Diplomatic aftermath

[Corwin]

"Pick a symbolic moment of success or self-discovery, then," Seira agrees. "We're all with you, you know?"

[Anastasia]

Lady Sanzha begins to speak but stops, frowning.

You focus.

Amid the prayers and cries of your faithful, you hear it - a death cry. Marluth, a simple merchant dealing in wood, feels the dagger pierce his heart. In a moment he is aflame, a wordless scream as much his final breath as a prayer to you as he falls in his inn room just outside Valandia.

Balmuria. Cries of alarm, cries for magic and the Guard. Your temple there bursts aflame, a column of powerful spell-fire exploding there, red and blue, erupting up the front. The mythal twists, already being drawn on to fight the blaze.

Arad. Your name is screamed by a young man burning, a sudden burst of fire lightning his home alight. Alan, a merchant's son who just began to pray to you two days ago, barely known and yet crying for you as his flesh cooks.

Chillander's land, a dirt road. A wagon drawn by horses, a half elf driving. He looks down at his chest, a seared hole in it, a flash of red a moment ago. "H-help..." he murmurs. Breeze, a Waukeenite in the past twenty years who also pays the Seldarine homage as well as you.

Kesse. The Shrine of the Golden Dream, a simple worshiper outside. Dann, a poor man who works hard to be better, to make a better life. A strangled prayer as his insides cook, flames erupting from his mouth, nose and from rending tears across his body.

'Seira!' Amaryl's voice in your mind, 'They're attacking ours!'

[Corwin]

'Amaryl, I'm leaving Pallanth to you. Bring him here and heal him!' Seira responds to her wife, presenting Breeze's image to her. For her part, Seira focuses on all the events before zeroing in on Marianne and Lyris. 'You have to go now. Efreet are attacking the Prime Material,' she tells the pair, opening a portal to Marluth's inn outside Valandia.

Seira catches his soul, even as she manifests her will across Arad at the same time. She seizes the flames consuming Alan's house by divine will, and the flames shift color to burn a bright gold, harmful only to those of impure heart! The good and earnest, instead, find comfort and healing in her flames.

Oberuth receives a vision of the burning temple in Balmuria, albeit no transport. The message itself is clear -- the efreet have escalated the war, and brought it to his home.

The Shrine of the Golden Dream is different, for there Seira's avatar manifests in person. Her presence immediately serves to clench the flames consuming Dann, even as she grants him regeneration to help restore his failing flesh.

[Anastasia]

No reply from Amaryl, her attention surely turned on her task.

'Busy! They're trying to assassinate us!' Marianne's voice is light, 'What a lovely afternoon distraction!'

Through the portal as you feel the mists rising up as you go for Marluth's soul, the nature of the Well of Souls rising up to take what it was created to do, a moment where you could concede to it or intervene nonetheless. At the same time, a blur in the shadows, something vanishing on the wings of magic, gone.

As you focus on Arad the flames shift, Alan's screams slowly ceasing as your magic works.

Oberuth is moving, you can fee it from your brush of will against his - and reality shimmers around him, seeming to part without parting, space moving without being space.

As you appear before the shrine in avatar form, the flames cease at your command. And yet you see another there. A faceless dogai, the last image of it, bowing mockingly to you. The streets of the city are hectic, and yet cries of alarm are going up and more.

There you are. Try and keep up as I instruct you, godling. How many of you and yours will burn as tinder in the fire before this day is gone? I grow tired of your presumptions to be anything but wood to burn in my flames.

[Corwin]

One of Seira's focuses shifts to Laurenal from Marianne and Lyris. If she is not under attack, Seira will send her to Valandia's outskirts. And if she is, Seira won't let her chosen on this world fight alone.

Her other focus withdraws temporarily from Arad, sending all her faithful on the Prime Material of either clerical or martial inclination visions of efreet and devils striking at people, along with a sense of warning.

Do not be coy. You know where I live, and are always welcome to come and die at my doorstep.

[Corwin]

Also, Seira intervenes and catches the soul as implied earlier.

[Anastasia]

Laurenal is not under attack as you catch the soul of Marluth, a sense of someone watching you openly, unhidden. Helm's gaze is on you in that place.

Marianne and Lyris are fighting in front of their manor home, back to back. Half a dozen masked warriors lie dead, another dozen or so to go. Spells are flung, darts flying and rapiers thrusting. It's chaos that you can see unfold before your eyes.

Then welcome to the inferno, Seira.

[Corwin]

Laurenal is thus shifted to the inn with the command to investigate and secure the area. As one of Seira's faithful she is already up to speed, after all. And once it feels safe, Seira could release Marluth's soul into her care. Helm should have no problems with her actions since she's not poaching, and hopefully understands the situation enough that if he has objections, he will wait for a calmer time to voice them as well.

Another focus is finally on the fire in Balmuria, and Seira decides to make a public stand there as well. Those flames turn golden, harming the wicked and healing the innocent.

Seira's avatar ensures that Dann has recovered physically from his ordeal and strides outside to look for trouble. Proper recovery will take more effort than she can spend at present, so the warm reassurance of her pride in him would have to do until dedicated personnel is able to take over.

My avatar has a bunch of stuff via divine modes of perception, true seeing, greater arcane sight and sensual blessing. If I see any dogai or attackers, I'll act. Similar for any other trouble like wounded people or fires.

[Anastasia]

On Balmuria you assault the flames and feel it, a will opposing yours. Even as you see Oberuth emerge from the flaming entrance, tossing coughing worshipers out, going back in, unphased.

Divine rank check.

[Corwin]

21:20 <CC> roll 1d20+2
21:20 <Penuche> CC invokes Penuche's magic: < 4 > [d20=2]

[Anastasia]

> roll 1d20+10
<Penuche> Kotono invokes Penuche's magic: < 27 > [d20=17]

You feel it. The will of Imix opposing you, burning bright as the flames refuse to relent. His will is overwhelming, an inferno as you dimly see Oberuth step from nowhere, bringing out several more innocents, unburnt by the flames.

Do you see? You are nothing to me. You are less than even my misbegotten son. Cry as what you care about burns to ash.

[Corwin]

Seira's true self focuses on the temple, opening portals for those inside to deposit them to safety. She does take a moment to contact Waukeen, saying, Imix set my temple in Balmuria on fire, among other things. Could you help me kick him out?

As her avatar sees nothing needing further action out in Kesse, she teleports over to Marianne and Lyris to put an end to what remaining assassins there still are. Conversing with Imix is pointless, and he's so much obviously stronger there's not even a shame in losing out a contest of divine power to him.

[Anastasia]

That overgrown camp fire pushes too far. Lliira, Sune, Sharess, Sulia, to me!

The assassins are mostly finished at this point - both are wounded but up.

CEASE THIS, IMIX. War and Compete against Seira as you please, but you come close to violating what is ordained about this city.

[Corwin]

That won't do, so Seira's innate magical ability heals the pair even as she puts down any remaining resistance as only an angry dragon in tight quarters can.

A brief thought is spared to either taunt Imix or thank Waukeen, but Seira judges it wiser to hold her tongue for now. Rather, she asks Marianne and Lyris after securing the assailants to prevent their escape, "Oberuth needs help at my temple in Balmuria, I've got Valandia covered. Can you go?"

Judging this to be a good time, Seira also entrusts Laurenal with Marluth's soul. His body is miraculously restored, and she leaves it to her priestess to bring him back and help him deal with the trauma of the assault.

[Anastasia]

Done and done easily enough, as you focus slips to the conflict. There is a moment - many wills against one, before the flames die down, becoming normal. Imix's presence fades, pushed back and gone.

To be mechanically clear, he didn't choose to face all of Brightwater down. He's aggressive, not dumb. So no rank checks required.

We'll sort out the rest shortly.