Deep into the Infinite Stair

[Anastasia]

Jessica takes the sphere and...

Charisma check, unless you're choosing to lose it on purpose.

[Ebiris]

Choosing to lose if I can, yes.

[Anastasia]

You feel...determined.

You remember marshaling your will to resist Malcanthet's magic.

You recall the intense focus as you slid your blade out of the sheathe, the perfect timing for a flawless strike.

You can still feel the breath of the Muldarian soldier as his mental focus snaps, your own psionic energy flooding him.

A barrage of memories flare in your mind, all about moments of strong concentration.

[Ebiris]

Who is she in these memories? Is there more context she can gather from them?

[Anastasia]

It's indistinct, but as you hold it? A dozen fragments of identities and memories come to you.

Alicia Reynes, goddess, opposing Malcanthet.

Jorge of Rivers, your blade unrivaled.

Madolys Mindbreaker, as your psionics shatter the mind who opposes you.

[Ebiris]

She tries to focus more on the Jorge of Rivers memories. Who is she? How is her blade unrivalled? How did it become so?

[Anastasia]

The first thing that smacks you is he. He. That's different.

You remember...the first day of your sword training, father's steady instructions.

The goblins, the ogres, the worgs, the gnolls.

The blood. The blood you remember as you fought.

The taste of eating with a bloodied mouth, of salt and copper mixing with dried meat as you forced yourself to eat. It mixes with a memory of Lapi's touch and taste, her beauty a moment of light.

Laughing at a ribald joke at the tavern, as you rest your tired body and eat, this time with a mouth free of blood.

The Muldarians, the scandal where it was revealed they urged the traveling goblin tribes towards your lands, your father's lands. You remember how the people bowed to him, called him sir.

You remember a hundred battles, never once knowing loss -

...

...

It was the final battle. Bad luck, or perhaps Tymora being tired of you. An enchanted arrow in the chest, so much blood. You'd wanted to take Selnar's head yourself, but it wasn't to be. You remember managing a final, bloody smile as you dimly saw the barricaded doors to the Muldarian High Throne, as the glint of metal and blades came to embrace you.

[Ebiris]

Brow furrowed as she remains holding the sphere with Jessica, Alicia retracts her focus from Jorge's memories. The memories of Alicia fighting against Malcanthet... is that her? She's never actually confronted her in person, and even the avatar never actually attempted a spell or power. She tries to delve into those memories in the same fashion to see what they reveal.

[Anastasia]

The Razor Throne is before you as your blade comes down for Malcanthet - but her magic is a hair faster. A contest of will, to determine this entire war.

You remember your will, bright and radiant.

You remember Antenora's call, your sister at your side in an instant.

The sound of Oberuth's sword and Ebony's axe as the last remnants of the Radiant Sisters manage a desperate holding action, paying for it in blood.

The vicious warmth of the Multi-Faceted Charm burns against your chest, the memory of it and the Lord of the Seventh's power like a hellish inferno in your mind.

Together, they are enough. You push through and it's long enough. Enough for your blade and Antenora's scythe to slice into the Succubus Queen.

[Ebiris]

"How... bizarre," Alicia says at last, no longer focusing on it. "Memories of determination, but not yours and not all even mine. I remembered killing Malcanthet as myself, but I remembered being other people too. A warrior fighting and dying in a war. A mentalist in that same war."

[Anastasia]

"What IS this sphere, then?" Jessica says aloud, a note of exasperation in her voice.

[Ebiris]

"Try focusing on a feeling rather than a colour this time?" Alicia suggests. "I'm not sure if there's useful knowledge or not in those memories, but if so it could be productive - I'll try for 'amusement'," she volunteers something safe that won't give Jessica the same embarrassment as last time. "Do you want me to lose again?"

[Anastasia]

"Yes," Jessica says right away, holding the orb. "I'll go for contentment."

[Ebiris]

"Go, then," Alicia says, focusing on a feeling of amusement and humour through the orb... but not too hard.

[Anastasia]

You feel it as the orb turns gold colored.

You remember being held by Syala, lazy and sated and content.

You see your sons at play, your wife tending to them as you rest. Everything is how it should be at last.

The sheer relief and joy as they're all silent at last. All of them. Blood and flesh doesn't talk once you rip it apart and you did it to all of them. It's finally silent.

You go for another day at the job, but you enjoy being a tailor. All's right, and your assistant is almost ready. Your life's finally about right, soon you can retire.