Afina is in the forges, working away on a set of full plate armor. Gold is with her, weaving magic through it as Hamogan glances over, his current cognizance crystal shimmering and complete.
"Afina," Elena pops in, "Jaela just got back."
Meanwhile...
Moore sees Jetina to a guest room and goes back out. He's in the courtyard when he sees them. Adrian and Morniel have returned, Malonia in tow. A bit behind them you see Jaela and Mirima stepping out of a gate, heading into Aurora.
Meanwhile...
Home at last. Jaela steps through the portal and sees Aurora before her. Mirima is right with her, holding her hand. You notice Morniel and Adrian a bit ahead, just past the gate, with a winged celestial with them. You can't tell much else from a back view, but she doesn't ring a bell.
"Home again," Mirima says with a relaxed, lazy smile, "A good time was had, I hope, even with those worms."
A few things are happening at once, so go ahead and react to your scenes, each of you. The topic title says it all.
"Oh, good," Afina straightens up and smiles at Elena. "Can you ask her to come see me when she's free? She'll probably want to rest or eat first so make sure she knows it's not urgent."
"Hey, you're all back safely!" Moore calls out with a wave to Adrian and Morniel and a nod to Malonia.
He the flies up a little higher to give Jaela and Mirima a wave also.
"The dragon fight and meeting Lisa, here, were pretty great," Jaela confirms. "Want to take a look into the lead Strength of Light gave us? The library's bound to have something on him."
Elena bobs her head, "They're talking about Strength of Light now and something he gave them. Oh, and Adrian and Morniel are escorting...that's a valkyrie, I think." Elena says, "Also-"
Meanwhile...
"Yeah, wasn't a hard trip back," Adrian says, "The Talon Seven didn't want a rematch, who would've thought?" A bit of a smirk at that, "Malonia, this is Aurora."
The valkyrie takes a long look around, "A worthy fortress, yet I sense the stench of entropy and chaos. It will be exterminated," she vows. "I will find this source immediately."
Meanwhile...
"Yeah," Mirima says, nodding to Moore as he waves, as you catch the valkyrie saying something about entropy and exterminations.
Meanwhile...
"Also," Elena frowns, "That valkyrie is going on about exterminating the stench of entropy and chaos she smells here, Afina."
"Oh, then belay that about Jaela," Afina says, putting down the armour. "Excuse me gentlemen, I have to go," she says to Gold and Hamogan. "Put me to the portal nearest to 27 please, Elena," she asks, heading for the portal out of the forges.
Moore grins at Adrian and then nods.
"Hey, Elena, can you grab Sylvie and tell her to come up here? Make sure she has 21, also." Moore asks.
"See you in a few?" Jaela says, nodding at Moore herself before heading for her suite. It won't take long to convert part of it to a suitable place for Lisa, and then she could clean up and rest from this excursion.
"Got it, go," Elena says, as you go through a portal. You find you're in the memorial hall, 27 half hiding behind the memorial.
Meanwhile...
"Sure," Elena pops in for a split second and then vanishes, Malonia giving her a long look. "Sorcery," she murmurs to herself, a scoff afterwards.
"Yeah, she's pretty good. She's not a ghost as in the undead, it's complicated," Morniel says, "Not that a ghost would be tolerated amid all of us." His voice softens, "We would find a way to put her to her earned eternal repose instead."
"She isn't the source of this chaos, so I care not," Malonia begins to stride ahead.
Meanwhile...
Mirima departs and you starts to go in.
You overhear Morniel and then Malonia as you come up to them, a glance at you and Lisa.
"You I know," Malonia says, "Jaela of Aurora, a worthy warrior. I am here to exterminate a source of entropy that is inherently destructive and degenerative."
"Don't worry 27, I'll protect you," Afina says as she lands by the badger-slaad. Hopefully with words, but all options are available for a pixie of her means.
"I never did get the full story from her, I really ought to sometime." Moore says as he falls into line with the others for the time being.
"Riiiiight," Jaela drawls, looking from the strange but scarily dogmatic angel to her companions. "I'm flattered, first of all," she states, petting Lisa absent-mindedly. "So who needs exterminating and why aren't we handling this in-house?"
27 nods, "Let's go," he says, "She's outside in the courtyard."
Meanwhile...
"It's complicated," Morniel begins, smoothly interjecting. "In short, Malonia takes an interest in detecting and destroying the more unproductive portions of chaos. She has obtained a great deal of skill at it and senses it within Aurora, due to a passing contact with one of our officers in Brightwater. She believes this will inevitably harm and end our Crusade prematurely."
"I have seen chaos before. I have confronted the slaad lord of randomness. I will not see worthy warriors brought low due to the whims of a slaad." Malonia says, voice steel. "The presence is stronger here, the stench nearly overwhelming. A powerful agent of chaos is in Aurora, one who will see you brought to ruin."
"Don't want to just wait here?" Afina looks around. "You're right, if this turns bloody it shouldn't be in this place," she agrees, leading 27 through a portal to the main hall and then out into the courtyard.
"Given that we're opposing Hell, wouldn't it logically follow an agent of chaos would prioritize supporting us? I've met my share of slaad in the past, and while random they don't exactly have an equal chance of helping devils or committing suicide as they do for their other actions."
"That's why we brought her here." Moore says. "Sometimes, you have to see and hear things in a certain way to truly understand."
"Chaos is indiscriminate," Malonia says, "Six of my battle-sisters, cut down by Chourst for own amusement and nothing else." She raises a clenched fist, "I will not tolerate it happening to others."
Meanwhile...
Afina and 27 come out into the courtyard. They can see Jaela and friend several hundred feet away. The valkyrie with them immediately freezes and turns when you two come out.
Meanwhile...
"There," Malonia abruptly cuts off, eyes on 27 besides Afina. "That is it without any doubt. That is the entropy-spawn of Ygorl." Her voice is as cold as Auril's heart, starting to stride forward. "That is what must be eliminated."
Afina's wings beat and she rises into the air, keeping herself between 27 and their poorly considered guest. "No one's eliminating anyone under my watch," she says once the valkyrie gets closer.
Just what did she return to?
"Wait," Jaela orders, concealing a frown. "As one of Aurora's generals, I'll need to hear more before I allow a guest to exterminate or eliminate anyone here."
With how rigid she seems, appealing to law and reason might well do the trick and give Jaela enough time to figure this out.
"Along with that, I think it's proper to hear the accused to be able to speak on their own behalf." Moore says. "As far as I'm aware, 27 has never done anything to intentionally hinder Aurora's efforts."
"Move aside," Malonia commands - a voice that demands it as she marches to Afina. However, Jaela and Moore's words bring her up to a stop, as Adrian moves in front of her, arms crossed.
"You know what's going to happen if you force this, and it won't be a good outcome for you." Adrian meets her gaze, "Try it."
Malonia takes a long breath as 27 hides behind Afina, "The power of Ygorl is entropy. It destroys anything it touches, that is the nature of entropy. Aurora is not exempt from that. No matter how useful or how alluring it seems, it all ends the same miserable way."
"Why is she even here? This isn't a trial, 27 is one of ours," Afina says, looking over at the ones who invited the valkyrie amidst them.
Actually, 27 isn't particularly useful or alluring. If anything, he's kind of creepy in a sad stalker way.
"Aren't you giving it too much credit?" Jaela asks doubtfully.
"It was my idea." Moore says. "I wanted to bring her here so that she could see that 27 wasn't a threat. I didn't want anyone running into this situation outside of here." He says. "I thought it was the best way to get everything brought out into the open so we could deal with it."
"You seem fond of it," Malonia says, "Or at least loyal to it." She turns her glare to all of you, "Your Crusade is too important to be damaged by this. Do you think you can trust Ygorl's power? Do you believe this is something worth protecting?"
"Hateful," 27 murmurs. "Scarred."
"27's helped us, you haven't," Adrian says, "I went along with this because you're warriors who could be useful to this Crusade, and you want to come in here and let you murder him. What the hell?" He takes a step forward, "Do you have any evidence at all, any sign 27's doing something wrong or that Ygorl is against us?"
"27 isn't some late-comer swooping in and trying to undermine what we've built. When we were at our weakest just starting out he was there, and while he hasn't always made it easy to understand he has always given us help when asked for," Afina says. "So yes, as a friend and ally he's worth protecting."
"It's a worthy goal, wanting to help us. Though in this case we aren't following 27 blindly, and it's yet to make us do a single thing of its initiative." Jaela shrugs. "Let's be frank here, 27 is more of a mascot or Ithea's pet and it's hard for me to see it as anything dangerous."
"Well, if we're putting all the cards forward, he does have that weird hangup about Tannin." Moore says with a small shrug. "But yes, please, peace, Malonia."
Man, where is Sylvie? This would be a lot easier with the ultimate truthfulness...
Moore glances back and sees Sylvie coming out of the entrance hall now.
Malonia's eyes narrow, "It's not too late to wake up. You can think you're controlling him, that you're safe, but you're not. As long as he's alive and part of your Crusade, entropy has a hand around your Crusade's heart."
"When our goal is war and bloodshed, entropy is a necessity," Afina counters.
Moore will fly over to Sylvie!
"Quick explanation: Valkyrie-lady is here to remove all sources of entropy from our Crusade." He says. "I thought you might be helpful in giving the situation a once-over with 21 or something in case 27 can't... er... ...answer. If that makes sense. We brought her here to show her that we're not under the sway of Yg... you-know-who."
Jaela mulls it over, before shaking her head at the valkyrie. "No thank you," she tells her. What's next, Bahamut sending minions to try and get rid of their leadership in the name of doing his idea of justice?
"Clearly this was a mistake, but the great part about the heavens is that we know to get along even when we disagree. It just usually ends with us politely heading our own ways when the difference can't be reconciled."
And if the hint isn't strong enough, Jaela can do blunt, too.
I'd normally ask for an Intimidate check there Jaela, but valkyries get aura of courage as a racial feature.
Sylvie nods, "Yeah, one moment on that," She says, watching the scene, "Tense."
The valkyrie's gaze is like steel, on Afina and then Jaela. "Foolishness," she says, "You'll rue this day when the devils flood Aurora."
Jaela is still being polite!
"Medicant fell because Medi's followers turned on each other," Jaela tells the valkyrie firmly. "You learned from your history with the slaad, and we've done the same from our predecessors. Thanks for the warning, but leave it to us to decide what we do with it."
That's a great argument! This is why Jaela's so much better at this talking business than she is.
Afina gives Jaela an approving look and takes mental notes!
Huh, is that really what happened?
Moore makes a mental note to ask Elena about it.
He leans over to whisper to Sylvie, "It may not be necessary now, although there are a few questions that rise from this."
Malonia turns and stomps off, heading for the gate and out.
Once she's gone, Adrian exhales long and runs a hand through his hair. "Damn, I would've liked some valkyries, but she wasn't reasonable."
"You...protected me," 27 comes out from behind Afina, "You all protected me. Even you, Jaela," He slowly goes over to Jaela and hugs her leg, "Thank you. Can I help you more?"
Moore raises a hand. "I don't doubt what her actual ability allows her to see, so can you just... explain? I don't doubt your intentions at all; I'd just like to understand what your position is, 27. I never really questioned where your abilities came from before, so is there anything you can tell us so we-- or maybe just I can understand?"
"You're one of us, 27," Afina says all that need be said on the subject, crossing her arms and looking away.
"Don't stalk me, tell Elena that you want to talk to me like everyone else does," Jaela tells 27. "We'll see where we go from there."
Nodding at Afina and Adrian, she heads off for a quick shower to recover from her trip. If 27 reveals exciting details about his origins, Elena will surely fill her in!
"Wait."
27 says this when you turn to go, a little croak of a word from him. "Let me help all of you more. It's time."
Before your eyes, 27 begins to grow. His body becomes larger, about the size of a horse, and with more muscles. His exposed heart glows with a maelstrom of black and gray energy, while his wings grow out and extend.
"I can help you fight like this." 27 says. "I'll help my friends fight."
Moore raises an eyebrow.
He's not actually going to get an answer to his question on this, is he.
"Your heart is exposed," Jaela points out. "It's right there, asking to be stabbed."
"Were you holding onto that for a dramatic moment or did the power of friendship make you stronger?" Afina asks. As a pixie she should probably favour the power of friendship explanation but she's seen too much in her life.
27 eyes all of you, nods once and then ambles off, adding, "I need to practice," he says, going back into Aurora.
27 is in NPC sheets now. As a side note, he's a bit weak for his power level and rank. A lot of his power is tied up in his visions and future-telling, which aren't on the sheet since I don't feel elaborating the mechanics there is productive or desirable.
Moore folds his arms and turns towards Sylvie. "Do you have some time for me about all this? There are a few questions I think you'd be the only correct person to ask."
"Practice shielding your heart," Jaela cautions, heading on to her suite. Anyone with more earth-shaking revelations that can't wait will just have to follow her into the shower.
"When you're recovered come see me, Jaela?" Afina asks as everyone starts to split up. "I want to talk over a potential raid or assault on Lifasa."
Okay, this is winding down so let me get todos from everyone. That includes talking to Sylvie if you want to, Moore.
Talk to Jaela about an attack on Lifasa.
The only real thing is Sylvie for right now.
I'll invite Afina to wait in my suite while I grab a quick shower and after we can talk. I'd appreciate Elena present, too!
Cool, cool. Two new topics coming.