Knowledge shall lead the...

[Corwin]

Don't wait too long before you challenge the seeds~

21:08 <Seira> roll 1d100
21:08 <Kobot> Seira rolled 1d100 --> [ 1d100=39 ]{39}

[Anastasia]

We won't, I promise! Which ones have you gotten?

[Corwin]

Arborea's. I'm seeking out Deep Ethereal's at present.

[Anastasia]

Meanwhile you fly on. As you do?

"You've come far for a mortal, but you hate it so," Sanzha speaks up, gaze to Oberuth. "Most mortals have the good sense to be thankful when they leave the mundane behind."

"Most people don't have the sense not to shit and piss in the same river they drink from downstream," Oberuth's expression is rather sour, "Not until you drill it into them that this is a bad idea. Most people don't know better until they have it. Most people become irrelevant in face of power like ours."

"That simply means your place isn't with them, but on a throne over them," Sanzha remarks, "Your homelands would worship you if you but took them over and made the barest effort." She smiles slightly, "Do you hate magic so?"

A pause here as you fly, Elle starting to turn to speak, but is just cut off by Oberuth. "I don't hate magic," Oberuth says at last. "I may as well hate iron or water. Magic can make one into a force of nature, and there's no controls for who gets magic strong enough to do that. No, what I've come to hate is how magic is used, how reality becomes a mere suggestion if you advance far enough. I hate how good, normal people can suffer because a monster is gifted with magic."

"So you hate human nature?" Sanzha counters back, a smile tugging at her lips, more and more. "Mortal nature means there are as many monsters as saints - perhaps more monsters than saints."

"I hate that almost anyone is a poor choice to grant those powers to. We're the exceptions, not the rule." Oberuth's expression is pensive. "It's complicated," he says at last. "In truth I don't entirely know anymore. So much has happened."

"I once met a wise marid, to who I asked questions of great profundity. His answer to all of them was that he didn't know." Sanzha gestures ahead as you fly, "Rarely do I meet a soul wise enough to say that he doesn't know."

"...There's far wiser men than I," Oberuth grunts, "Far, far, far wiser."

[Corwin]

"I hate to be the contrarian, but I believe in mortals and their better natures," Seira casually interjects herself into the conversation. "And of those with magic I've come across, starting from those I trained around Balmuria and all the way to my current efforts, most are decent folk. Few have the focus to advance so far as to alter reality on a whim, too, whereas there is no shortage of children who came from money, nobility or both and feel entitled. Does it really matter whether you impose your will on your fellow men through the arcane, through force of arms or via commanding other men in your employ? To those they abuse these powers against, I mean. Would it be a meaningful difference to them?"

[Anastasia]

"You never hate to be contrarian," Elle points out in the meantime.

"You have a high opinion of people," Sanzha remarks, "It may not make a difference to them, power is power - but not all kinds of power are equal."

[Corwin]

Seira giggles at Elle's words, the sound perhaps strange coming from a dragon that dwarves the others.

"Few things in Creation or Beyond are equal," she muses in response to Sanzha. "Are Tempus and the Red Knight, even when they represent War? Which I happen to, myself, as well. Are two snowflakes alike? Not that I've ever seen. This, what I've done here, is to take a complicated argument and condense it unfairly into an example that might qualify, but cannot manage to grasp the complexity of the argument in question. I did this, because I believe that as you and Oberuth discussed the dangers of mages, you did the same thing. When we make sweeping statements, we by necessity have to cut the individual and lower ourselves to the most common denominator."

Shrugging, Seira suggests, "Take Balmuria's mages for the period three of us here lived in the city. The Guard, not a villainous bone in our body. Elle, here, tyrannical to some but a big softie at heart. Mikhail, who came to a bad end, but was not born evil and whom we could've reached. In the end, someone who made a mistake. And what of the fearsome empire opposing us at the time? Claris, an honest man of the cloth who ended up in charge of the newly-established Barony of Valandia."

[Anastasia]

"Have you ever seen it snow in Mechanus," Sanzha says, starting to smile more at this, a real smile. "They're all identical there."

"The Baronies were incredibly lucky to have us," Oberuth says, "It could have been so much worse. You're also a big optimist, Seira."

"If Seira can't be optimistic, who can?" Elle banters back, "It's part of her job."

[Corwin]

"So it is! And the context was a Prime, so there, Sanzha!"

Smiling slightly herself, Seira tells Oberuth, "How about another Prime? I naturally took interest in Miss Songsteel's Prime of birth, and its mages aren't actually that bad. A scholastic society, a magical meritocracy that didn't actually feel smiteable, and curiously enough, the kingdom of one of Kascha's friends from Aurora. Most of the governments were lead by powerful mages, although all of them were restricted to mortal power aside from Alyssa Songsteel, and yet the people did alright. Or how about we look over at Valar's realm of origin? Even in the nation of Malana where the Prime itself has been all but consumed by Auril, all it took was a spark, a bit of discreet aid, and it was enough to illuminate the good in people willing and ready to do good. If I'm an optimist, it's because the people I watch over validate my beliefs time and time again. How, then, can I do anything but support them with everything that I am?"

[Anastasia]

Oberuth inclines his head to you after all of that. "I only have one question then: How many Primes are the opposite, where evil triumphs and surges? How many times have the monsters won?"

[Corwin]

"Creation is not really in a balance, the way I see it. Fiendish interests are very active, as are Shar's agents and other villains. Celestial support is often subtle and done from afar, and doesn't raise to the same level of intensity. And yet, worlds don't fall. People don't turn on each other, not in the quantities you would expect to see if all things were equal. It's enough to give anyone hope!"

[Anastasia]

Gimme a quick d100 as you all go?

"Until worlds do fall," Sanzha points out, "But as long as they haven't, there's still hope. Even in rare cases there can be hope after, but Lifasa was strange start to end."

[Corwin]

"Don't forget Benfal, either!"

18:51 <Seira> roll 1d100
18:51 <Rei-chan> Seira rolled : 1d100 --> [ 1d100=38 ]{38}

[Anastasia]

You fly a time longer as the conversation dies off. You see it far ahead in the fog, floating. A manor home, in impeccable condition. It is surrounded by green lawns and sunshine radiates from above, from nowhere to give the manor a sunny glow. It's a big, spacious country home with two stories, a large garden to the sides and back.

[Corwin]

"Large manor and a plot of land ahead," Seira informs the others, leading them to it.