022.1 Jaela and Ithea

[Corwin]

[20:21] <Shao_Koahn> As the others go off, it leaves Kascha, Ithea and Jalea by themselves. "Well, there's a few. There's Donald, Oraga, Amaryl..." LIsting off each in turn, "Though Donald has a bit of dragon in him and so does Amaryl. There's Valar, but he's usually not around since he works on the Prime Material."
[20:22] <Jaela> "There's one name in there that has zero dragons, so let's go with that. Got a Sending spare to launch to this Oraga guy, or should we go mooch off the old man?"
[20:23] <Shao_Koahn> "Wellllll." Kascha coughs into her hand, "About Oraga a moment. It's not that he's not dependable, but he's...well, first of all, he's stuck in a woman's body, but it's a he. Not that he cares much. Second of all, he's a bit....abrasive." Clearing her throat, "Yes, abrasive's a good word for him."
[20:24] <Jaela> "My kinda guy. Girl?" Jaela shrugs. "Actually, my kinda person either way, I bet. Does he hate you or something?"
[20:27] <Shao_Koahn> "It's complicated." Kascha shuffles a bit, "You see, long ago Oraga was an angel. A solar, I think. Something happened and he fell, ended up in the Abyss. Androlynne in particular. He challenged Lsyscrea, a balor there who ran the Androlynne War College. He lost and his bones were made into a set of armlets, with his spirit trapped inside. Eventually Lsyscrea was defeated by Seira and she's been
[20:27] <Shao_Koahn> trying to help him since then. He's not a fiend, but he's not nice, either. Seira has faith in him, though."
[20:28] <Ithea> "Well, you can still send a message to one of the others, even if they have dragon blood. The curse worked by sight, didn't it?" Ithea asks. "It might still be complicated to actually meet them, but passing the information through sending should still be okay..."
[20:29] <Jaela> "O-kaaaay." Jaela coughs. "Yeah look let's just try this guy. Can you ask him to meet us by the gates or what passes for the gates? I don't really know much about the realm itself, so I dunno if it even has those. It's somewhere on Astral, yeah? Anyhow, if it won't work out, we'll hit that Donald or Amaryl or Valar or someone else. Same place and all."
[20:33] <Shao_Koahn> "On it," Kascha murmurs, drawing a circle in the air with one finger. I tsurrounds her, arcane energies surging! She chants low in gutteral words, eyes shut tight. A flare of fire-red light engulfs her, and then, "He'll be waiting for us." Kascha replies, "The Cauldron is like a volcano. The outsider is a mountainous slope. Its inside the actual volcano that most of the things are. Actually,
[20:33] <Shao_Koahn> with the way it can drift in the Astral, it's not entirely dissimilar to Aurora."
[20:34] <Jaela> "Awesome. We're pretty much everything it is, just on a smaller scale. And our Oraga can beat any of us like a drum instead of the other way around." She takes Kascha and Ithea's hands in her own, and then focuses on the slope just outside a massive volcano floating through Astral.
[20:50] <Shao_Koahn> With a single incantation, you transport! You appear before it - around you is the silver sea, the timelessness of the Astra Plane. It looms over all of it - a huge volcano, heat radiating off of it in waves. The entire thing is mammoth, with several caves spotting and dotting the slope upwards.
[20:51] <Jaela> "Are you envious?" Jaela asks Ithea, letting Kascha lead them to this Oraga. "Because I'm not. Not one bit."
[20:52] <Ithea> "I think it's kind of impressive, honestly, though I favor Aurora by a good margin," Ithea says as she casts resist energy on herself to help a bit with the heat.
[20:54] <Shao_Koahn> Glancing back, "The Cauldron is bigger than Aurora, but Aurora's defenses may be better." As you just begin to float? A rush of heat buffets you! A burst of flames explode before you! Stepping out of them is but a single woman. Her body dances with flames, clad in a plain dress. Her eyes boil and burn with fire, hair nothing but a tamed blaze. At this Kascha comes forward, "Oraga, this is Jaela
[20:54] <Shao_Koahn> and Ithea of Aurora. Jaela and Ithea, this is Oraga."
[20:55] <Jaela> "Yo." Jaela raises a hand in greeting as her name is called.
[20:56] <Ithea> "Hello," Ithea says at the mention of her own name.
[20:59] <Shao_Koahn> Oraga's voice is the roaring din of an inferno, "You are all cursed?" he asks.
[21:00] <Ithea> "We are," Ithea confirms.
[21:03] <Shao_Koahn> "It's a long story, but Bahamut, well...he cursed all of us. I'm wondering if Seira can dispel it." Kascha manages to smile sheepishly by the end, "It's supposed tomake all dragons our enemy, and...yeah." Finishing, "Can you see how that's awkward?"
[21:03] <Jaela> "Guess so," Jaela responds, finding herself just a bit jealous at that tamed blaze of hair. It just looks so nice. She can't do that! "Here's the deal. There was an inter-dragon slapfight between Bahamut, Tiamat and a wannabe Prismatic Dragon, Baleruk. We took that guy's side, because it's bullshit how this paragon of righteousness is teaming up with Tiamat and Blood War mercs and creepy as fuck undead abominations. Anyway, we were there to help him out, and Kascha was tagging along to take notes. We were in such a hurry that we didn't even really explain it all to her in detail. But that inflexible asshole goes ahead and curses her too while his ex curses the fuck out of Baleruk out of greed. Since that's bullshit we came along with Kascha to ask for a fair judfement."
[21:06] <Ithea> "Kascha never even fought anything or killed anyone," Ithea adds, agreeing with all that Jaela said.
[21:07] * Jaela is sure that Kascha will prove herself useful if given time!
[21:07] <Shao_Koahn> "Hmph." With a deep rumble fully into his chest, "You all will come with me."
[21:08] * Ithea follows the womanly man.
[21:08] <Jaela> "Yeah sure okay. Any laws to follow? I'm armed."
[21:12] <Shao_Koahn> "The flames will not burn you," Oraga states, as abruptly flames surround you from all over!
[21:12] <Jaela> Oh that is such a lie-- but she's magically protected so she will be fine.
[21:13] * Ithea hopes that is the truth, and if it's a lie that they're at least relatively weak flames.
[21:25] <Shao_Koahn> The flames bring warmth, not pain. They fill your vision for several moments before they clear. You are in a room, the walls all of carved natural stone. The chairs rise up, the same stone, as if it was encouraged to form in that shape. Each chair is deeply padded in a rich red color. A clear glass table with blackstone legs sits in between three chairs, an assortment of four fruits in a basket
[21:25] <Shao_Koahn> on it. The walls are decorated with inlaid carvings and colorful paintings. The contents vary between elementals and dragons, the entire room telling some sort of tale, but you'd need to spend time studying it to grasp more. "Wait briefly," Oraga says, "Your curse will be examined. Eat if you want."
[21:26] <Jaela> "I could eat," Jaela responds, banishing her armor and dropping into one of the seats before grabbing herself a fruit. "Thanks. You gonna stay with us or go and report and such?"
[21:28] <Shao_Koahn> There are four fruits. One looks like an pomegranite, blazing red. One is a pear, a watery blue skin that flows like a stream. A green fig joins them, seeming to endlessly move about the bowl. Finally, a heavy brown melon sits in the center, unmoving. "I will report," Oraga says, vanishing in a wreathe of flames.
[21:29] <Jaela> "Do I need to kill it first?" Jaela asks Kascha, snatching the fig and eyeing it warily.
[21:29] <Shao_Koahn> Going to sit herself, "Thsi is one of Seira's antechambers, where guests and diplomats wait." She explains, "Those fruits correspond to one of the four eleemnts, the fig wind. It's rather tasty but it's not filling at all."
[21:30] * Jaela decides to try it, since Air is something they have a link to already.
[21:30] * Ithea tries the pear, not wanting to taste a hot fruit or something that might taste like dirt.
[21:33] <Jaela> "I will fix this," Jaela vows to Kascha once more, as they settle to wait. "Whatever I need to do, I'll get that spiteful thing lifted off you. It's a promise."
[21:33] <Shao_Koahn> The fig tastes like biting into the wind. It barely has a taste, but it ruffles Jaela's mouth with a cooling, minty sensation. It brings to mind a merciful breeze on a hot summer's day, softening the clinging heat. Ithea finds the pear to be almost all liquid. A pleasant cold liquid, like drinking from a mountain brook, straight from the snowmelt. It has an aftertaste of blueberries, tingling
[21:33] <Shao_Koahn> on Ithea's tongue.
[21:35] * Ithea enjoys the fruit, even if she finds it weird that a pear tastes of blueberries, waiting for word from Oraga that will hopefully allow Jaela to keep her word and get the curse lifted off Kascha.
[21:43] <Shao_Koahn> Kascha sits back and sighs, "It shouldn't be long. It's just that I bet that Oraga's treating you as diplomats, if he's heard about Aurora and that I went there."
[21:43] <Shao_Koahn> After a moment, "He was really rather civil about the entire thing, so that's probably it."
[21:44] <Jaela> "So? I can be a diplomat if I need to," Jaela insists. "I guess I'll start from now on, while we're here. Ah, man, what a pain...."
[21:49] <Shao_Koahn> "It's not so bad." A woman's voice, full of life and warmth, replies. She walks into your field of vision, wearing a rich red dress. Nothing but red with a red trailing hem, almost like a long robe. She wears rubies and diamonds, rings, necklace and earrings. Her hair is a mix of bright red, fading red and gray, loose and down to just below her shoulder blades. "I'm a friend of the Cauldron,
[21:49] <Shao_Koahn> Dutchess Stronger. I heard you got yourselves cursed."
[21:50] <Ithea> "We did, thank you for meeting with us," Ithea says in reply.
[21:52] <Jaela> "Did you hear about the circumstances around that as well?" Jaela asks, standing up and offering her a hand. "I can give it in two versions, a concise and a colorful one. Your pick."
[21:54] <Shao_Koahn> Her grip is firm, shaking Jaela's hand, "I've been filled in. Kascha, you got yourself into a bind this time, didn't you?" Without waiting for a reply, "Could all of you stand side by side, close but not touching?"
[21:55] * Jaela is already standing, but she nods in response, waiting for Kascha and Ithea to step up to her. "Anything else, Duchess?"
[21:56] * Ithea nods as she moves closer.
[21:58] <Shao_Koahn> "Oh, Elle!" With an abrupt smile, turning into a fearsome blush, "I think it is best explained as being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
[21:58] <Shao_Koahn> "Simply relax." A single syllable of magic is murmured, as...
[21:58] <Shao_Koahn> roll 1d20+45
[21:58] * Hatbot --> "Shao_Koahn rolls 1d20+45 and gets 56." [1d20=11]
[22:00] <Shao_Koahn> "Hmph..." Frowning, "There's no curse on you, at least as far as magic can show. If this is a true divine curse, this is possible. Divine curses can defy magic altogether, working on a more primal level of reality." Tapping a finger against her side as she gives each of you a long look, "That or the magic is so powerful that I can't even detect it. I'm going to try a Wish next on you, Kascha,
[22:00] <Shao_Koahn> and see if that does anything."
[22:00] <Jaela> "Transfer it to me. That's easier, isn't it?"
[22:38] <Shao_Koahn> "You mean transfer Kascha's curse to you?" the Dutchess asks, "Depends on how set the curse is. If a Wish can transfer it, it can probably break it, though."
[22:40] <Jaela> "I figured that spiteful codger would want to keep his quota, so he wouldn't mind as long as that sort of thing was kept." Jaela shrugs. "He certainly didn't care about Kascha's circumstances. Was worth a shot, anyway."
[22:46] <Shao_Koahn> "Shh," The Dutches commands, beginning to chant! Her words echo about the room, 9 glowing blue circles appearing beneath her feet! She chants words that ooze with arcane power, heavy in the air! Slowly bringing her finger to point to Kascha, "I am Elle Stronger! Weave, make my desire reality and move this curse from Kascha to Jaela!" There is a heavy moment and then...the circles fade. No flash
[22:46] <Shao_Koahn> of light, no feeling, no arcane power. After another moment, "Damn and blast," the Dutchess scowls, "I didn't see any sign of a curse being moved. Did either of you feelanything?"
[22:47] <Jaela> "A pleasant breeze," Jaela compliments her.
[22:49] <Shao_Koahn> "Nothing," Kascha confesses.
[22:50] <Shao_Koahn> "Sorry," Shaking her head, "This is probably beyond me, then. If a God cursed you, I'm not surprised. It may take another divinity to break the curse or to even have a chance of breaking it."
[22:52] <Jaela> "Can she?" Jaela asks without much prompting. "I was prepared for that possibility from the beginning. This is blatantly unfair, and I'll make what amends I have to if Kascha's goddess helps her with this."
[22:55] <Shao_Koahn> "ARe you kidding?" Dutchess Stronger grins, "I'm sure Seira will. That's the type of person she is."
[22:56] * Jaela snorts. "I kinda figured that too, from what Kascha said when she came to join our Crusade."
[22:57] <Shao_Koahn> "Ehehehehhehe, yeah," Kascha laughs and blushes, "Seira's really enthusiastic about doing the right thing, and so are her followers. Did I tell you that she yelled at me for not joining your crusade right away?"
[22:59] <Jaela> "You totally implied it," Jaela affirms. "And then, there's Lady Chan. From what we heard while visiting her... well, it all sounds about right."
[23:06] <Shao_Koahn> Laughing a little more, a faintly nervous sound to it, "Sure is!"
[23:08] <Jaela> "Say, we're diplomats now, aren't we?" Jaela muses suddenly.
[23:17] <Shao_Koahn> "That was the idea," Kascha replies, "Why?"
[23:19] <Jaela> "Duchess," Jaela says, deciding to be a bit more formal here. "We planned on beating Asmodeus's kid before actually showing up to establish ourselves properly first, but I don't really believe in coincidences much when they're like this. We ended up coming here unexpectedly, and then we got treated like we were on an official delegation, so why fight it? Do you think we could become allies?"
[23:32] <Shao_Koahn> "Glasya? You aim big," A dry remark is Dutchess Stronger's reply, "Allies, hm? I really am I supposed to verify you're trustworthy and all of that. Tell me more about your Crusade, at least."
[23:36] <Jaela> As it's one of Jaela's favorite pastimes of late, she is all too ready to do that! "Our core group comes from Lifasa. It's a Prime where our side pretty much won, and that held for centuries. But somehow, Bel managed to get his foot in the door, and his flunky Abigor lead his armies across. We fought, we pushed back two or three waves, but then Abigor himself came through and... yeah that's where most of us died. Horribly. Those were the lucky ones, since anyone who didn't escape through a portal ended up on a Hell-controlled world. Souls nailed to a tree, eternal torment, rape... I guess it'd not a new story across the planes. We heard about another world that suffered a similar fall recently."
[23:38] <Shao_Koahn> "You heard about Benfal?" A curious eyebrow is raised, "Nevermind, go on."
[23:39] <Ithea> "Not Glasya, Bel is the one we want. At the very least, we want our world freed from the devils' control," Ithea chips in.
[23:40] <Jaela> "Recently, we came together on Astral, and decided to bet on a silly legend of Medicant. Well, turns out not that silly, since we found it -- renamed it Aurora, because 'can't' in a name, seriously? It's our new dawn, for the resistance, for our world. For all occupied worlds." She nods at the Duchess's words. "Benfal, yeah. We were trying to spread the word about standing against Hell and hoping their resistance hears about it and contacts us. So far, no dice." Snorting at the correction, she shakes her head. "It's all just getting jumbled. We're currently after Lixer and Castle Crumbling. Wrong kid, is all."
[23:44] <Shao_Koahn> "Lixer?" Whistling low, "Far less known and possibly more dangerous," Dutchess Stronger says, pausing. Her words cease as she looks at them again, "Nevermind Benfal for the moment. If you triumph and free your world, then what?"
[23:47] <Jaela> With a flick of her wrist, Jaela produces the diamond granted them by Chan. "Let's just say we've got a key to his place and the will to use it." She stores it back away. "And it's obvious, isn't it? We'll move on to Benfal, and any other encroaching the devils have made. Kick them out across the board. Fight the good fight." She grimaces. "You might've heard about our troubles with a few uptight deities, but the thing is, it's all on their side. They tried to enforce their laws where they don't belong, and refuse to accept our own. So we're not welcome at some spots across the planes, but we don't plan on going against them at any point. As far as I'm concerned, we all have a shared enemy, and the sooner they remember it, the better."
[23:48] <Ithea> "I haven't really thought about it much, my thoughts are on Lifasa first, but I think Jaela has the right of it. The devils won't go away simply because we push them away and made them lick their wounds. We would have to keep fighting, to make sure such an atrocity didn't happen again, not in Lifasa, not in any world."

[Corwin]

[19:48] <Kotono> "Mmm." A thought, small noise as she goes to sit down. Once all the words are spoken, "You know about the Blood War, of course?"
[19:49] <Jaela> "Who doesn't?"
[19:52] <Kotono> "Hm?" Kascha hums a little, "What does-" she begins, before quickly shutting her mouth.
[20:03] <Kotono> "Do you ever wonder why Celestia and Arborea aren't at war? They share the same differences as Hell and the Abyss." Without waiting for any sort of reply, "The Heavens make a concerted effort to avoid that. Chaos respects the laws of Celestia, even though they don't agree with them. Celestia respects Arborea's freedoms, even though they don't agree with them. The Hells are too vast for the
[20:03] <Kotono> Heavens to splinter into civil war. What I'm saying is this - step lightly. You've offended two powerful Gods from Celestia now and have the arrogance to assert all the blame on them. Is Hell not enough of a foe?" After all that she looks to Jaela anew, "I watched two Goddesses develop and grow. Hell, I grew rich magic-crafting for them. They received support from all the Heavens and never made
[20:03] <Kotono> an enemy amid them. You seem like good, impassioned people making enemies you shouldn't be making."
[20:06] <Jaela> "It's easy enough to say," Jaela agrees. "Listen, Kascha sort of told us a bit about Oraga. If Helm showed up and told your goddess to stop that silliness, and that his laws said Oraga had to be tortured for eternity for his past crimes, would she bow down and ask how Helm wanted him gift-wrapped?"
[20:10] <Kotono> "Probably not," Dutchess Stronger confesses, chuckling, "No, certainly not. She wouldn't make a foe of him, either."
[20:12] <Jaela> "I couldn't help it!" Jaela insists. "Look, honest! He showed up in person and everything! I tried to tell him I'll take responsibility and he didn't care about it. I even pointed out that he never even remembered he had that stupid responsibility to begin with for the last two thousand years! But he just said 'what a shame' and brushed over that. Hmph." She grimaces. "Still, you think I could just up and escape from his divine realm while in his divine presence? He let me go because he secretly agreed with me, but he's just made me an enemy publicly to not lose face over his rigid laws."
[20:14] <Ithea> "What do you think could have been done differently that might not have offended Helm?" Ithea asks curiously. "It really had seemed like Jaela did her best to try diplomacy from what I'd heard of that encounter."
[20:16] <Jaela> "I'm not up on Planar law, but it was pretty much salvage anyway, since we took something Torm used to look after. Helm just won the case because he's Helm and I'm not. When the law's like that, what can I do? Hell, the God of Duty said he showed up in person because my sense of duty drew me to him. And you know what the first thing he told me? Forget about that duty and do what I tell you. The fuck?"
[20:22] <Kotono> "I couldn't tell you Helm's motivations, though I know he struggles with Torm's role that he's adopted," Dutchess Stronger exhales long, "Nor can I answer what you could have done differently. What I'm saying is that is that I want to see your Crusade succeed. Making an enemy of Celestia is only going to make your lives harder. What of this tussle with Bahamut and Tiamat? You managed to offend
[20:22] <Kotono> both of them? That's impressive."
[20:24] <Jaela> "Objectively? Could've just been Bahamut and us not connecting that well." Jaela shrugs. "First we see of him, he's sending solars to work alongside all sorts of hideous abominations. Second time, his solar tells us to kowtow to him for forgiveness and he might just forgive us. There was no third time."
[20:27] <Kotono> "There's got to be more to it than that. Tell me the entire story," she says.
[20:28] * Jaela frowns. "No, there seriously isn't. But sure, I can share the rest of the details."
[20:30] <Kotono> "Please do," Nodding, "Now I'm curious. Something must have been vastly abnormal."
[20:30] * Jaela considers this. "Okay, so it started while we were headed to Baleruk's acid mountain on Limbo. We figured it'd make a great impression on a Tempus follower on Ysgard if we took on a powerful green dragon and won handily. But while there, Baleruk seemed pretty strong so I asked him if he wanted to join our crusade instead. Ithea and me, here," she continues, gesturing at the catgirl nearby, "went to meet with him in person and he said how everyone was stopping him from reaching his full potential or true destiny or whichever. It sounds like bullshit, but I figure, sure why not. If this dragon he wants us to take out isn't some paragon of good, we can do that."
[20:31] * Ithea nods in agreement with that.
[20:32] <Jaela> "Well, it obviously didn't have any surprising turns like this. Instead, we found out that Blood War mercs were serving there alongside a bunch of monsters and honest to goodness angels. Can you imagine it? Even that solar's allies were creeped out, and I sure as hell hope so was he and that planetar and astral deva. Ugh, what the hell." She shudders. "So anyway, we fought our way through them, took out Al-something-or-other, and then we decided to see what we had on our hands, here. I experienced something while slaying that dragon that pretty much told me it was for real, so we had to know if we were making some horrible mistake or not. With me so far?"
[20:34] <Ithea> "Arandalhaz, he was a blue dragon," Ithea chips in. "I'd note that we didn't kill any of the angels either through all that fighting."
[20:36] <Jaela> "We listened to that solar, and all he had was phrased as threats. Not only that, but it had a bunch of misinformation. He was talking like it was some horrible act, and it certainly sounded like it'd give Evil a victory or some shit like that. But Queen Morwel of the Court of the Stars just told Afina and me that it was our choice, with pros and cons either way. I appealed to Lady Sehanine Moonbow for obvious reasons, too, and she seemed pretty neutral. With things like that, it sounded like a solely dragon issue, and if that's so, why can't we pick our sides? Our honor was on the line, and Baleruk was our ally. If Bahamut made a real effort to sway us over, we were willing to listen. But if we betrayed Baleruk and broke our contract over threats from him, how would it look for our Crusade? That Tiamat wanted it as well just helped seal the deal. So that's how things ended."
[20:38] * Jaela frowns once more. "And if Baleruk's now some sort of abomination like they said, it's solely because they cursed him. Tiamat wasn't even shy about calling her reasons greed. And you already saw Bahamut's justice right here." She nods at Kascha. "At least Baleruk seems honest with us, if a bit loopy."
[20:41] <Kotono> That draws a long sigh from Dutchess Stronger, before she stops cold, "An abomination, as in..." suddenly her expression grows cold, "Is Baleruk cursed to be undead?"
[20:41] <Jaela> "Pretty sure he wasn't. Just... colorful."
[20:41] <Ithea> "He seemed pretty lively to me," Ithea says with a shake of her head.
[20:42] * Jaela tilts her head. "Why?"
[20:44] <Kotono> "I know of two other abominations," Dutchess Stronger speaks quietly, "The Neverborn and..." Slowing to a stop, "Nevermind. What is Baleruk's curse?"
[20:45] <Ithea> "Pretty much a nastier version of ours. Dragons will always try to kill him and not worship him, I think," Ithea answers.
[20:46] * Jaela shakes her head at Ithea's words. "I think what Tiamat did was give him the desire to be worshipped, and then made it impossible for dragons to worship him or for him to, uh, drain power from that? How does that even work? But it's like that."
[20:47] * Jaela perks up, then. "So what about the other two? I bet it'd be useful to know."
[20:47] <Ithea> "Oh, I figured the need to be worshipped was already built into him, honestly. He's kind of egotistical," Ithea says with a shrug.
[20:55] <Kotono> Resting back, "Abominations are a type of creature. In particular, they're various shades of rejected or tormented, quasi-divine creatures. The Neverborn was an Atropal...when a new God can come into Creation, it is said that Ao passes judgment on them. If his judgment is favorable, they ascend. If not? If it is an unborn divinity from two gods? It is ripped from the mother's womb and slain,
[20:55] <Kotono> cursed to forever live as an abomination, a dead god-fetus."
[20:56] <Jaela> "Man, fuck this Ao," Jaela mutters at that. "What is this bullshit? If you wanna kill someone, do it, don't ruin their lives and everyone else's."
[20:57] * Ithea makes a face. "...that's incredibly horrid, how can a child be judged before it's even born?" Ithea protests, horrified with that image.
[20:58] <Kotono> "The Neverborn was served by the Dark Six," Going on, "A cabal of six liches who were dedicated to it. Due to complicated circumstances they chose to wage war on a Prime Material world. Alicia, Seira and the Crimson Guard eventually defeated the Dark Six and the Neverborn, but at the costs of great misery and loss for many innocents. There was a night where all the dead walked, or when great
[20:58] <Kotono> remorhazes destroyed the largest city in the known world at the time. All because it had nothing else - it craves mother's love and was ultimately manipulated by another."
[20:59] <Jaela> "All because Ao is a dick and decided to punish everyone in the world along with the aborted god-fetus," Jaela peevishly corrects her.
[21:04] <Kotono> "I won't defend Ao," The Dutchess replies, "The other is known as a Hunefar. When a mortal attempts divinity and is rejected, they are slain and mummified. The resulting creature only remembers fragments of its life, forever chasing the divinity denied to it. It does not know itself save for flashes of tormented memory, all while doing anything to achieve its goals. Worse, they have divine magic
[21:04] <Kotono> greater than even that of solars to call on, as well as all the talents they had in life, despite the amnesia. Ao's judgment knows little mercy, it seems."
[21:07] <Jaela> "I don't really get why his hate for these guys means the rest of us have to leave in the same universe as them but whatever." Jaela sighs. "It's depressing, so let's get back to us? We think we can work well together, and if you think we're headed down a dangerous path, it's not like we don't listen to our friends when they talk to us. We pay our friends back when they need us, too. Watch their back, help them out, the works. And I think we've proven the lengths we're willing to go for them, even against potential allies, or our committment to an alliance. Do we have a chance at that, here?"
[21:07] <Jaela> *to live, sigh
[21:08] <Ithea> "...I," Ithea starts to say and shakes her head. "No, there's nothing to really say about how disgusting it is to make undead out of all these potential godlike beings."
[21:11] <Kotono> "I can understand better why Bahamut opposed the creation of this prismatic dragon," Is the reply you get, "Honestly, this last part was my opinion, not Seira's. I've been blessed to see and learn amazing things in my 54 years of life. I've love to see another victory against the Hells before I pass on, not a crusade derailed by internecine warfare."
[21:13] <Jaela> "You don't look a day over thirty," Jaela assures her. And it's even true! "It's not like I can't understand him, either. But the way he did it sucked, his judgement is in question and so's his agreement with Tiamat. If he has one with her that says he has to help her kill anyone who might challenge her might, like Baleruk's promised to do, I think he's doing it wrong. Frankly, status quo is defeatist and bad. He's worshipping it. Thus, we came into conflict."
[21:16] <Kotono> "If the status quo stops another Neverborn from being created, I'm all for it," With that a long sigh, "The answer is probably going to be yes. Kascha, will you come with me? We need to see about your curse at least."
[21:16] <Kotono> "Oh!" Looking up, "Sorry, I was just thinking about something.  Yes, I'll come."
[21:18] <Jaela> "What if the status quo prevents from that one Neverborn you talked about from being destroyed for good? Or from bringing him over to our side, somehow, despite what Ao wanted?" Jaela asks. "If that's an option, I'll take the risks along with it and just do my damned best."
[21:27] <Kotono> roll 1d20+1
[21:27] <Rei-chan> Kotono rolled : 1d20+1 --> [ 1d20=3 ]{4}
[21:27] <Kotono> roll 1d20+10
[21:27] <Rei-chan> Kotono rolled : 1d20+10 --> [ 1d20=18 ]{28}
[21:29] <Kotono> After a pleasant enough bit of waiting, Kascha returns. Her face is set, "Jaela? Ithea?"
[21:31] <Jaela> "Yes. How did it go?"
[21:33] <Kotono> "Seira couldn't remove the curse." She confesses, "But...I'm also not going to let this beat me, and she reminded me of that. Actually, I sort of accepted the role of army general in the heat of the moment, so ah...well, you got what you wanted."
[21:35] <Jaela> Does Bahamut's spite know no bounds? Jaela narrows her eye. "As with many things, it's just a temporary setback," she promises to Kascha. "I won't go back on my word. I'll find a way to lift it."
[21:38] <Ithea> "I'm sorry," is all Ithea says to Kascha.
[21:41] <Kotono> "It's okay," With a determined smile and gaze, "I'll overcome it, rise up and become the best wyrm wizard ever to compensate!"
[21:42] <Jaela> Maybe she'll even ascend and beat the curse that way? Jaela nods. "Overcoming it's the right approach." She glances about. "So what now? We're going home?"
[21:43] <Kotono> "They're preparing an army," Kascha replies, "We can linger a few days or go back now. Either way they'll be transported to Aurora when they're ready."
[21:44] <Jaela> "A few days will be bad for me," Jaela admits, unable to avoid wincing. "How about you, Ithea? Wanna stay here and wait while I hop back? Or gonna come with me?"
[21:45] <Ithea> "I'd rather head back now," Ithea says.
[21:46] <Jaela> "My mom's coming over, so I have to tidy things up," Jaela muses. "How about I return first thing in the morning and meet up with you again, Kascha? I figured you were staying to do the general thing and look over the troops. Does that work for you?"
[21:52] <Kotono> "That's fine." Kascha smiles, "I want to catch up with a few people, since I'll be gone awhile. There sho-oh, there!" Pointing behind you, "There should be a portal to take you home in a moment if you said that, and there it is."
[21:54] * Jaela snorts. "Awesome service. We've gotta add one like it back home." She ponders about it for a moment, before adding, "Since you're staying, mind doing me a favor and checking the lore on Lixer? I'm pretty sure my spears can hit that asshole, but I don't like going off to fight on a 'maybe'."
[21:58] <Kotono> "I'll ask," Kascha says, "I'll see you soon!"
[22:00] * Jaela grins at Kascha, and then bows respectfully to the room at large. If it has portals appearing at will, the gesture should be taken for what it is. Then, she strides past the portal.