It's chilly in Heaven (Moore)

[Nephrite]

"Goodness." Moore says quietly as the two continue to travel along, although he stops to marvel at the sight of the underwater pathway. "I don't think people can even dream this sort of thing up. This really is beautiful... I wonder if Erathaol himself had something to do with this, or if it was just... here, and he decided to continue with it? Hm... I suppose it doesn't matter, really." Moore says as they go. "Some things are just as they are because they are."

[Anastasia]

"Oh! Oh! I know that one!" Beniel bobs, "It's part of the Sealing Story!" The archon perhaps looks around, but with no eyes, it's hard to tell. "Do you want to know?"

[Nephrite]

"Certainly! We've got a long way to go, so don't leave anything out." Moore says with a smile.

[Anastasia]

"Well, the Sealing Story is about how in the beginning, Zaphkiel sealed the paths to Chronias. He only left the Bridge of Al-Sihal open and charged Xerona to guard it. Then he told the Hebdomad to establish bases in their domains, so that the worthy can be guided towards Chronias." Beniel pauses as a school of gold and blue fish swim by, "Ooooh, so pretty," he giggles, "And then Erathaol built Xiranthador. He bred oysters who were so big they had pearls the size of houses, made furnaces so hot that they could melt the pearl and trained artisans so skilled that they could cool the liquid pearl and shape it into building blocks."

[Nephrite]

"What is Chronias, exactly?" Moore asks.

OOC: Is that a K:P or a K:R, if either?

[Anastasia]

Either, though K:P is easier.

[Nephrite]

[12:37] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+19 K:R
[12:37] <Serith> Nephrite roll for Serith < 33 > [d20=14]

[Anastasia]

Chronias is the seventh and final layer of Mount Celestia. Little is known about it, for any who enter never return. To climb to Chronias is the point of Mount Celestia, where perfect unification with order and good is assured. It is ruled by Zaphkiel, the leader of the Hebdomad.

As Beniel noted, there is only one path to Chronias: The Bridge of Al-Sihal, which is guarded by the solar Xerona.

[Nephrite]

"Well, I don't think I'm headed there just yet." Moore says with a smile as they continue down. "I hope you find what you're looking for in Xiranthador though."

[Anastasia]

"So do I," Beniel follows along. Down and down the stairs go, closer to your goal. On and on you walk until you at last reach the fortress. The stairs end before a huge gate that leads into it, currently shut. A single lantern archon floats there, no other guard seen.

"Hello," the little archon says, "It is said that knowledge is power. Prove to me your power. Offer me a piece of knowledge worth the power that lies within this place."

[Nephrite]

Moore shakes his head. "I don't think I have within me any knowledge that rivals such an awesome place as Xiranthador. But... I can tell you something you don't already know!" Moore says with a nod. "I arrived in Venya without dying. At least, that's what the nice young shepherd told me." Moore says with a smile. "I mean, unless you want to hear something about the finer arts of motivational speaking... I could talk your ear off about that! ...Er... proverbially, of course, I mean... you know, since you don't... have ears, so to speak."

[Anastasia]

"Tell me something about that, then," The archon says.

[Nephrite]

"Okay!" Moore says with an emphatic nod.

"Well, first, the most important thing you have to keep in mind is who it is you're talking to. Certain types of people respond to certain types of motivation -- for example, have you ever tried to lift the spirits of a shocker lizard? Well, as you know..." His voice drops to a whisper, as if he doesn't want to offend any shocker lizards that might be nearby. "They aren't very smart, yeah? So you have to keep that in mind when you're trying to help them." He raises his voice back up. "In addition, it really just depends on the person... some people simply like to be DEmotivated in order to be motivated. It's weird! Well, no, it isn't weird, it's just how they work. So you have to sometimes do the opposite of what you'd think. That's especially true with drow, you know. You also can't just judge someone based on race alone! That's terrible! So sometimes you really have to get to know a person before you can truly give them the motivation that they need. Sometimes you don't really have the time to devote to all of that, though, so that's where magic comes in! But you might know that already. Let me tell you about the time time I motivated a dwarf into drinking some elven liquors..." Moore will start to tell this particular story.

The poor archon may want to stop him at some point. Or not. Depending on if he really wants to hear the story.

[Anastasia]

The archon seems perfectly content to listen.

Go ahead and make your story, then make a diplo check when you're done.

[Nephrite]

"Well, I happened upon a disagreement between two very nice friends, a dwarf and an elf -- it doesn't get a lot more stereotypical than that, does it?" Moore says. "Anyway, they were having a disagreement about ales and liquors, the two of them adamantly refusing to even budge an inch on the matter. The dwarf liked things only brewed with barley and hops and the elf only liked things made from fruits. Well, the dwarf just wouldn't even try the liquor, so I happened to be there at the time and decided to intervene! Well, it turns out the poor dwarf had gotten sick once trying elf liquors because of some bad fruit that was used. Well, after doing some convincing and motivating, he was able to finally try the liquors! He loved them! It was really great, the two of them had an entirely new conversation about that sort of thing... I really felt like I made an impact."

[12:40] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+23 Diplo
[12:40] <Serith> Nephrite roll for Serith < 43 > [d20=20]