Opinion Shuffle

[Carthrat]

[12:59] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> Ah, Knight is in the room she shares with Mari. Mari's off doing...whatever it is Mari does alone. Considering that new tail, some questions may be better unanswered. She can feel the other cards within her, parts of her family that she's regathered. OOC: Go ahead and take the initiative here.
[13:04] <Knight> Knight holds out a hand, palm facing the ceiling; three cards come into being above it for an instant. She closes her eyes, focusing on them, focusing on herself...
[13:04] <Knight> Opening her eyes, she is no longer in the cheap inn's bedroom, but an infinite expanse of white. A round table with twenty-two seats is the only object that disturbs emptiness. "Let us speak, as we used to," states Knight, walking a chair; the back is stenciled the artful drawing of some armoured warrior, and her name is carved just below the top.
[13:59] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> "There is much to say." A radiance surrounds Knight, as brilliant as the light of a new born Star. "Rogue is going to be a problem."
[14:04] <Knight> "I recall our argument well. His desire for freedom will, if pursued to our neglect, lead only to another form of tyranny." Furrowing her brow, she sets her hands on the table. "I will not have us waste away to nothing, but nor do I wish to burden us with souls. What say you, Talons? Gem?"
[14:07] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> Within Knight's gem-ring the jewel there glitters, "I wonder...I had only a brief time to taste what our seperation was, before the roaring chaos stole me away. I wonder...what would it be to be a family of flesh and souls, and not of magic?"
[14:08] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> Before Knight it appears, sitting in a chair. It's huge, fiendish shark's body somehow crams into it, "How can I not approve? He is taking the most precious treasure from us, Knight! He is taking what we are, stealing it as a thief in the night!"
[14:13] <Knight>  "A family of flesh inevitably dies. Souls are inevitably dragged apart, stricken with chains of eternal servitude to this god or that power," responds Knight, frowning. "Serving one cause for eternity does not sit right with me, Gem. Ours would be a brief union."
[14:13] <Knight> Turning to Talons, she cracks a wry grin. "You surprise me, Talons. It is the act of inflicting loss that you support, rather than our dissolution or reunion itself?"
[14:14] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> "I have seen the endless loss of everything. Did you not see it's perfect, hateful malice with your own eyes, Knight?" Talons asks, "It strove to take everything from you."
[14:15] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> "A loathesome place!" Star retorts with fire in her voice, "But do not underestimate the touch of the powers, Knight. Look at the charisma and force of will that possesses Rogue now."
[14:15] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> Gem is silent a time, contemplating within the sparkles of Knight's gemstone.
[14:20] <Knight> "And yet it failed, Talons. I'll not simply hand over what's important to us, to the abyss, to Rogue, or to anyone. You would have no objections to struggling, would you?" She spreads her arms. "A theft is not a theft if the goods are handed over by our choice. They must be taken, by force or guile!"
[14:22] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> "Yet Rogue has been nearly stolen from us, all but promises and sweet words," Talons leans forward, his tailfin slapping against the ground. "What if his new nature can overcome his nature of betrayal? Our family will never be complete again, then, unless we submit to his patron's will."
[14:25] <Knight> "Do you not see, Talons? Rogue cannot escape his nature. He must either betray us, or betray Morwel," replies Knight, folding her arms. "His life will always be one of betrayal. One day, he will have to make a choice. And that choice will break him. The struggle to avoid ones fate, only to inevitably be drawn back into it..."
[14:28] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> "I wonder..." Star speaks now, "I tasted the purest connection to what is known as Good. I could not endure such, it was against my nature...but what if I had fought to keep it, clung to it instead no matter what? Listen to me well Knight! I believe that we are not immutable in this state! Even our very nature can change. I fear that Rogue will force a decision that does not betray either, by making all of us like him. His family endures
[14:28] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> force a decision that does not betray either, by making all of us like him. His family endures and he retains loyal to Morwel. Do you not see that danger?"
[14:30] <Knight> "That is a choice that is up to us, not him," admits Knight, her voice slackening. "Yet I believe it impossible. When we were made manifest, indeed, we were changed. I have little doubt members of our family have arrived in Acheron, Pandemonium, Baator- could he ever make an accord with them, on his terms?"
[14:33] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> "I fear what power chaos and good may give him, should he prove a worthy champion. Queen Morwel may mean well to us," Star's voice hardens, "But she is a dire enemy! She will break us, all for the benefit of her ethos and agenda!"
[14:34] <Knight> "I wonder what place there is in her world for those such as Talons, or Death, or Flames," wonders Knight. "Beings of loss, discord, and hatred... there is no way she would accept them as they are. Not without transforming them into creatures that are no longer our siblings."
[14:34] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> "Chaos must change. I still feel the traces of chaos within you, Knight," Gem murmurs very softly now, "That linger yet in your hand. Beneficial change is it's own peril to us...or our salvation. As horrible as the Abyss was, does that not mean that Arborea would not be as good?"
[14:35] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> "I know not," Star ruminates, "But I fear she may have an answer to that very question, Knight."
[14:41] <Knight> "I believe in accepting you all without prejudice. Even if we are tainted by the outer planes, I believe we can all reciprocate on that." states Knight, after a moment. "I don't believe Morwel- or Rogue- will do the same- no, I don't believe any planar lord would. They are all tied so tightly to their ideals..."
[14:41] <Knight> "For now, we do not need to make a decision. We must gather the others and see how they have been changed, and what they desire. There is only one constant- we will either live or die together."
[14:42] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> "Then," Star says, the light fading, "Let us find them. Time wastes, but we have little choice after the horrors of the Abyss."
[14:43] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> Talons smiles, it's shark-teeth impossibly sharp and bloody, "Keep an eye on Yulia. Star told me of how she came to join you. A spy, doubtlessly."
[14:44] <Knight> "In any case, Rogue is a necessary ally for us. I will not be able to satisfy my obligation to Mari without his aid. Few would pose such a threat to Baator." She rises from the table. "I am wary as ever, Talons. I treat her no differently than I would an imp." She smirks. "Heaven or hell, it matters not to me."
[14:45] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> "Good. Let them all lose what they desire in us." Talons is gone as well.
[14:45] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> The light on Knight's ring lingers, speaking from it, "Knight...I ask of you, think better of Rogue and what he offers."
[14:46] <Knight> Knight slides in her chair, and turns away from the table. "I understand he means well, little sister," replies Knight, glancing at the floor. "I wish he'd understand that I do, as well..."
[14:48] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> "Sister." Gem answers, "I fear that Rogue is right. Change has come for us and nothing can resist change. Rather than fruitlessly fight for what cannot stay the same, we should embrace what's coming for tomorrow."
[14:50] <Knight> "I fear what he suggests will split us apart forever," replies Knight, as the whiteness begins to fade away. "And to become a soul under a god's purview, it.. you see, I... too, have changed, Gem. The idea of becoming subordinate to another again, it is..."
[14:52] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> "Will you rule us then, as was foretold?" Gem's voice is very quiet, as the whiteness fades with everything else. "Answer me, Knight...! What is our future then? Will you return to what we were and wait to be commanded again?"
[14:54] <Knight> "If the only choice is to command or be commanded, then I.. I don't know, Gem. In the end, I will acede to the will of the deck," replies Knight. "We will speak of this later, when more of us have gathered."
[14:56] <@Tiny_Ko_Army> There isn't an answer right away, only Gem going silent...OOC: Anything else or are you good there?