Crushed Slavers

[Anastasia]

Finally shifting back human, "If you want to, give me until tomorrow free. I really should check in on Surru. Oh, I hope he hasn't gotten into trouble or anything, and I want to see if he has any good spell research going. Those dragon princess spells are so useful, maybe he has another set of winners in development."

[Corwin]

"That's no trouble. Go have fun with that before dealing with the Aurora things?"

[Anastasia]

That about good there for this scene, then?

[Corwin]

Yes! But! This surely fulfilled Kascha's Node goal as I very subtly hinted previously!

[Anastasia]

Oh yes, so not done after all.

"Still, Seira," Kascha goes on, "I want to be there when you meet with Jannel. I've been doing a lot of hands on work with the elements and he should be here soon. I'll wait for that, I almost forgot!"

[Corwin]

"In that case, want to come and meet Zariel with me?"

[Anastasia]

Kascha falls in with you.

Zariel is waiting where you saw her, gaze unfocused, simply waiting.

Go ahead and take the initiative here.

[Corwin]

"Hi," Seira greets Zariel. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Kascha here was just telling me about her trip across the Inner Planes. Kascha," she continues, turning towards her friend, "I'd like you to meet Zariel. She's been staying with us."

[Anastasia]

"Oh!" A hand to her mouth as she smiles, "It's good to see you doing better. Hi, I'm Kascha."

Zariel inclines her head to Kascha, holding up her hand. From it tears of fire fall, dissolving into steamy mist. Like little gemstones rolling off her palm, "What is to be done now, Seira? What is to be done?"

[Corwin]

"What is the context of the question?" Seira answers with a question of her own. "Seeking out new places to visit? Speaking rhetorically? Pondering long-reaching goals? Or something else entirely?"

[Anastasia]

"Everything." Lowering her hand, "There is so much wrong with Creation. So much that is rotten, decayed, dying. All under the gaze and damnation of oblivion that races to us, no matter what we do. When one chooses a path forward, only a fool chooses blindly. So tell me, Seira. What is to be done now?"

[Corwin]

The long-term goals it is, then.

"First, it is important not to lose hope," Seira tells Zariel confidently. "It sound silly, but that's often the hardest thing. Despairing is easy, given the opposition and its nigh-infinite nature. Still, we've had clear successes in the past that serve as a model of accomplishments to seek in the future, and a series of goals. Put this all together, and you get a path."

She leans against a tree trunk that shifts to make the position more comfortable for her with a mild, mental prodding. "Take a peek at mine, for example. I'm working on eliminating slavery across the Inner Planes, and over the course of this am seeking to break their ties with the Lower Planes. I'm supporting Aurora's fresh Crusade against the First Vampire, and once they get him and you know they will, the balance will tilt ever so slightly towards good. Lowercase good, which isn't the tangible Good we know, but merely stands for the multiverse becoming a better place for everyone living in it. The days will be just the tiny bit brighter, people will be happier and more hopeful... the amount of suffering will lessen, bit by bit." Seira grins, linking her hands behind her head. "You see, I aim to build up on these things and many others by eventually changing universal concepts themselves. Chromatic dragons are often identified with Evil? So what if that's how things have always been, what if I managed to show enough Reds a better way? Would others follow? Would enough?"

Zariel had brought oblivion up just now, and it's too good an opening to let it go. "Finally, the more distant goal is removing Shar altogether," Seira continues with. "I'll prove Primus wrong, together with those who would stand with me." It would probably be more dramatic if she reached towards Zariel here, but this is merely elaborating on her own goals rather than any attempt at manipulation.

[Anastasia]

Give me a Diplo check. You said the right thing to warrant one, see how strong your words are.

[Corwin]

23:34 <CC> roll 1d20+68
23:34 <Kobot> CC rolled 1d20+68 --> [ 1d20=1 ]{69}

[Anastasia]

Silence follows your words. Zariel is seemingly lost in them.

"I've done so much and yet...part of me wants to be what I was, to be happy again, to help people. A part of me I thought dead, forgotten in my hate." Zariel speaks slowly. "I want to believe in hope again, that there's more than pain and revenge."