Forever lies ahead

[Iron Dragoon]

My answer won't change, Shar. I can only be what I am, just as you can only be what you are. If you're going to repeat yourself ad nauseam, then at least have the dignity to spare me from it. I've got things to do that will actually lead to something productive.

[Anastasia]

Then let your suffering begin.

[Iron Dragoon]

"She'll be striking back soon, I think. She'll certainly be refocusing her efforts towards us. We'll need to be on the watch for infiltrators. We're going to have to open communication with the others, and try to coordinate our attacks so she can't focus completely on one group of us."

[Anastasia]

Emily immediately nods, "I'll let them know right away," she promises, "Anything else, Alyssa?"

[Iron Dragoon]

"I'm sure there is. All of us are here, so why not share ideas?"

[Anastasia]

Jarem shakes his head, "Did she tip her hand at all otherwise?" he asks to start with?

[Iron Dragoon]

"A taunt about Iavanash, asking me to give in and die. Next time I won't be so lucky. My suffering will begin. The expected. But it implies she's going to start putting more focus our way. The fact that it came on the heels of our capturing her guy also shows that we've honestly irritated and inconvenienced her. So take pride in that."

[Anastasia]

"We get her attention, we are fortunate," Bastian says sardonically, before, "Pride taken, if we fail it can go on our graves."

"Unfortunately, we can only do so much if she's the one attacking. Defense is reactive," Jarem points out.

[Iron Dragoon]

"Which is why I want targets. Not just random outposts. Real targets. She's got people who make weapons and armor for her people. She's got places of power for rituals. They get food from somewhere. Let's start finding these places. More than that, we need to find ways of shackling her. Sealing abilities, even if temporarily."

[Anastasia]

"The problem is that many of those are on Shadow," Jarem points out, "Which is a suicide mission even for us. Just as in time, our resources and forges here will be similarly unassailable by enemies."

"Many doesn't mean all," Bastian counters, "Can we find any way to seal her abilities? She's a deity like us and I'm not seeing ways to seal us. Are you?""

"Oh, research?" Emily says, "Or ask our patron?" She uses her divine will, a flex of magic for privacy. "Lord Zaphkiel? Can the gods be restrained?"

[Iron Dragoon]

Alyssa leans back while Emily's magic washes over them, "Well, for the Shadow places... What about planar rifts? If we could figure out how to localize it and build in a timed effect to seal the rift... We might be able to figure out a way to open a portal for a split second, fire it off, and then close it? But.. If we get it working... It won't be long until she figures out the trick... Unless we conceal the method or make it require something extremely specific that we solely control, or that will hurt her to come into contact with..."

Alyssa taps her chin before continuing, "As for the sealing.... I think I might have a crazy idea that Io might be able to help with."

[Anastasia]

To bind and seal the divine is no simple matter. We created them to rule Creation and direct aspects of it. To have others directly frustrate those aspects weakens Creation as a whole. The few that can, such as Mystra removing magic from a deity, will result in her doom because we recognized this when we forged Creation.

"But," Emily speaks up, "The divine aren't native to Creation. We've seen that in the Beyond when some of us became One." Here she stands and shakes her head, "You also didn't say it was impossible."

"Possible doesn't mean we can do it," Jarem reflects, "It's possible I could kill Demogorgon as I am now if everything went perfectly for a century, but it won't, so I can't kill Demogorgon even though it's possible." He taps his fingers on the armrest of his chair, "Is that a sufficient metaphor for the difficulties this idea presents?"

Yes.

One of the greatest difficulties of my counterpart and I's quest is that we did not leave flaws in Creation to exploit. There are no great shortcuts to our goal, no deeds that will melt a great difficulty before us. We built it to last forever if that is what an Answer takes.

Eliminate proxies and capture proxy sparks from your enemies. Destroy their avatars. Both provide you an advantage against them.

"Thank you," Emily says with a bow of her head.

Nonetheless, try. Mortals have surprised us before and perhaps you will surprise us again.

I did not expect to have my son back yet.

Try with all your resourcefulness and all of your hopes. Try with my blessing, but understand that you may be on a road with no reward at any given time. Do not lose sight of your greater goals for these - to grow stronger, to establish yourself and to prepare for the battle with Shar.

[Iron Dragoon]

"... What about using tools or knowledge from outside of Creation? Io has been out there long enough, even a thread of knowledge that might lead to something might be what we need here. Even if it's not enough to seal her, or if that's too dangerous, we could find something that will... Unravel what she tries to do... Or morphs it into something unpredictable. If she can't trust her own abilities, it'll certainly put her on her heels."

[Anastasia]

There may well be such a thing. Creation may even survive its use.

"I was afraid that was your answer," Bastian shakes his head. "Is it really that damaging if the Far Realm hits Creation?"

Yes, and the Far Realm resists divine power. It will be no trivial thing to stop something from it. Seek these methods as you wish, but use the utmost caution lest you render your defeat at your own hands.

[Iron Dragoon]

"Well... Then... Let's pick our terrain. The boundary area. Can we figure out a way to invoke that at will? If we can draw her into a direct fight, invoke it, lock her there, even for a time, then we'd have a far better chance to make use of anything from the Far Realm we might figure out."