Forever lies ahead

[Iron Dragoon]

Alyssa waves to Honeydip with a grin, "Hello! I'm on my way to a celebration set up for our latest adventure. Care to join? It'll give us another chance to socialize, outside of stuffy ceremonies."

[Anastasia]

"Of course," Honeydip bows her head respectfully to you.

[Iron Dragoon]

Alyssa starts towards the celebration, "So, how have you found our realm so far?"

[Anastasia]

"You've built a lot in a short time," Is Honeydip's answer, "It's not like the Court. It's a human growth, of smoke and wood and steel."

[Iron Dragoon]

Alyssa inclines her head in acknowledgement, "In part, yes. We've taken in refugees, wanderers, settlers, and explorers from everywhere. Shaundakul led them here to find a home. With such a mixing, certain allowances are required between ideals."

Alyssa gestures around them, "This academy, for example. Schools like this, established and structured, are a thing of humans, primarily. At least, in so much as the way it's presented and classes are presented. With that, comes other things. Smoke, wood, and steel, as you said. But the more you explore, the more you'll find. There's a sacred grove near here, established in honor of Ianvasah. The mountains that surround us are full of caves and hidden valleys, to be settled however the discoverer and settlers wish. With the abundance of caves, I imagine we'll soon have a dwarf outpost. There are forested valleys that I imagine some of the more private elves will seek out. At the foot of the mountains, there are full forests, ready for establishment.

The only thing we enforce is free movement, the safety of others, and, at the very least, neutral relations. No one has to open home and hearth to everyone they come across, but at the very least, polite greetings and hands off weapons."

[Anastasia]

Honeydip flutters along you as she stops and asks flat out, "Why me? Why truly me? There's more to this than I gather, and the more I ruminate on it and your actions, the more than I feel a piece is missing."

[Iron Dragoon]

Alyssa shrugs a bit, "I'm a researcher. An analyst. I look at things, disassemble them, figure out why it works, or in the case of a problem, doesn't work. We lost Ianvasah because of an oversight on all of our parts: We were too over-specialized. Jarem, Bastian, Emily, Dolmaya. Jarem's the most defensive of the bunch, but even that is just as a means to create an opportunity for offense. Ianvasah was the same; she favored dragonshape and embodied the traits, and temper, of one.

That left me as the most defensive of everyone, and if you're going to rely on a single person for a role, then they need to be a specialist. I'm not a specialist. I'm very specifically not one. I can do, almost quite literally, a little of everything. My planning and defenses weren't up to par, and both Ianvasah and I died for it. So, I considered the problem, and having dealing with Moore, saw the power of his magic and abilities. I sent out inquiries and was referred to you. You were invited here to meet everyone and so we could feel each other's personalities out. I look for the potential in things, Lady Honeydip. It's part of why I've attained what I have, and with you, I see the potential to fit with us, both ability-wise and personality-wise.

Regardless if you decide to join us in whatever fighting we have in front of us, you'll have a place here, if you want it. We don't have many fey here, but I feel it's just a matter of time."

[Anastasia]

There's silence before...

I have to ask for IC character reasons: Was all of that true? She was Sense Motive-ing you there.

[Iron Dragoon]

Yep! I mean, OOC, consider the conversations you and I had, right? After Ianvasah, I was asking about more/better buffing, spreading the defensive spells out more, and rounding the team out. Literally everyone in the team except Alyssa, including Ianvasah, is an offense specialist more than anything else.

[Anastasia]

"...I sensed, perhaps wrongly but more likely not, that Her Majesty wished for me to aid you." Honeydip says at last. "I have no great lure to this place, yet one does not ignore that, nor the invitation of a god."

A pause.

"You are your own people and I am an outsider to that, a visitor. Many times in Androlynne I commanded those who were like that. Heroes of all stripes who were foreign to me as the snow is to the desert." Her cute voice is thoughtful, "Yet it seems I am called to this again."

[Iron Dragoon]

Alyssa shakes her head, "No, not called. Invited. You have full autonomy here; my status as god shouldn't influence your decision. Queen Morwel sent you because of your past experience with outsiders, I imagine. She likely wants to establish a relationship with me early, while having someone whose opinion she can trust.

It's a round-about way of it, as most things are with people in positions of power. It's also something I try to avoid. Whether you're here to join us in battle or to assess us, you're welcome in whichever role you decide. Though, if you're not going to stick around, I'd like some help integrating fey before you leave."

Alyssa grins at her.

[Anastasia]

Give me a raw Charisma check here.

[Iron Dragoon]

Cha/Brains over Everything!

[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+24 : 7 + 24, total 31[/blockquote]

[Anastasia]

"You will have your answer in an hour," Lady Honeydip says, "I would like to pray to the Queen first. I will see you again soon."

[Iron Dragoon]

"And here I thought we were going to go to the celebration! But very well, do what you need to. I look forward to it, either way."