Onward with war

[Anastasia]

Okay, now that you're back, what's your next move here, Seira?

[Corwin]

The first item on her itinerary upon return is to launch two of her divine sendings!

My friend, Seira sends to Alicia from the Cauldron, I need to see you face to face, urgently.

To Moore, Seira sends, I know I invited you to visit at your earliest convenience, but things have changed. Your earlier convenience should be today if at all possible.

Then, she seeks out Amaryl, Elle and Sanzha.

[Anastasia]

It's easy enough to get them together and...

Okay, go ahead and set up, say what you want and we'll roll with that.

[Corwin]

"I never quite expected that angle of attack. Striking at innocents during a war, not as collateral but as priority targets." Seira's done being angry at this, and merely states the facts now. "We'll need to plan better. This attack stretched our capabilities with direct intervention, and it was just Imix showing off. We need a better system in place, which is what I'd like you to ensure, Elle. My plan is to have Ranbar coordinate with our local representatives, Laurenal in the case of our Prime, and direct relief and military efforts. For that, we'll use the same thing that helped us so much in the aftermath of the Dark Six's spree of attacks. A teleportation network, except using my new portal spell. There will be three tiers, a local, national and international one, and I'd like you to work together with the girls to set them all up. Since you're still mortal, you should skirt by the rules, and since you're my proxy our enemies should think twice before striking brazenly at you after Waukeen's chastisement just then."

[Anastasia]

"Imix was hurting us, trying to make us afraid," Amaryl speaks once you're done.

"I have it, Seira," Elle agrees, "Terror attacks, I think Amaryl may be right. Beat us without a single battle if we give into fear."

Lady Sanzha hums, "It wouldn't be the first time Imix has been reprehensible," she adds. "I think the plan should work."

[Corwin]

"This time we responded, and the people saw us respond, even against difficult odds. But the next time, we'll be able to fight it in a smarter way. I'll introduce you to Laurenal and Ranbar properly later today, Elle, but what do you think you'll need aside from security? Lagann can take care of that while also taking a look at the temple designs and the defenses for them."

[Anastasia]

"Lots of protection above and beyond, they'll be an obvious target," Elle says, "We have the authority to deal with them with most  local nations, that's not an immediate concern."

[Corwin]

"I'll leave that part to the two of you, then, though feel free to check designs by me if you want a second opinion. And now that I think about it, please get Lady Honeydip's opinion as well. Her knowledge of defenses and sieges against a superior force is unparalleled across the planes."

Pausing a bit, Seira adds, "My final request concerning the Prime is that you make a rounds of our friendly heads of state. Kesse and the region, Pallanth, the Desert Fiefdoms, and the Baronies. If I were to do it myself, it might be seen as too heavy an intervention in Prime, and others might respond in kind. I want to avoid that."

[Anastasia]

"I will," Elle agrees, as Sanzha watches and waits.

[Corwin]

"That'll keep you busy, and Donald will be handling recruitment for us along with Agathaiel in the near future," Seira muses. "I might send Kascha over as well. I'm going after Aurora's candidate list; that is, those that didn't make the cut due to conflicting personalities and the like. Donald's great at getting a foot in the door, but he's better at that when he has someone to play off. Agathaiel can do that, but Kascha's far more disarming. Plus the three of them should be able to fend off any elite strike force. Thoughts?"

[Anastasia]

"It should work, but we need to be able to call them back fast if we need them," Amaryl points out, "The efreet could attack any time."

"We can get back fast for minimal resources," Elle shakes her head, "That shouldn't be a problem unless they're stretching our resources -which is possible."

[Corwin]

"It's a bad time, I agree. But I'll pull some more favors if I have to in order to keep the Cauldron protected. Besides, by my count the forces from the Court of the Stars should arrive here tomorrow, and same for Lathander's. In fact, I actually expected the latter to arrive already, so it might be any moment now. I've asked them specifically in order to beef up our defenses."

Seira snorts. "The real problem is that I'm going to be leaving tomorrow, and I'm not sure when I'll be back. You'll probably need to come with me, Amaryl, so Sanzha, you, Valar and Na'lith will effectively be in charge of our defenses until our eventual return."

[Anastasia]

"You're going to be gone that long?" Amaryl speaks up, "Where are you going? Why? We're at war - is it that serious?"

Elle sits back and frowns, "Why?"

[Corwin]

"I found Io. You know what that means."

[Anastasia]

"Really?" Amaryl sits forward, "Where is he?"

Lady Sanzha smiles slightly at this, "Oh ho, so you did track him down."