Tracking down Mei isn't hard with an Elena assist. She's meditating in the shadow of the Graceful Blow tower, hidden from most of the noise of the courtyard. Her eyes are closed and she hovers several inches off the ground.
"Heya, Mei!" Jaela greets her friend, for once not waiting patiently for a pause in her meditation.
Mei blinks her eyes and stands from sitting in the air, turning to you and smiling.
"Sorry for cutting in like that, but it's pretty important. A bunch of us were traveling just then, and we came across Sehanine Moonbow as she wanted to test our mettle. How cool is that, right?" Jaela retrieves the gem left behind with a flick of her wrist. "To make a long story short, she left a couple drops of blood behind to empower her followers and I know it's usually a bad idea but the Triune wouldn't send us down the wrong path. So I already ate mine. But we could mix yours up in water or something if you think that's better?"
Mei's eyes widen several times through your story, until they're almost comically wide by the end. Her hands shake as she stares at you and the gemstone, pointing at it.
"Right, sorry! I'm just as excited!" Jaela shake her head, smiling. "So there we were, and suddenly Sehanine Moobow appears going all 'You shall not pass'! But we had to keep going, and she knew it, so it came to a fight. She kept on summoning these ridiculously ovepowered servants, and hey, does it mean she can summon one of us if she's testing someone else? Because we can do that with a Gate spell and Aurora's troops, so it's probably a lot similar. Anyway! Afina flew so fast you couldn't see her move sometimes, and she only got faster and faster as things went. She summoned helpers of her own, including Smrgol, and Moore kept with the atmosphere. It's funny how a few simple words can get you going past your endurance, huh? I'm sure you would've had lots of fun singing there, too! Oh, and Crystal was brave, while Queen Ilsenine stepped up rather than be content with being protected and risked danger to heal us. I refused to fight a facet of our goddess, though, so I decided to become a shield for everyone. I think she understood what each of us was doing, and approved of us-- well, she must have, since we got back in one piece, but you know what I mean. It started getting pretty dreamlike there for a while, and finally we ended the bout when Afina managed to score a strike. Two, at that!" Jaela's smile blossoms into a full-blown grin. "How was that? Better story?"
> roll 1d20+39 Mei fort
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 57 > [d20=18]
Mei is overwhelmed. There's really no other word for her softly gasping and falling down, legs shaking too much to support herself. She stares as you throughout the story, both spellbound and stunned. Shakily she nods at your question.
"Great!" Jaela holds the drop of blood towards Mei. "I managed to hold her off for a few seconds while protecting everyone, and her gift made sure that I was even better at that. I don't doubt it'd be great for you, too!"
Mei takes the gem with a shaky hand and puts it into her mouth.
> roll 1d20+39 Mei fort
<Serith> Kotono roll for Serith < 50 > [d20=11]
She seems more somehow, something more and something greater. You can't pin it down, but it's a distinct feeling of presence.
Mei gains maximum hit points per hit die.
Jaela gives her the thumbs up sign, beaming happily. "I think it worked just like it did for me! Feeling tougher? Plus there's that bit of approval that's really nice!"
Your answer is a bone crushing hug and tears. Mostly just the hug, though.
Jaela ruffles her hair playfully. "I'll invite you when I head out next to try and unlock more of my powers, if you'd like?"
Mei nods quickly along, then touches her chest and presses her finger into Jaela's, right over her heart.
"Be sure to practice a lot, alright?" Jaela tells Mei, scratching at her own cheek in embarrassment. "You need to know your limits so you use up the most of your potential!"
Mei nods quickly and then taps her throat. She then mimes firing off an eldritch blast and then points at you, then moves two fingers like running legs. She then looks to you hopefully.
"Sure, if you want," Jaela responds, casting Fortunate Fate upon herself to give Mei extra confidence.
From here training starts. For Mei's target practice and for Jaela it's dodging practice.
Turns out Mei's eldritch blast hurts. Hurts a lot, more than others you've felt. She's good, for whatever reassurance that's worth.
Soon you're all sweaty from running around a bunch and Mei is the same, having chased and sent off shots in a fairly mobile practice. She finally stops, holding a hand up and then wiping her brow with the back of her hand.
"Had enough?" Jaela asks, letting her magic get to work and clean her properly. "I think I actually had an inspiration for a spell like Bolt of Glory, except... more. Stronger." Her breath steadies out almost immediately once they are no longer training, aided by rejuvenative magic. "Oh! Come to think of it, I've got this huge blind spot in my spells, where it comes to angels and decent people. I'm still good where it comes to melee because Gae Trocaire doesn't hurt those who don't deserve it, but my spells just tend to slide right off them. Should I keep something in store all the same, for spars and tests and such?"
A thoughtful pause and then Mei nods. Ethereal, angelic wings sprout from her back as she takes to the air, then lands and points at them and nods once more.
"You're thinking inhibitors? Take away the flight ability of my opponent, maybe like a souped up Downdraft?"
A nod again. She mimes her hand falling and smacking into her other, hard.
"I'll work on that. You'll be the first to hear when I practice with it!" Jaela promises. "Now, I've gotta catch up with Adrian, so see you later?"
Adrian's found in the dungeon. He's standing before a cell, where a rather unhappy looking spinagon resides inside. He glances your way when you approach, "You're not Sage Vul'lath," he observes mildly.
"What gave me away?" Jaela asks, hand on her hip.
Adrian looks right to your chest and raises an eyebrow.
"Sage," Jaela counters with a grin. "Wizard, at that."
"Anyway," Adrian says, "Some of our water elementals caught this one poking around. He's probably a throwaway agent who messed up, but we'll check him out in case he knows anything worthwhile."
"Did you know there was a spell that let you imbue your prisoners with holy power, turning them against their brethren as shock troops until they erode beyond all possible recovery?" Jaela asks curiously, eyeing the spinagon. "Ask me what the best part about it is!"
Adrian turns his gaze on the spinagon and says, "What's the best part of it?"
"Your reward for fighting your old companions and betraying your superiors?" Jaela brings her hands together before throwing them apart exaggeratedly, smiling. "Boom!"
"Heh," Adrian chuckles, and in a quieter voice, "What are you here for?"
"Aside from taunting your prisoner with a terrible fate? Just wanted to catch you and Gisfal for a brief chat, if you've got the time."
Adrian nods, "Elena, would you inform Sage Vul'lath of the details? Thanks." He turns and starts to walk, "Well, let's get to it. I was only seeing to a minor prisoner out of boredom, anyway."
"Lead us, Elena," Jaela requests, walking at Adrian's side. "I think this will dispel your boredom pretty quick."
Gisfal's gathered and the three sit in the war room. Adrian kicks back in his chair, "Alright, so what's the plan?"
"Remember that attack on Lixer's base we didn't go through?" Jaela opens with, once greetings are done with. "We should go for it. To keep a long story short, the fey malady is coming from Willah torturing Lief back on Lifasa, and if we're to succeed at putting a stop to that we want a good diversion. That it'd give us a chance to punch in Lixer's face is merely another benefit."
Jaela shrugs. "We'll get into the planning soon enough. What I actually wanted to talk to you two about is the command structure. Do you think we could do with a reshuffling? Promote a few officers, extend responsibilities? I've been thinking that maybe if we gave Baleruk a sizeable force and told him to treat it as his own, he might well keep them safe and use the troops effectively. I'd like to hear your thoughts."
"I've been working on basic operational plans there," Gisfal says, "The lack of information about Lethe and the fact that what little we find is a struggle to remember hurts our efforts considerably. Mind Blank isn't sufficient to stop it, though a spiritual meditation and beseeching Tempus has held it at bay - as well as rigorous notetaking copied and repeated every day, as written records fade as well."
"Oh yeah, you told me about that," Adrian snaps his fingers, "I'd completely forgotten. Damn." Tapping his fingers on the side of his chair, "We free Lief, no question there. As for command, why Baleruk? He's powerful but he's an egotistical dragon."
"He's a physical god who has it within his power to greatly increase the effectiveness of his troops. He's also incredibly arrogant, often dangerously so. I'm hoping to use the former to curb the latter a bit, and raise our overall power. In my opinion, command does a good job of teaching us about ourselves and helps us shore up our shortcomings."
"As long as you don't make him a general," Gisfal says, "He's too erratic to be a commander on that level."
Adrian hums, "I can live with it. Baleruk aside a moment, who else do you have in mind?"
"Not a general, no," Jaela responds, shaking her head. "And this is less about ranks as it is about responsibility. I want to give more of our people the chance to shine, and see how they handle it. How about the Master and Misalea? They're already leading people during training, both physical and philosophical aspects. The respect is there, as is the chain of command. We might well make it official and let them act that way in battle."
Mentally going through their officer core, Jaela continues with, "he Jarl, Crystal and Drena fit as well. Give Kascha her own command, over support troops or healers, one that keeps her out of direct combat but tests her ability to coordinate and see the bigger picture. See, as politely as possible, whether Queen Ilsenine would be interested in directing a similar force."
As another idea appears, she voices it rather than dwell on it too long. "Finally, give our more recent recruits a chance to shine while leading a squad. Cresiel, Moonlight-- you know the names as well as I do. Their ability is not in doubt, but we'll see how they mesh with our own troops in a command role. My only regret is not finding something for Mei due to her circumstances. Unless you can think of something there?"
Adrian speaks first, "The Master and Misalea make sense and already do that unofficially. The Jarl, Crystal and Drena do as well. Crystal's responsibilities as a General of Aurora's Fey Court also encourage that. Kascha, though?" Adrian rubs his chin, "She's so nice and she's even been acting motherly lately. I know she's powerful, but I don't think her temperament is right to lead troops on that level."
"She'll rise to the occasion," Gisfal says, "I have no doubt about that. None. If pressed, she can be a source of constant healing as long as she can go."
This gets Adrian to shrug, "Agreed with Cresiel. He's a solar, they lead as naturally as I breathe. Moonlight? She strikes me as more of a follower than a leader."
"Lathander chose her to lead his troops," Jaela points out. Rather that suggest this is definite proof of intent, however, she adds, "We need to see for ourselves. Not how she can lead her own people, but how she could lead a squad of Aurora regulars. A skilled commander would rise to the challenge, and we'll know." She pauses. "As for Queen Ilsenine and Kascha, I don't like one aspect of how our armies ended up being structured. We have dedicated combat mages, dedicated strikers to harry the enemy and provide backup and so on. But what about explicit support roles? Why not consolidate intelligence gathering under a single umbrella? Communications? Diplomacy? Healing?" Jaela thinks back to how, during their battle on Astral, she kept on looking for the fastest-looking soldier she could spare to run messages to Ithea, and how their collaboration broke apart once they were forced to proceed independently. Not to mention the uneven communication with Aurora itself. "We handle it ad hoc or with integrated personnel, but it doesn't strike me as efficient."
"We could improve there," Gisfal seconds, "What do you have in mind?"
"We experiment. There are very talented individuals in the Crusade who are not best suited for the front lines for one reason or another. We should instead have them fill in this need." She nods at Gisfal. "As you suggested, we see how Kascha handles being put in charge of healing. Give her a free hand to design her team and doctrine. We'll place powerful healers with every army as a stopgap, until we're sure we've found the right balance that's working for us. Next, Candy. Task her with poaching the fastest runners and a team of teleporters, preferably sneaky. With her propensity for gathering information and innate knowledge of where it would do the most damage, she could disseminate it across our battlefields more efficiently than any of us, plus have the discretion of holding on things that would affect the flow of battle negatively. She's also no stranger to telepathy, and if we provide the mages to bind a few of her staff telepathically, we could have fast coordination during those times the devils are too lazy to blank out the entire battlefield. Tie that in with a staff of Morniel's, and integrate his agents with every force, and we'd be ready for any sudden encounter even if Dana's on hand. Talk to Ilsenine to see which role she would like to fulfill. Given what I've seen on our mutual outing, I think she's interested in taking a more direct role. And Moore showed me just how effective bards and their sort are, so put Mei and Ebony under him and use that as a core for another support group. Have them brainstorm about how to raise our overall effectiveness, through tactics or recruitment aimed at their specialties."
"That all sounds fine," Adrian says, "Though I'm not sure if I follow Mei being support. She's more of an all-rounder, she can do all sorts of things."
Jaela grins. "Trust me, I know. We've just trained together. But I was to have her input there, and it's not permanent. None of this is. We should see how this works for us before committing, and even then we could reshuffle things occasionally. That's something our enemies will never get, not the way they are. So why not use that to our advantage?"
"Alright then, no objection," Adrian says, "What do the other generals think, minus Ithea? She's still off on that trip of hers."
Jaela blinks. "You mean Afina? I haven't brought this up because I didn't want to distract her from planning her strike against Willah, and the idea only came to me properly during this trip. I figure that with your agreements, we have a majority, which is good enough for a test of concept during the coming battle. We'll discuss it properly after, with actual results and no immediate distractions in the form of pending combat or debilitating sicknesses."
Nods are exchanged all around.
Anything else on your todo list here, Jaela?
I'm good for now, with the caveat that I greeted Mirima off-screen and told her my exciting story about fighting a goddess~
Sure. I'd like to cover that IC but alas, maybe later. Locking thread.