The embers of victory

[Corwin]

Seira shakes her head, then, trying to rid herself of that mood. "That," she adds at Alicia's words, "or just call someone into service and gift them with a pair of glasses enchanted to direct them to the nearest shard."

She smiles at Zaaman Rul, then, toasting him back with her glass. "Anytime!"

[Anastasia]

"Alicia!" Zaaman Rul toasts her next, "You came forth at a request. I would be honored to call you a friend now and forever," he declares, "I am in your debt."

[Iron Dragoon]

Alyssa clears her through a bit. "I've... since ended my contact with the Order and moved to a new location. The escalation of things leads to a point that I wouldn't have been able to reasonably defend my Prime. Since I was the only reason that the attention was being drawn, I've removed myself. It's likely some retaliation against them will happen, but I wouldn't be able to do anything against a serious effort either way. I've at least reduced the motivation for it, somewhat."

[Ebiris]

"I will collect on that sometime," Alicia says, raising her goblet in turn. "I'm not sure Sylica could endure so well if it were attacked by a similar force."

[Corwin]

"Speaking of realm assaults, you know the strangest thing? A daemon army attacked the Cauldron at the same time, using a myriad of tiny portals clustered together. I wish I had more than vague suspicions as to the ones behind it."

[Ebiris]

Lowering her glass she refocuses on Alyssa. "I see. It's true mobility and a low profile can help when you're battling across the planes, though it seemed a well run place from when I visited and having its resources to back you would carry its own weight. I trust you considered the trade-offs and chose what was best for their sake, then," she nods, accepting that Alyssa seems to have made a sacrifice to keep her home safe. "Though I'll warn you, even if you're not present your enemies may strike at it so as to goad you, so it'd be best to still stay in touch."

[Anastasia]

"Then Alyssa!" Zaaman Rul nods back to Alicia and goes on, "You came forth on a request, to aid someone you don't even know. I would be honored to call you a friend as well."

[Iron Dragoon]

Alyssa nods to Alicia. "I fully agree. The main issue I ran into was the fact that the Order was a gathering of refugees, mainly. Our people had ties to every country. Personal ones. We had resources, but we were small. I organized defenses as best as I could and left projects to be completed, but... Other countries were beginning to eye us as a threat solely because of my presence. Perhaps we could have endured an outside assault, but not if we were already in conflict internally to the plane. The Mageocracy is certainly willing to ally with whoever or whatever they needed to in order to win. It would have been a fight on too many sides for us."

Turn to Zaaman Rul, she smiles, "I thank you for the offer, my Lord. Friends are always welcome, but much of the credit for our being here lies with Emily and Seira. It was Emily who brought the chance to us."

[Anastasia]

"If there is anything I can do for any of you, request it," Zaaman Rul continues, leaving it open.

[Corwin]

"You're already working to change Fire for the better," Seira tells Zaaman Rul. "What else could I ask for?"

[Iron Dragoon]

Alyssa nods. "I shall keep it in mind. We're building our own retinue, so resources are a bit... tight. Speaking of, since all of you are here, I have some things that might of interest to some of you... As bait."

Alyssa takes a drink, then continues, "I recently stole a fiendish bank run by an Inevitable. They were able to extract some of the loot, but I gained a fair portion of it... And the names of who it belonged to. Is anyone interested in poking the eye of an Efreet prince, for example?"

[Ebiris]

"Yes, for now focus your strength and efforts on this war," Alicia backs Seira up. "Winning here comes first."

[Corwin]

"Given that we're at war with the bastards, that's always in the cards," Seira responds. "What's on your mind?"

[Anastasia]

"Which bank?" Syala speaks up at that, attention turning to Alyssa. "I think we all could stand to give an emir a violent time of it."

[Iron Dragoon]

"Emily brought the opportunity to me. Farrols, run by an Inevitable Marut. I'm not entirely sure who all was backing it, but we assault it and... liberated... the entire building. They were, unfortunately, able to make off with the slaves. But the list of names we retrieved were quite interesting."

She begins ticking off finger, "Abdul Nasr al-Hariq. Inbar Hamawi. Aziz Nasari. For non-Efreet, Rosier. Gumalakin. Wylsafir, though I believe he's recently dead."