Crossed swords

[Corwin]

Aren't they living in her divine realm, which is within Selune's divine realm? I'd love to see Shar's leverage on that.

[Anastasia]

Yes, but be aware, in case she manages something.

[Corwin]

Oh, Shar.

Putting that bit of silliness out of her mind, Seira decides to change the subject. It's been a while since she just spent some time together with Waukeen, just the two of them. Perhaps they could have some fun in Brightwater incognito?

[Anastasia]

That could be fun if you want to cover it. Do you or do you want to move along?

[Corwin]

Let's move along in this case. IC celebration should come after an IC success!

[Anastasia]

Okay, so who are you taking and how are you going to investigate this?

[Corwin]

What are the libraries specializing in anathemic knowledge that I'm aware of?

As for who I'm inviting, it's Donald, Elle and Ranbar.

[Anastasia]

Not really much of a thing. I mean, the nature of it means libraries don't really work. It tends to be individuals, or any writings are in the hands of powerful beings who may not like to share.

Any spell prep I need to be aware of?

[Corwin]

Let's just gather together and discuss our departure. Maybe they'll have an idea of where to look rather than go aimlessly. When we actually do go, the combat loadout would be precast.

In fact, for the discussion we'll have Greater Heroism and Divine Insight/Bibliotheca Arcana to boost skills.

[Anastasia]

Sure.

It's not hard to get them together, "So it's an anathemic beast on the Positive Energy Plane," Elle begins, "That both narrows it down and makes it even harder."

[Corwin]

"One option is just to travel randomly," Seira voices the obvious. "Traces of an anathemic beast's existence might be something we'll spot if we luck out. Another option is to actually try to aim for it. Perhaps we can try some mortal-level divinations and compare them to divine ones, then try to narrow down the area to check. Finally, I can think of hitting Celestia's archives, or maybe Ohgma's or that Abyssal place. While no library exists that specializes in this sort of knowledge, traces of it could be in any of them, or even at Aurora. Thoughts?"

[Anastasia]

Elle paces slowly, "It's still a needle in a haystack," she says, "Plus it can survive on the Positive Energy Plane. We also can't discount that it can use the artifact, or may be more than a beast. The anathemic knowledge means either something powerful wants it to be hidden, or it wants to be hidden and is powerful enough to hide itself. No matter how you do the math, it's not a minor foe."

[Corwin]

"This time we won't be limiting ourselves to avatars and going properly prepared from the start, so we'll match whatever it is power-wise," Seira responds. "The point about cunning and intelligence is a very good one, so let's keep it in mind. Finally, I agree on the needle part, so that's where we should focus our efforts. Do we rely on luck, try to force it, or hit the various libraries for clues first?"

[Anastasia]

"I'm asking around. Sylica doesn't know anything according to Jessica," Donald says, "Brightwater's likewise stumped, Waukeen dealt with us straight there. Same with the House of Nature, but I'm talking to Jetina now and she thinks she might know something."

[Corwin]

"Yeah, Waukeen wouldn't give me this lead as is if she knew more," Seira agrees, listening curiously to Donald about Jetina's information.