The laughter of oblivion

[Corwin]

"I'll probably be okay, but better safe than sorry," Seira agrees. "Marie, how about you get back first and raise a wall of force?"

[Ebiris]

"Good luck!" Marie says, backing off with everyone except Seira to the edge of the tunnel and putting up a wall of force in the way. She's good at those!

[Corwin]

After making sure the others are protected, Seira tells Garl, "I'm letting go now, so please be careful."

She still supports him with a variant of telekinesis a moment longer, just in case his ability to make it to the pool properly had been overestimated, and flashes back to hide behind the protections!

Shadow Force, then Fiery Leap'ing to Marie's barrier and crossing it. Some TK to help Garl make this dignified, too!

[Anastasia]

Garl Glittergold steps into the pool. There is no explosion, only that the pool loses its light and Garl stands up straight when it's over. There's a pause before he says, backs to all of you, "Well...I'm afraid I don't have any hospitality to offer at the moment," he says, "But I think the weather on Bytopia will be much better now."

[Corwin]

Seira laughs, slipping over to him again. "That's a nice change to the storm that greeted me here. Still, if you feel strong enough, do you think we can work on bringing back the other residents?"

[Ebiris]

Marie lowers her wall of force afterwards. "We're just glad you're back. And maybe with you back more can be done for Bytopia," she says.

[Anastasia]

"As I am now, no," Garl admits, "I need time to rest."

"Bytopia sorrowed with you gone," Latha steps forward, "Few could remember their time here - which no doubt contributed to the problem. Bytopia itself resisted us when we first came, until we appeased it."

The gnome deity rests back - the earth of Bytopia itself rises to form an impromptu chair. "Marie, I heard your voice while I slept. Someone made your voice louder."

Welcome back.

"Ah. You'd be a fine prankster if you ever put your mind to it, and who would ever guess to blame you?" A hint of a smile shows on Garl's face.

[Ebiris]

"So it was sleep? Did you dream?" Marie asks, stepping closer, a glance aside when she hears Zaphkiel. "Some of us wondered what happens to gods when they die. I didn't think there'd be another hidden afterlife waiting but there must have been something after all."

[Corwin]

I do want to hear the answer there so I'll wait on it. Though I'd also like to ask OOC if I can tell at least what tier/strata Garl is right now!

[Anastasia]

That'll be covered IC in a bit.

"I'd wondered too," Garl admits, "It's like being in bed, asleep. Have you ever laid at the edge of awareness, not awake but not quite truly asleep? It's like that. No dreams, no thinking, only a feather-light sense of being aware. When I stirred, I felt Bytopia around me, but it couldn't hear me."

[Corwin]

"Were you alone?" Seira asks. "During the dream, or before? Knowledge of the local pantheon was quite literally struck from history. It was a small miracle that Marie learned your name upon reaching the memorial."

[Ebiris]

Alicia wonders though. The Incarnation of Law said it would destroy Mystra if she didn't choose quickly enough which plane to call home. She suspects that would have been a more complete oblivion than what Garl describes.

"Bytopia wanted me to know. Among all the other names, I felt its importance," Marie speaks up after Seira.

[Anastasia]

"I was alone. If the others rest there, I didn't feel them," the deity admits, smile gone in a moment. ".... ..... ....thank you, Marie," he says at last. "I owe you a debt unlike any other. I owe all of you. I owe you, Hellman Oberuth, for your gallantry to end that monster's life. I owe you, Seiar Aryn and Alicia Reynes, for your perseverance."

Then his gaze travels to the back, where Lagann stands quietly. "...and you're forgiven," he says at last. He offers his hand out, "I'm almost all out of gnomes. Can you lend me yourself?" He manages a half smile, "I have a lot of burrows to build and you're a fine builder."

Lagann comes forward, the clank of metal as he steps forward. He takes that hand, "Mines, too. Can you imagine what the dwarves have been doing without any competition from gnomish mines?"

"We have a mountain AND a molehill of things to do," Garl Glittergold concludes. "As I am now, I'm at best a half god, a quasi reflection of what I was."

[Corwin]

"We've come across a few gnomes in our travels, here and there," Seira voices. "I wouldn't presume to intrude like this normally, but we could help gather those squirreled away who have the power to help with the rebuilding."

[Ebiris]

"Our own divine realms are yet young, but we'll give what we can to help you get back to where you should be," Alicia says, smiling back at him. "Creation could use more reasons to be cheerful."

"Yeah, don't worry about what's owed. I'm just glad this worked," Marie adds.