The second seal (Moore)

[Anastasia]

Once Afina is gone, "It may be a mercy for you," Ilsenine says, "That you don't remember, that things seem different for you. Yggdrasil didn't hit you the same as the rest of us, not in the same way, did it?"

[Nephrite]

Moore shakes his head. "I suppose I never had the chance to tell you my story." Moore says with a bit of a smile. "My life was a bit... unorthodox for a pixie. I'm originally from Arborea, but you probably wouldn't know it looking at me these days." He smiles again, but a bit more sadly this time.

"To make a long story short, the regular life of a pixe just didn't appeal to me. I liked talking to people too much -- directly involving myself more than was considered 'proper,' I suppose. Anyway, I wandered, met people, moved on... and..." He takes a breath. "Well, something happened. I don't know what. I... don't think it really matters at this point, but... I went somewhere -- another place. All I remember from there is a sheer, overpowering light. I still have fragments of memory of the people I met there -- somehow or another, when I was at Yggdrasil, I felt them -- I knew they had escaped the place like I did." He explains.

"I woke up in Venya... and I have no idea what happened other than that. I don't even know how long I was there -- I've honestly never gone back to Arborea to even check. It's... It feels like it's the 'Old Moore's' life now. Whatever happened to put me in that place... I've made peace with it. I no longer need to know what happened to me -- I have an inkling of it, a gut feeling, but... well. I'm here now, and I'm happy to be here." He finishes, nodding, as if he's happy with that story.

"Ah... I'm sorry, that was a bit of a ramble." He says, laughing just a bit.

[Anastasia]

Queen Ilsenine nods, perhaps to herself. "The here and now, not the past. A good fey attitude, otherwise we would all lose ourselves in contemplation of our past lives. That place of light hardly matters compared to our current struggles."

You have a momentary feeling. He got out. He made it home. The feeling fades after, like a jolt of deja vu.

[Nephrite]

For whatever reason, Moore smiles, reaching up to rub at one of his eyes for a moment.

"I agree. Ah... so, Your Majesty, if... I may." Moore starts, clearing his throat. "This is the first time I've found myself in this particular situation... you read about them all the time in storybooks -- the vagabond that manages to catch the eye of the princess with his rugged looks and free will that allows her to escape her mundane palatial life... they usually end either happily ever after or tragically, I've found..." He chuckles a small bit at that, before he takes a breath and looks serious for a moment -- his smile gone.

"Regardless, Your Majesty, I do not wish to cause you complications in your own Court, so I suppose I will just be direct and ask -- how do you wish to continue with... well, let us call a duck a duck, shall we? How do you wish to continue with our relationship?" He asks. "The last thing I want is to put you in a place where you are unhappy."

[Anastasia]

"Like this." Ilsenine comes over to you, resting her head on your shoulder again. "Worry not of the court. All I want is for you to be there for me. Just...let me rest for a little while here."

[Nephrite]

Moore smiles and nods, staying silent.

[Anastasia]

Like this a peaceful time passes, and...

What's next for ya?

[Nephrite]

Time to check in with Tannin about Alurae.

[Anastasia]

You don't find Tannin - rather, he finds you. He strides into your room, a bit disheveled but otherwise intact. "Well, that was fun," he announces.

[Nephrite]

"Real fun, or 'I found out she's actually a lich disguising herself as a slaad who's living in Arborea under the protection of Asmodeus' kind of fun?" Moore asks.

[Anastasia]

"Some of both," Tannin says, 'Refresh me on what you know about her so I can cut to the chase?" He grabs your desk chair and sits on down, pulling out a flask and taking a drink. "Want a pull?"

[Nephrite]

"It sounds like I may need to pay attention to this, so I'll pass." Moore says. "All I know is that someone by that name betrayed a follower of Waukeen some time ago after pretending to be in love with them. Stole his fortune and even poisoned his dog. When I did some magical digging it seemed like she was hiding in Limbo somewhere, but that was all I could garner. I had a feeling that there was more to this than what was on the surface, though, because a petty thief or murderer doesn't, you know, go to Limbo." Moore explains.

[Anastasia]

"Well yes," Tannin takes another pull, "Plum brandy. It's different," he says, capping it and putting it away. "Alurae's one of Malcanthet's seductresses. A mortal cultist making her bones for the Razor Throne by doing all the things a succubus might do. Some are long plans, some are short little things like what happened to your friend. She's done this before, vicious piece of work. See, but I got the inside information. She's hiding out in a stable pocket of Limbo named Farrdale. It's keyed, so you need a magical token to get in or you'll just bounce right on out."

He pauses and takes a breath, "See, there's the catch, yeah? You don't got the key, you get bounced out. You have the key, you're in good with the death slaad who owns it. Miserable piece of work, that one. All the grace of a balor and the looks of a plague victim. Don't have a name on the motherfucker, but sources agree he's a death slaad. Get someone good at that and using magic items and they can probably finagle a way in, though."

[Nephrite]

"Who needs keys when you can just break down the door?" Moore says with a grin. "I suppose we don't have the ability to just do that, though, so I suppose the next step is to find a key so we can remedy a few problems... it sounds like this Farrdale place is pretty awful."

[Anastasia]

"You could probably find someone on Aurora who could do it, actually," Tannin says, "Ask Elena or one of the generals, they'd have a recommendation."