Bellan> "You know I have to, Repriever." 
637[23:23.08] <Kallos_Bellan> "I let Calcis, CALCIS, go for this, you know how resolute I am." 
638[23:23.15] <Kallos_Bellan> "I knew I was signing my own wife's death warrant." 
639[23:24.07] <+Repriever> "And I rotted in the wild because of you. I watched my people bleed and burn! I lost her, too..."
640[23:24.23] <Kallos_Bellan> "You rotted in the wild because of me?"
641[23:24.33] <Kallos_Bellan> "Did I whisper to you to hide all those centuries?" 
642[23:24.43] <Kallos_Bellan> "No, Repriever, you know that isn't true." 
643[23:24.55] <+Repriever> "You went through with the Ritual."
644[23:25.09] <Kallos_Bellan> "...and I lost everything." 
645[23:25.21] <+Repriever> "We did."
646[23:25.39] <Kallos_Bellan> "You don't understand what it's like...to feel the universe twisting through your fingers...and then to realize it's all an illusion of control, you're just a pawn..." 
647[23:25.59] <+Mel> "I do."
648[23:26.12] <Kallos_Bellan> "You're right. You do." 
649[23:26.41] <Kallos_Bellan> "You don't have to give me an answer now." 
650[23:26.57] <Kallos_Bellan> "And if you go the other way, I'm sorry."
651[23:27.11] <+Repriever> "I can't keep doing this."
652[23:27.21] <+Repriever> "The essences are killing me."
653[23:27.37] <Kallos_Bellan> "What are you doing, barehanding it?" 
654[23:27.46] <Kallos_Bellan> "Classic Assan." 
655[23:28.06] * Mel generates a figment of the armatures.
656[23:28.20] <Kallos_Bellan> "I really like you guys."
657[23:28.30] <Kallos_Bellan> "I mean, the Six are meant to be likeable, but even so, I don't want to kill you." 
658[23:28.54] <+Repriever> "Aridai might be dead to you, but he isn't to me. And I don't know how you stopped him before."
659[23:29.05] <+Repriever> "I'm not you."
660[23:29.15] <Kallos_Bellan> "That's easy, Assan."
661[23:29.24] <Kallos_Bellan> "I played dirty." 
662[23:29.35] <Kallos_Bellan> You can almost hear the smirk in his voice. 
663[23:29.42] <Kallos_Bellan> "Not something you usually do." 
664[23:29.47] <Kallos_Bellan> "Palatines." 
665[23:29.51] <+Mel> "I am not bound to the continuation of the divines. They are but a small handful of beings. Mighty and ancient yes. But I would not sacrifice the world and all that lives on it and beyond it for them alone."
666[23:30.04] <+Repriever> [white dinner cat meme face]
667[23:30.09] <+Mel> "But I also question the world you seek to create."
668[23:30.23] <Kallos_Bellan> "There may be a solution for the non-humans."
669[23:30.37] <+Repriever> "Akvan didn't die to let the dragons go extinct."
670[23:30.39] <Kallos_Bellan> "I'm not sure...if I have enough time." 
671[23:30.44] <+Mel> "So many of us have grandiose schemes of recreation, creation anew."
672[23:30.55] <+Repriever> "And what about the elves, Kallos? What about Tyao?"
673[23:30.55] <+Mel> "Aridai seeks a complete recreation."
674[23:31.13] <Kallos_Bellan> "Ah, Tyao..." 
675[23:31.14] <+Mel> "You seek a new world of men unshackled from divine arcanery."
676[23:31.27] <Kallos_Bellan> "Is he still there at the Wellspring?" 
677[23:31.37] <+Mel> "I seek worlds where all beings might live freely, separate if they so desire, across a sprawling archipelago of demiplanes."
678[23:31.41] <+Repriever> "He was."
679[23:31.46] <+Repriever> "He showed me you."
680[23:31.56] <Kallos_Bellan> "I was so naive back then."
681[23:32.21] <Kallos_Bellan> "The problem is that the structure of magic, over millennia and tens of millennia, naturally gives rise to the apperance of godlike entities that can restructure creation at their whim."
682[23:32.35] <Kallos_Bellan> "Ultimately we need to look larger than this mere Ritual, Melchior, and to the very mechanics of power itself." 
683[23:32.45] <+Mel> "Speak your theory."
684[23:33.01] * Repriever paces, troubled. 
685[23:33.01] <Kallos_Bellan> "I simply want to create a level playing field for all sentient beings." 
686[23:33.10] <Kallos_Bellan> "Free of gods and kings." 
687[23:33.16] <+Mel> "A lofty ideal."
688[23:33.38] <+Mel> "Few creatures are more miserable than Kings."
689[23:33.43] <Kallos_Bellan> "You have to be lofty when you're this far underground." 
690[23:35.08] <+Mel> "So the maintenance of the thaumatic system, as it exists today, must necessarily lead to deity and tyranny, is that your hypothesis?"
691[23:35.28] <+Mel> "What if we crafted a system, decentralized in its very architecture?"
692[23:35.31] <Kallos_Bellan> "You've spoken to ancient celestial beings." 
693[23:35.36] <+Mel> "A few."
694[23:35.37] * Repriever makes a grouchy, frustrated scrunch of a face while concealing his thoughts.
695[23:35.42] <Kallos_Bellan> "As far as we can tell, it has always been this way." 
696[23:36.11] <Kallos_Bellan> "Before humans even came to this planet, it was scoured by vast colonial wars between elves and kasatha." 
697[23:36.24] <+Mel> "As far as we can tell, this current system primarily benefits Bel, with the rest of us being inadvertent beneficiaries, it seems."
698[23:36.28] <Kallos_Bellan> "We were just slaves, carrying goods in the muck." 
699[23:36.58] <Kallos_Bellan> "Bel, for all his faults, at least allowed some humans to become free, to study the gnosis of the universe." 
700[23:37.14] <Kallos_Bellan> "But it isn't far enough." 
701[23:37.19] <+Repriever> "I am not a slave."
702[23:37.39] <+Mel> "All matters of scale."
703[23:37.49] <+Repriever> "And Astara is not a slave master."
704[23:37.51] <+Mel> "Most of us are slaves to time, to causality, to our own biology."
705[23:38.06] <+Mel> "Even the divines are constrained."
706[23:38.14] <Kallos_Bellan> "Do you believe that Astara created humans, Repriever?" 
707[23:38.16] <+Mel> "We know this well enough."
708[23:38.53] <+Repriever> "Astara is creation, Bellan. Everything is Hers."
709[23:39.12] <Kallos_Bellan> "When she creates a toad, it is enslaved to the nature of a toad. It cannot grow wings and fly." 
710[23:39.25] <Kallos_Bellan> "Equally so, if she created humans, they are enslaved to the limitations Astara prescribed." 
711[23:39.36] <+Repriever> "But have souls and minds. She breathed choice into us from the first day."
712[23:40.05] <Kallos_Bellan> "How many people in Elydia had a choice of what they were?" 
713[23:40.10] <Kallos_Bellan> "Or what they could be." 
714[23:40.22] <+Repriever> "That was not Her fault."
715[23:40.24] <Kallos_Bellan> "Or in the great sprawling slums of the Towers." 
716[23:40.27] <+Repriever> "Man corrupts itself."
717[23:40.42] <Kallos_Bellan> "Then why does it corrupt itself if the Divines are perfect creators?" 
718[23:40.45] <+Mel> "Hence the ideal of a world where one can escape hierarchy."
719[23:40.52] <+Repriever> "A lack of corruption is no freedom at all, Bellan."
720[23:41.07] <+Repriever> "To make the wrong choice is still a choice."
721[23:41.10] <Kallos_Bellan> "Some suffering is inevitable, sure." 
722[23:41.16] <Kallos_Bellan> "But I've built a world without divines."
723[23:41.17] <+Mel> "Freedom is, perhaps, inextricably paired with the ability to make poor decisions."
724[23:41.20] <+Mel> "And wicked ones."
725[23:41.26] <Kallos_Bellan> "And it is more advanced, more educated, more prosperous, than anything on the surface." 
726[23:41.38] <Kallos_Bellan> "Knowledge, and freedom, and enlightenment go hand in hand."
727[23:41.38] <+Mel> "A world none of us truly know, beyond your own word."
728[23:41.56] <+Repriever> "A world you shelter from the surface."
729[23:41.57] <Kallos_Bellan> "I wouldn't make claims that I can't prove." 
730[23:42.04] <Kallos_Bellan> "I world I MUST shelter." 
731[23:42.20] <+Repriever> "Are you not caging them?"
732[23:42.26] <+Repriever> "What choice do they have?"
733[23:42.33] <Kallos_Bellan> "Do not the Divines cage us on Arta?"
734[23:42.34] <+Mel> "How can it hope to survive in the future, if it must be sheltered now, even as you are mighty enough to unveil your plans wholly without us?"
735[23:42.46] <Kallos_Bellan> "I am no different from a divine." 
736[23:42.59] <+Repriever> "That is..."
737[23:43.02] <Kallos_Bellan> "They choose the spheres on which we may walk as much as I do." 
738[23:43.02] * Repriever stops himself.
739[23:43.07] <+Mel> "Cocky to say the least."
740[23:43.12] * Mel finishes Repriever's sentence.
741[23:43.41] <Kallos_Bellan> "...I have been working for the last several centuries on making this society self-sustaining."
742[23:43.49] <+Repriever> [several?]
743[23:43.56] <Kallos_Bellan> "That even if the planet itself were to fail, the Sealed Cities could continue indefinitely." 
744[23:44.07] <+Repriever> [does he have a time chamber?]
745[23:44.10] <Kallos_Bellan> [yes, he started building them about 250 years ago] 
746[23:44.22] <+Repriever> [that's a few at best ;)]
747[23:44.33] <Kallos_Bellan> [but, you also have information that gora mir is older] 
748[23:44.45] <+Penumbra> "Carcephon built her own perfect society, and named it Sapphis." 
749[23:44.47] <Kallos_Bellan> [so there are smaller-scale proofs of concept that predated the sealed cities] 
750[23:45.21] <Kallos_Bellan> "And how many souls lived in Sapphis?" 
751[23:45.28] <Kallos_Bellan> "Two hundred thousand?" 
752[23:45.37] <Kallos_Bellan> "Four?" 
753[23:45.46] <+Mel> "A few hundred thousand, as I understood it."
754[23:46.02] <Kallos_Bellan> "The population of the Sealed Cities now approaches half a billion humans." 
755[23:46.13] <+Penumbra> "How much oversight do they require? How much protection? How much material? And will they provide it themselves, if and when left alone?"
756[23:46.20] <+Mel> "Off what power, and what energy?"
757[23:46.30] <+Penumbra> "As they will be if magic is discontinued."
758[23:46.30] <+Repriever> "Yours."
759[23:46.43] <Kallos_Bellan> "And with future optimizations, I believe we can reach one billion." 
760[23:47.03] <Kallos_Bellan> "With the limitless power provided by the Essence of Earth, I was able to build the structure of this place." 
761[23:47.23] <Kallos_Bellan> "But the alchemic-subsystems it powers will eventually run autonomously, when the Essences are destroyed." 
762[23:47.51] <Kallos_Bellan> "The mass of the Sealed Cities is approximately ten percent of Arta by volume." 
763[23:48.00] <Kallos_Bellan> "It extends deep into the planet's mantle." 
764[23:48.13] <Kallos_Bellan> "Suffice to say, we have close to limitless minerals and energy." 
765[23:48.29] <+Mel> "Ending magic does consign us to ultimate entrapment by a loss of energy, albeit only over stupendous timescales."
766[23:48.38] <+Repriever> "And if there is no Arta?"
767[23:49.08] <Kallos_Bellan> "When there is no Arta, we will continue." 
768[23:49.18] <Kallos_Bellan> "We have been planning for that since day one." 
769[23:49.44] <+Repriever> "And what if you're wrong?"
770[23:49.50] <+Repriever> "What if your plan is the problem?"
771[23:50.03] <Kallos_Bellan> "Do you ever ask yourself that question?" 
772[23:50.15] <+Repriever> "Every day."
773[23:50.24] <Kallos_Bellan> "You and I are pretty similar, Repriever." 
774[23:50.43] <Kallos_Bellan> "We ended up on opposite sides of the board." 
775[23:50.57] <+Repriever> "We have similar taste in women."
776[23:51.19] <Kallos_Bellan> "I won't lie."
777[23:51.22] <Kallos_Bellan> "Some people will join you."
778[23:51.30] <Kallos_Bellan> "There are still many followers of the divines down here." 
779[23:51.39] * Kir (97c5d484@ircip3.mibbit.com) has joined channel #nesdnd
780[23:51.42] <Kallos_Bellan> "People who remember the surface with nostalgia, not for the hell that it was." 
781[23:51.48] <+Repriever> "I don't care if they do or don't. Their support doesn't mean shit to me. I will save them anyway."
782[23:52.07] <+Repriever> "It's my job."
783[23:52.17] <Kallos_Bellan> "They don't need saving."
784[23:52.27] <Kallos_Bellan> "You'll introduce chaos into my system to serve the whim of the divines."
785[23:52.43] <Kallos_Bellan> "I was once like you."
786[23:52.44] * Repriever bites his lip and squeezes his fist. 
787[23:52.53] <Kallos_Bellan> "I believed Calcis and the rest when they said the gods would save us." 
788[23:52.57] <Kallos_Bellan> "Where's Akvan, hmm?" 
789[23:53.02] <Kallos_Bellan> "What did your Divines do for him?" 
790[23:53.11] <Kallos_Bellan> "Slaughter him like a trussed pig?" 
791[23:53.25] * Repriever can't argue with that.
792[23:53.55] <Kallos_Bellan> "Just think about what I said." 
793[23:54.02] <+Repriever> "We're trying to survive."
794[23:54.11] <Kallos_Bellan> "I understand." 
795[23:54.20] <+Mel> "Kallos doesn't deny us survival."
796[23:54.30] <+Mel> "Although it is not /our/ survival that is paramount in this."
797[23:54.36] <+Mel> "It is the world we leave behind."
798[23:55.05] <Kallos_Bellan> "Believe me, I understand more than anyone how difficult it is to leave behind people you love." 
799[23:55.07] <+Mel> "And thus, the details are at the very core of this matter, rather than the broadest strokes."
800[23:55.23] <+Mel> "Yes, you speak as one who has already cut that tie."
801[23:56.03] <+Repriever> "It's more complicated than that."
802[23:56.07] <Kallos_Bellan> "Yeah."
803[23:56.27] <+Repriever> "We don't need to be enemies, Kallos."
804[23:56.37] <+Repriever> "We can be brothers in arms again."
805[23:56.38] <Kallos_Bellan> "If you go with my plan, I can remove the spirit of Arta that's riding Mel." 
806[23:56.43] <Kallos_Bellan> "Give her a normal human lifespan." 
807[23:56.48] <Kallos_Bellan> "I can save her, Assan." 
808[23:56.58] <+Mel> "How am I to know that that spirit is /not/ me?"
809[23:57.05] <Kallos_Bellan> "Well..." 
810[23:57.13] <Kallos_Bellan> "It probably is." 
811[23:57.17] <+Repriever> "And Calcis?"
812[23:57.18] <Kallos_Bellan> "You might die either way." 
813[23:57.27] <Kallos_Bellan> "And Calcis and the rest definitely will." 
814[23:57.31] <+Mel> "My own survival of this is, in my own opinion, of profoundly secondary importance."
815[23:57.39] <Kallos_Bellan> "I know."
816[23:57.44] <Kallos_Bellan> "It's why I didn't offer it to you." 
817[23:58.10] <+Repriever> "You'll have to kill me to make that move. You know that though."
818[23:58.24] <+Repriever> "I don't want it to come to that."
819[23:58.24] <Kallos_Bellan> "I do." 
820[23:58.30] <Kallos_Bellan> "Neither do I." 
821[23:58.41] <Kallos_Bellan> "I hold the Essence of Earth, Repriever."
822[23:58.53] <Kallos_Bellan> "Think about that for a second." 
823[23:59.05] <+Repriever> "I have. Many times."
824[23:59.19] <Kallos_Bellan> "Even if you decide to oppose me, I won't kill Mel with it." 
825[23:59.26] <Kallos_Bellan> "Even though it's within my power." 
826[23:59.39] <Kallos_Bellan> "I owe you that much." 
827[23:59.50] <+Repriever> "You sound like Aridai."
828[00:00.02] <Kallos_Bellan> "Maybe I am."
829[00:00.05] * Kallos_Bellan whispers that last one. 
830[00:00.18] * Repriever inhales deeply.
831[00:00.51] <+Repriever> ?roll 1d20+8
832[00:00.51] <%tBot> Repriever: 14 ([6] +8)
833[00:00.57] <+Penumbra> ?roll 1d20+11
834[00:00.57] <%tBot> Penumbra: 13 ([2] +11)
835[00:02.42] <Kallos_Bellan> "Contact me again if you agree to my terms." 
836[00:02.47] <+Repriever> "You're condemning the world for your own glory."
837[00:03.07] <+Repriever> "You know I won't accept."
838[00:03.31] <+Repriever> "But I'll be dead by then."
839[00:03.48] <Kallos_Bellan> "I dunno, Assan."
840[00:03.53] <Kallos_Bellan> "You seem like a hard guy to kill."
841[00:04.11] <Kallos_Bellan> "Either way."
842[00:04.15] <Kallos_Bellan> "I'm sorry it had to come to this." 
843[00:04.19] <Kallos_Bellan> "Kallos, out." 
844[00:04.29] <Kallos_Bellan> The voice and aura from the bracer fades. 
845[00:04.32] * You are now known as DM
846[00:04.53] * Repriever sits down at the galley table. 
847[00:05.02] <+Mel> "We find ourselves surrounded by inflexible men, within and without."
848[00:05.03] <+Repriever> Nameless lays on the tabletop before him.
849[00:05.22] <+Shala> "Anything I say about his proposals could hurt me politically, I think."
850[00:05.43] * DM sets mode +v Kir for #nesdnd
851[00:06.08] * Repriever lays his head on the table, on his crossed forearms. 
852[00:06.15] <+Repriever> "Fuck."
853[00:06.42] <+Vaalo> <<who?>>
854[00:06.53] * Vaalo whispers to mel
855[00:07.04] * You are now known as Mathilde
856[00:07.19] <Mathilde> "Do we have tense conference calls with godlike entities every day or is this just a special occasion?"
857[00:07.24] * Mathilde whispers in Shala's ear
858[00:08.03] <+Mel> "He is Kallos Bellan. He had been an ally of Repriever in the past. Now he has taken a different path. He thinks the world might be better without divines and magic."
859[00:08.27] <+Vaalo> <<without... me?>>
860[00:09.24] <+Mel> "Yes."
861[00:09.34] <+Mel> "You and others."
862[00:09.47] <+Vaalo> <<you.>>
863[00:09.50] * Vaalo says confidently
864[00:11.33] <+Repriever> "I probably shouldn't have fucked his wife," he mumbles, head down on his arms still.
865[00:12.06] <+Mel> "I doubt that factors much into his reasoning anymore."
866[00:12.23] <+Shala> "Probably didn't help."
867[00:12.58] * You are now known as DM
868[00:13.17] <DM> In spite of the stark differences, Kallos did sound like he genuinely liked you. 
869[00:13.45] <DM> Although resolved to go his way, since he's already sunk centuries of his life into this path. 
870[00:13.54] <+Repriever> We both have.
871[00:14.04] <+Mel> "A pickle to be sure."
872[00:14.24] <+Repriever> "I wish I couldn't See so much."
873[00:14.48] <+Repriever> "He was the blindspot. He was the chance to correct our path."
874[00:16.12] <+Penumbra> "How much time do we have for the Well?"
875[00:16.15] * Repriever huffs a loud laugh.
876[00:17.22] * Repriever gets a nose bleed.
877[00:17.36] <+Penumbra> "Poor choice of words."
878[00:18.06] <+Repriever> "All of this information means nothing to me."
879[00:18.40] <+Repriever> "Madei is out there. Umbrea's future is at stake."
880[00:19.04] <+Mel> "Well, it seems that cooperation with Kallos is contingent on the death of most, if not all, non-humans, and the end of divinity and magic as we know it."
881[00:19.09] <+Repriever> "With every ssethkar and woman on these Isles we couldn't break Apastron's forces."
882[00:20.03] <+Repriever> "There is only one way out."
883[00:20.04] <DM> especially now with two dragons on the side of the wights 
884[00:20.22] <+Repriever> "Someone has to kill the Apastron."
885[00:21.15] * Penumbra looks like she's deciding between whether to speak or not
886[00:21.17] <+Repriever> "Carcephon joined two essences, Mel. Can you do that?"
887[00:21.26] <+Mel> "I mean, in theory, yes."
888[00:21.41] <+Mel> "The meta-essence of steam was astoundingly short-lived."
889[00:21.44] <+Repriever> "Give me Fire and Air. The angel was right. I'll go to the Well and be done with this."
890[00:21.59] <+Mel> "Repriever, that is a dice roll."
891[00:22.04] * You are now known as Vyriscine
892[00:22.11] <+Mel> "If we do that, we do it all together, as one."
893[00:22.21] <Vyriscine> "I have floor plans of that place in my hoard." 
894[00:22.32] <+Repriever> "Aridai is as stubborn as I am. The only way to get to the heart of Apastron is to play by palatine rules."
895[00:22.36] <+Penumbra> "I have something to share, but let's have someone respond with Atrament first."
896[00:22.52] <Vyriscine> "It's massive. Like, multiple cities massive." 
897[00:22.59] * Repriever looks to Penumbra curiously. 
898[00:23.06] <Vyriscine> "And packed with traps. 
899[00:23.08] <Vyriscine> "*
900[00:23.14] <+Mel> "Naturally."
901[00:23.33] <+Repriever> "What do you need done, Penumbra?"
902[00:23.40] <Vyriscine> "I've sponsored teams of adventurers to try and get artifacts for me over the years." 
903[00:23.50] <Vyriscine> "A few returned from the upper levels." 
904[00:24.40] <Vyriscine> "It seems that..."
905[00:24.56] <Vyriscine> "Some people were still there when the ice sealed over." 
906[00:25.34] <+Mel> "And by its power, presumably still survived by their descendants today?"
907[00:25.49] <Vyriscine> "Yeah."
908[00:26.06] <Vyriscine> "In the upper levels, many still retain what you might call civilized customs." 
909[00:26.16] <Vyriscine> "But others have gone blind and shadow-blighted." 
910[00:26.35] <+Penumbra> "Like we discussed yesterday: Let it know that we won't hunt it down if it stays out of our way."
911[00:26.49] <+Penumbra> "For now."
912[00:27.33] <+Penumbra> "Then we need to secure it. Block its senses."
913[00:27.41] <+Mel> "In a way, I feel that Kallos may have misplayed his hand."
914[00:27.47] * Mel is still pondering Kallos' offer.
915[00:28.21] <+Mel> "By stating his intentions and capability to act without our assistance, he provides us no real incentive to work with him."
916[00:28.43] <+Mel> "We seek our best possible outcome.
917[00:29.00] <Vyriscine> "That must mean he's pretty confident in his own resources." 
918[00:29.01] <+Mel> And he, by insisting the stability of his own plans, offers insurance of a fallback."
919[00:29.06] <+Mel> "Or bluffing."
920[00:29.33] <+Repriever> "I wanted to smooth things over with him."
921[00:29.33] <Vyriscine> "None of us were ever able to get deep in." 
922[00:29.43] <+Penumbra> "Mel, he wishes to stay our hand against acquiring Earth." 
923[00:30.27] <+Mel> "Clearly enough, yes."
924[00:30.33] <+Penumbra> "If his barriers prove too difficult, he hopes we will join his plan instead to leverage his resources for our short term struggles for survival."
925[00:30.42] * Shala whispers to herself, "Half a billion"
926[00:30.54] <+Penumbra> "And surrender our long term goals to his."
927[00:30.56] <+Repriever> "He dangled your life intentionally, Mel."
928[00:31.09] <+Mel> "I'm not inclined to get worried about that bluff."
929[00:31.14] <Vyriscine> "You're holding 3 Essences, plus the Key. That's enough to make anyone nervous. He knows what they can do." 
930[00:31.15] <+Repriever> "He knows that if he harmed you, he would never have me."
931[00:31.15] <+Mel> "And neither should you."
932[00:31.33] <Vyriscine> "If you defeat Apastron first, you'll have them all except his." 
933[00:31.59] <+Mel> "We face a curious conundrum of deciding which foe's threat is the direst."
934[00:32.23] <+Mel> "Apastron proposes a flat recreation of creation, the deaths of all of us and the creation of something new."
935[00:32.42] <+Mel> "The nameless proposes eternal universal madness within itself."
936[00:32.44] <Vyriscine> "My opinion is, you have more levers to use against the Apastron now, and a better chance of victory if you use them all." 
937[00:33.00] <+Repriever> "If I told Apastron that I wanted him in single combat, he would accept."
938[00:33.07] <+Repriever> "It is the only way to kill him."
939[00:33.10] <Vyriscine> "Kallos sounds like he knew it would come to this for a long time, and has prepared accordingly." 
940[00:33.29] <+Repriever> "Otherwise his armies will destroy ours and leave this world defenseless for the coming armada."
941[00:34.36] <+Mel> "What even is the Kasatha endgame?"
942[00:34.44] <+Repriever> "Bel."
943[00:34.54] <+Mel> "That is but a word."
944[00:34.59] <+Repriever> "He is coming."
945[00:35.23] <Vyriscine> "The Kasatha want to capture Bel." 
946[00:35.31] <Vyriscine> "The more damage they do, the greater chance he'll show up." 
947[00:35.42] * Vyriscine says, realizing this from Repriever's explanation 
948[00:35.56] <+Repriever> "All of this is about him."
949[00:36.09] <+Repriever> "The last Ritual was about setting the board for this."
950[00:36.33] <+Repriever> A drop of blood slips from his nostril.
951[00:36.42] <+Repriever> "Astara has told this to me."
952[00:37.10] <+Mel> "And consider that she, like all divines, has skin in this game."
953[00:37.29] <+Repriever> "Skin I very much wish to protect."
954[00:37.42] * Repriever glances at poor little Vaalo.
955[00:38.06] <Vyriscine> Vaalo is, notably, still wearing a blanket. 
956[00:38.10] * You are now known as DM
957[00:39.41] <+Repriever> "You need to decide. Are we willing to kill millions, or are we will to kill just me."
958[00:39.47] * Vaalo looks back at Repreiver
959[00:39.49] <+Repriever> [willing]
960[00:39.54] * Vaalo shivers
961[00:40.08] <+Mel> "We go in as a small group. We gamble, and force an action."
962[00:40.40] <+Mel> "I think, if we falter, we run the chance of drawing the other factions in on us."
963[00:40.45] <+Mel> "The vultures, as Shala put it."
964[00:41.09] <+Repriever> "He has Madei, Mel."
965[00:41.11] <+Mel> "That is, in an odd way, perhaps a twisted benefit of forcing hands."
966[00:41.16] <+Mel> "He has the world."
967[00:41.33] <+Repriever> "He will make us play by his rules. Don't you see that?"
968[00:41.51] * You are now known as Hin
969[00:42.05] <Hin> "The Apastron is a distributed entity."
970[00:42.09] <+Repriever> "There is always a sacrifice."
971[00:42.24] <Hin> "You could engage its various elements in single combats to reduce the burden on any one individual fighter."
972[00:42.43] <Hin> "It shifts energy, as needed, through various parts of its network." 
973[00:42.48] <+Mel> "Indeed."
974[00:43.01] <+Mel> "A soul link of death."
975[00:43.04] <+Repriever> "Sure, we can have Vaalo wrestle Illian."
976[00:43.04] <Hin> "The highest valued fighters typically maintain the most power - Aridai, Zakhrael, Illian and Palethorn to a lesser extent." 
977[00:43.12] * Repriever says sarcastically.
978[00:43.57] * Vaalo nods vehemently
979[00:44.09] <Hin> "And..."
980[00:44.15] <Hin> "It pains me to say it, but..."
981[00:44.27] <Hin> "In an emergency, you could most likely call on the nameless to assist you." 
982[00:44.51] <+Mel> "I would rather see Apastron destroy and recreate the world than the abomination enslave it."
983[00:44.57] <+Repriever> "That is what we are trying to avoid."
984[00:45.13] <+Repriever> "Penumbra was right. We need to send our message to the Eyeless."
985[00:45.49] <Hin> "Very well." 
986[00:45.52] * You are now known as DM
987[00:46.11] <+Penumbra> "Wait." 
988[00:46.24] <+Penumbra> "I've shared to share this first."
989[00:46.35] <+Penumbra> "When the Nameless offered its alliance and left Atrament, it had a plan to win the Throne."
990[00:47.54] * DM changes topic to: A Handful of Dust Session 116: Quiet Dawn - ＋https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXAu-YEIkSg，
991[00:48.04] <+Penumbra> "Atrament, Well of Darkness, Apastron, Eyeless and the Essense of Void." 
992[00:48.31] <+Penumbra> "The place of power, divine shards, and their essense. Does that sound familiar?"
993[00:48.54] * You are now known as Vyriscine
994[00:48.55] * Vyriscine starts. 
995[00:49.01] <Vyriscine> "Yes." 
996[00:49.21] * Vyriscine glances at Vaalo, briefly 
997[00:49.23] * You are now known as DM
998[00:50.21] * Repriever follows. 
999[00:51.00] <+Penumbra> "Knowing that, there is a way to win. We can see the trap. And we can turn it."
1000[00:51.43] <+Penumbra> "It's a week's voyage on the Reme to the Well, but with the Essense of Air we have swifter means."
1001[00:52.26] <+Repriever> "I'll get my armor."
1002[00:52.41] <+Mel> "We can make this move."
1003[00:52.52] * You are now known as Vyriscine
1004[00:52.57] <Vyriscine> "Let me help." 
1005[00:53.03] <+Mel> "But what do we do once the trap fires?"
1006[00:53.09] <+Mel> "It is one thing to knowingly spring it."
1007[00:53.20] <+Mel> "Another to know precisely how our foes will respond to its springing."
1008[00:53.28] <Vyriscine> "I don't fight as mugh as my siblings did, but I'm still a true fucking dragon." 
1009[00:53.33] <Vyriscine> much*
1010[00:53.50] <Vyriscine> "At the least I can help with magic." 
1011[00:54.03] <+Repriever> "If you die, I'll be pissed."
1012[00:54.31] <Vyriscine> "Typically people die right after suddenly making heroic changes of heart, so I probably will." 
1013[00:54.46] <+Repriever> "Your heart hasn't changed."
1014[00:55.02] * Vyriscine laughs a little, and smiles, looking genuinely pleased. 
1015[00:55.12] <+Mel> "And Repriever apparently makes a habit of throwing himself in front of people throwing themselves in the path of death.
1016[00:55.27] <+Mel> So keep an eye out for that too."
1017[00:55.35] <+Penumbra> "Atris Soul is within Atrament, and I will join her at the crucial moment." 
1018[00:55.51] * Repriever gets serious. 
1019[00:55.56] * Penumbra looks to Repriever
1020[00:56.09] <+Repriever> "Won't that kill you?"
1021[00:56.21] <+Penumbra> "Someone will need to catch the result."
1022[00:57.06] * Repriever sighs. 
1023[00:57.28] <+Penumbra> "We have said that if Akvan could have chosen his sacrifice, he would."
1024[00:57.53] <+Penumbra> "I won't die, Repriever."
1025[00:58.28] <+Repriever> "Goddammit."
1026[00:58.30] * Penumbra wonders if she has spoken too much
1027[00:58.59] * Penumbra reaches over and touches his shoulder
1028[00:59.00] * Mel tents her fingers and listens.
1029[00:59.44] <+Repriever> "You should all just let me blow myself up."
1030[01:00.06] <+Repriever> "It's easier than losing any of you."
1031[01:00.41] <+Penumbra> "Atris' soul may live again, when we win."
1032[01:01.11] <+Repriever> "Atris has two souls from where I'm sitting."
1033[01:01.11] * Penumbra 's face goes blank a moment, she really feels she has spoken too much at this point
1034[01:01.23] <+Repriever> "The divines just disagree."
1035[01:01.23] * Penumbra 's face hardens again
1036[01:02.04] <+Repriever> "If this is what you want."
1037[01:02.08] <+Penumbra> "This is my choice. Our choice."
1038[01:02.12] * Repriever nods.
1039[01:02.29] <+Repriever> "I don't have to feel good about it, though."
1040[01:02.51] <+Mel> "We helped Penumbra restore herself from our memories of her."
1041[01:03.01] <+Mel> "This is her decision, but through that, it /has/ been our decision."
1042[01:03.38] * Penumbra reaches up to her brow, and removes the shadesteel circlet 
1043[01:04.17] * Repriever considers her.
1044[01:04.46] * You are now known as Hin
1045[01:04.58] * Hin places a hand on Penumbra's shoulder. 
1046[01:05.18] <Hin> "My lady, we once explored the Endless Well together." 
1047[01:05.26] * Penumbra looks down slightly, considering
1048[01:05.40] <Hin> "And so we shall again." 
1049[01:05.58] <Hin> "I would like to transfer my head to one of my mannequins." 
1050[01:06.07] <Hin> "On this journey, I will accompany you all." 
1051[01:06.20] <+Penumbra> "You will be joining us?" she responds, a slight trill of excitement and anxiety finishing her question.
1052[01:06.31] <Hin> "I wouldn't have it any other way." 
1053[01:07.05] * Penumbra lowers the circlet and holds it in one hand, and wraps her arm around the Hinnequin's arm with the other, pulling it into an one-armed hug 
1054[01:07.29] <+Repriever> "May the stars guide us all."
1055[01:07.54] <+Repriever> "And the shadows conceal us."
1056[01:08.33] <Hin> "The finest blessing I have ever heard from an Astaran." 
1057[01:08.36] * You are now known as DM
1058[01:08.59] <DM> End session.