The meeting that gathers is chaotic, loud before it begins. Virtually every officer is there, a dozen little islands of conversations as everyone gets in.
27 is curled up in Hanna's lap, the planetar slowly petting him. Hanna sits next to Jaela and Mirajane, while Ram comes along with a few mugs of water and a bowl of diced up chicken and beef. He grabs a seat next to Mirajane, "Hungry? Thirsty?"
Crystal flutters in next to Afina, murmuring to her, "Bubbles will be along shortly, she's helping see to the troops. She passes on her affections."
Near where Calleigh and Tryll are positioned, Moonlight comes over. "Hamogan wants to talk to the two of you when this is all over," she says, "Don't ask me, I'm just the messenger."
Kascha and Surraruthru grab seats, with still in human form Baleruk sitting on Kascha's other side. He waits patiently enough - at least for him, anyway, giving the general scowls.
Amid all of this, "Ahem," Morniel clears his throat, the noise enough to silence everyone at once. He then sits down, while Adrian raises his voice.
"The good news?" Adrian looks around, "No serious losses and we have a bumper crop of refugees rescued. This raid was a succeed by all measures. The bad news? Bel, the Lord of the First, has chosen to personally take the field against Aurora. That's fucking terrifying. If not for what is presumed to be Erathaol giving Moore a message, we would have been caught completely unawares."
As Adrian talks, a page comes in and whispers something to Morniel. He frowns, minutely nods to the page and leans in to Gisfal, whispering to him in the back ground.
Meanwhile, "Afina, Jaela, you were there. How bad was it?" Adrian asks.
"Those of us who were there all remember the moment Abigor set foot on Lifasa, even if we didn't know it was him at the time," Afina says, her adorable voice pitched towards grimness as she looks around everyone. "This was worse, I felt the world scream through my bones. Now that a Lord of the Nine has walked on Lifasa's soil, I don't know that it can be recovered. Furthermore, even if we fled in time, Bel wouldn't let the trip be wasted. Makaril's forces are in grave danger."
"Wait, before that, no serious losses?" Jaela cuts in. "I thought there were no losses on our side at all. Or did we lose someone in the relocation from Astral?"
Moore nods to Afina. "It was incredibly disorienting. It was as if there was a tuning fork inside of me that exploded."
"Hell's getting desperate, if you ask me," Moonlight chimes in. "Deities don't just come to the Prime, even one like Lifasa. That's breaking all sorts of unspoken agreements and rules."
Jaela blinks. "27 said that only Lifasan natives experienced that."
Moore turns his attention to Jaela and then looks over at 27. "Huh. Well, I suppose there's no reason to think he's wrong about it, but... I couldn't say myself."
"It certainly ups the ante. If a Lord of the Nine is walking Lifasa, the other side is going to respond. This is about to escalate, and seriously. We saw it with the twins on Benfal. Aurora's forcing them to respond personally, and I think that's for one of two reasons: either we're seriously outside of their plans and they're scrambling and panicking or... we were put into play to force the escalation. I think it's the latter. It fits with the way the deities on our side have been closed mouth about things... Well, not that they're ever forthcoming."
Surraruthru shakes his head with a sigh.
"Like most mortals to gods, I believe we've been played for a larger purpose. One that may be the first step in a new war between deities on primes. Hell certainly won't back down now that they've been pushed this far, and the Heavens can't. The gods always move behind the curtain, but this time... the curtain is on fire and about to smother us. This has gone beyond their normal manipulations. We're strong enough to win our plays, but like Adrian so elegantly put, at this point it's fucking terrifying. I think it's time we figured out exactly what's going on behind that curtain."
Yuth, go ahead and chime in after this, I'm going to toss in a post for now.
"A turn of phrase," Gisfal speaks up, "No losses, we achieved total surprise and struck with overwhelming force, then retreated from their overwhelming force."
"Ahem," Morniel cuts in, "There's much to discuss, but if I may speak?"
Moore turns his attention to Morniel!
This really has upped the game a lot, though... Are they going to be safe to go out to any worlds nowadays?
Am I really a Lifasan native? How long ago was that, then...
"Go ahead," Jaela says, figuring Morniel wants to share the news he just received from that page.
""Ahem," Morniel says, "I would like to speculate on what Bel's actions mean, but first I have received a message that a servant of Bahamut has arrived. He has been taken to a guest room for now, as the circumstances dictate we have bigger issues to deal with. It is in your hands, generals."
At this moment, Moore feels a strange sleepiness come over him. "Sleep a few moments, Moore."
"We'll have to deal with Bahamut later," Afina agrees. "Has he said why he's come so we know it's not relevant to the current situation?"
"He requested an audience," Morniel says, "He wishes to speak to Aurora's generals and no one else." He clears his throat afterwards. "Pardon."
Moore covers his mouth to stifle a yawn as he settles down into his chair.
Bahamut? Uh, maybe they'd better not send Jaela and Af--yawn...mm...
He covers his mouth again and leans back and closes his eyes...
Maybe he's willing to bury the hatchet?
"He won't be waiting long, in any case," Jaela concurs. "Back to Bel's appearance on Lifasa. I agree it looks like a violation of these unwritten rules between the major planar powers, but at the same time I don't believe the heavens will act. Therefore, I think we should approach our allies with a direct request for retaliation against Bel's actions. It's scary on a personal level to have someone like him after you, but Afina's right in what it means for Lifasa's fate. If we let it pass, who'll decide show up there next? Glasya? Her dad?" She snorts. "As for Makaril, did we have any word? Bel's very arrival sent shocks that brought me down and sundered my magic, and if 27 is right the same might've happened to all the natives. If we need to extract them, let's handle that before thinking of the rest."
Moore drifts back and his eyes close. They open a moment later, blazing white. The voice that comes out is gentle, wise and powerful. Moore flutters up, "Peace, do not be afraid."
Morniel immediately stands and kneels, "My Lord Erathaol," he says, head bowed. "You grace us with your presence?"
Cresiel does the same, as do a few others.
"Yes," Erathaol says, body still and unmoving as it floats in the air. Moore's wings don't even flap, yet he flies. "I desire to speak of Bel's actions today."
"Can anyone manage a sending right now?" Afina asks. "I won't use a limited wish for it since it may be that we have to go into battle swiftly afterwards, although we'd have to be careful what we commit. Anyone we send to Lifasa right now would likely be going to their death." Or worse.
She then shuts up as Moore becomes a conduit for his boss, paying attention!
Things turned out better than expected, it seems, and Jaela barely contains her excitement!
"Thank you for the earlier warning, Lord Erathaol," she says in a respectful tone, paying her attention to Moore's body. "We're listening."
"Bel went to extraordinary lengths to shield himself from our vision," Erathaol speaks, "It was only through a single soul's bravery and courage that we obtained knowledge of what was to come."
The Seer's burning, light-filled gaze travels about the room. "Bel has chosen to escalate this. His actions were aimed at a decisive, sudden strike at Aurora, to decapitate your Crusade and end it a single fell swoop. In this, he has gambled much and moved Lifasa closer to the point of no return. In this he has angered us, all of us. We have agreements, to use mortal and immortal agents, to not take the field and determine things in destructive battles that ultimately leave little more than ruins. Bel has risked the wrath of that for a chance to destroy Aurora. Your persistence, success and pressure on Bel have borne fruit. Yet..."
"Three months. There are 90 days until it is too late for Lifasa and it succumbs to the wound Bel inflicted. We have 90 days to save Lifasa or it will be lost forever."
"Fuck..." Adrian breathes out, a murmur of discontent and dismay through everyone.
"Peace. There is still hope. There are three months to triumph, to end Hell's reign over Lifasa and restore what was lost. Bel has chosen to gamble and has lost his gamble. By his actions and taking the field directly, he has gone too far. He has invited a response, and a response he shall have."
Moore floats around in his own consciousness while his body is being borrowed and thinks about something.
'Does this mean that Bel won't receive much support from the lower levels of Hell?'
He's not entirely sure he can ask a question in the current state he's in but there's nothing lost by trying!
Afina hangs her head briefly before she looks up at the figure possessing Moore's body. "What form will this response take? Will it coordinate with us or Makaril? Are Celestia and other forces going to just send their own armies and titans to Lifasa to fight Bel one way or another?"
"Was Bel tipped off by someone in the Crusade, perhaps even unintentionally?" Jaela decides to ask Erathaol. If their decision was protected from divination, that seems like a possible reason that she'd like to eliminate at the earliest convenience. "While I can see him gamble like this, perhaps, it's a bit of a stretch for him to do it right as we struck and aim at both the Aurora and our location on Lifasa."
'Bel is calculating, and always has been. There is a reason he is Lord of the First, and has maintained a stalemate in the Blood War for so long. Against the endless tides of horror that the Abyss can field, this is no small feat. I believe we can safely assume this was less a gamble and more a calculated move. He's got an angle, I'm sure of it.' Tryll says to the group.
In Moore's mind, he hears the voice of Erathaol. 'It is possible, the politics of Hell are immensely complicated.'
"We will coordinate with both of your forces. Bel has courted the apocalypse. He shall have its affections." Erathaol replies. "I know not Bel's motivations for his choice, but an angle is certain."
Then Erathaol speaks, in a voice that brings terror as well as joy. "Know this: We are pleased with how Aurora has grown. You have become champions who will one day be the saviors others in peril look up to, lights that will reach far beyond the Crusade to save Lifasa. In each of you is the soul of a champion that burns are brightly as the sun. You have strove and overcome, and we will not allow Bel to triumph. Not like this."
Balyss stands. "No, we will not," A voice some of you know before - the voice of Selune. Balyss begins to shed moonlight that washes everything in silver. "No matter Hell's plan, it is time to take the field. In three month's time, Lifasa will not die, but we will be triumphant and stand on a rejuvenated world. It is time for Aurora to stand and defeat Baator's schemes."
"No, we will not," Another voice you know - the voice of Lathander, coming from Moonlight's mouth. She stands, smiling and shedding warmth. All of Lathander's normal l cheer is gone, in favor of solemn tones. "We will aid you. Officers and valiants of Aurora, come to us."
Moore, Balyss and Moonlight come to stand in the center of the room.
Afina isn't inclined to refuse any ceremony the helpful deities wish to dispense with, not with so much on the line. Fluttering out of her high tiered and pixie proportioned chair she goes to land on the floor in front of the three conduits.
Jaela briefly pauses to see if her body will get hijacked next, but as nothing happens stands up and approaches the trio. She hopes it was a literal request, and not some metaphorical one because then she'll just look silly. Still, nothing ventured and all that.
Wait, didn't Erathaol ignore her question? That's actually troubling but maybe he genuinely didn't know, so she'll need to look into this later.
"What's the plan?" she asks upon approach. "We just wait for three months and then hit the devils on Lifasa with everything we've got?"
Tryll's mostly invisible form occupies a large portion of the room, and simply moves to center himself.
Calleigh climbs up Moonlathander's arm and sits on her shoulder, grinning.
Well, he doesn't have a whole lot of choices but he stands there in spirit!
"The sun and moon will shine on Lifasa again," Balyss and Moonlight intone, a flash of light passing through all of you.
"So I foresee it and so we will make it be," Erathaol adds, as power and knowledge pass into all of you. Experiences in the past become clearer, practices sharper, memories clearer. It's like you see a thousand points of improvement you missed before, all in stark detail now.
Every PC and posted NPC in the NPC topic gain 2 levels. This will most likely be the last levels you see until Lifasa's fate is decided, one way or another.
Worry about level ups in a little bit, we'll finish this topic out first.
"Lifasa will be free again," Afina says, her resolve heartened by this support. "And Bel will regret his arrogance."
"Thank you for your support," Jaela says, lowering her head as the gravity of the situation seems to request.
Calleigh's eyes cross. "Whoa."
'With your aid, we will the light shine on the face of Lifasa once again.' Tryll says.
'We probably need to look for something that we could use against Bel. Either a weapon or artifact or... unless we are not even meant to face him directly?' Moore wonders as he thinks of all the other questions that they all must have. 'Ah... apologies, I suppose thank you is in order, before anything else. For the vision, as well.'
Will this be like the battle of Benfal, where Bel is left to content with other deities? Could Lifasa live through that...?
Moore shudders as the presence of Erathaol leaves him, his wings starting to move to support him. Moonlight staggers as well, the light from her fading.
Balyss remains, "There is much to discuss. I will answer the questions you doubtlessly have, or that Erathaol deferred until now."
"I appreciate that just as much as the show of support," Jaela says, cutting right to the chase. "Is there any reason to suspect anyone at Aurora feeds Hell information, perhaps without their knowledge or intent? Is the plan to fight over Lifasa's fate in three months time in one large clash, or we could act sooner? How do you propose to deal with the wound he left?"
Moore spends a moment shaking his head a few times. "That was... interesting." He says quietly.
As he collects his thoughts he raises a hand up after Jaela's questions. "Who, or what, will engage Bel directly? If deities such as yourself do, does that risk further stakes being raised by Asmodeus?"
"Your efforts to suppress spies have been sufficient, as have recruiting from the ranks of celestials," Selune intones. "You must act sooner - this will not be one battle. You have two signets from the traitors, collect the other seven. I have foreseen that doing this may yet lead to the path to save Lifasa. In this even a world can be reborn, and the weight of destiny overthrown."
Then to Moore, "Should Bel take the field, it is your choice. You may call on us and we will see and we will answer, but Lifasa will likely be sundered in the battle. The 21 will be effective, for a tool to find the answer overmatches Bel, but you must be strong enough to defeat him with it. As for the Lord of the Ninth, not even I can see his plans."
"We're absolutely going to have to step up our efforts to attack Lifasa and weaken the devil forces long before the final day," Afina agrees fervently. "Is Bel going to remain on Lifasa for the duration or has he already returned to Avernus?"
"So the plan rests on getting the other traitors?" Jaela confirms. "We've hoped to do that with our attack, but Ettan avoided that fate. Can you see where they would be, and provide us with information about their defenses?"
"He has already left, he did not linger and risk a confrontation," Selune says. "They hide in their ratholes, surrounded by devils and defenses. Taelfagn attempts to weave destiny to hide then and protect them, while Gathgorian protects them while working to his own schemes."
"Can you provide the location of each rathole?" Jaela asks directly. "We know of their holdings in general, but often have to guess at the spots they favor the most. Also, can you elaborate on how successful our protections against Taelfagn are? Specifically, the spear made of goldenfire's embers. I would like to know its limitations."
"Yes, when the time comes, Balyss will have the knowledge," Selune says. "I cannot see you when you hold the spear. If I cannot see you, Taelfagn cannot."
"So the earliest you have an idea of my intentions is once someone acts upon my decision?" Jaela asks. "What if I were to hold it and plane shift a group with me without their conscious knowledge of the destination? The earliest time anyone would learn of this is when the defenders reacted to our presence?"
"Yes," Selune says. "It is powerful, but the fate of others still reacts."
'I have a question. Calleigh and I currently seek to become paragons in order to counter Hell's own. While this appears good on paper, is it truly a wise choice? Currently, my race has no destiny. Our destiny ended long ago. Would becoming a paragon cause me to gain a destiny, and thus a vulnerability to Taelfagn?'
Calleigh opens her mouth to speak, grinning widely, but is interrupted.
'Also, would you be able to tell me where the other three of my kin are, if they still live? I suspect that they would aid us, if they do.'
Calleigh looks grumpy, but stays quiet.
In that case, she has only one question left. "Do you expect Bel to return to Lifasa as we make further strikes to get at the traitors?"
Refresh me on their names, Yuth?
"I know Bahamut is willing to assist us in this endeavor despite past history." Moore says with a glance towards Baleruk. "Are there any allies that you can see benefiting this operation that maybe we have overlooked?"
Oh, what about that one guy with the demiplane... He has forgotten all about it until right now.
Hadn't actually named them, I don't think? Besides Gytha, anyhow. Maybe I did. I can't find it anywhere, that's for sure. Wr'ka, Aregu, and Kafa. Let's go with those.
"My question is exactly how much are the gods going to be aiding us? How directly? So far our only real weapons against them are Goldenfire and the spear. Those are powerful weapons, but only two. It's obvious that the gods want to refrain from treading across Primes, but if Bel is going to be, and by extension his more powerful minions, then we'll need a way to deal with it that won't end up with us caught between the two. Are they willing to more directly and clearly point us towards that sort of power? Even if only provisionally or under contract? Can it be done in time?"
"It is a choice, but it will bring change," Selune replies to Tryll. "Do you wish to be the father of a revitalized race? To spread the irrigo once more and see them grow? Otherwise, what can bloom from dead land? If you choose this, it will not make you any more vulnerable to Taelfagn than you are now."
"One of your kin is beyond my current sight, but Wr'ka and Kafa can be found wandering the Astral and within the realms of Water, respectively."
To Moore, "Yes, but choose wisely. Time is not on your side. Seek the Knights of the Chalice and the Mercane, both have potential for you."
To Surraruthru, "The 21 is what you desire. The spear and the 21 are power enough to overthrow Hell's schemes. The power you must hone is your own, so that you have the strength to triumph with your weapons when the time is right. There is one place you can go to gain more, but it will not be easy or fast."
'I...Selune, you're very kind, but I don't know you that well. Perhaps we should go see a show first? I'm sure there's a good operetta somewhere in Brightwater.'
Calleigh falls off of Moonlight's shoulder.
Moore nods and bows respectfully. "You have my thanks, Moon-maiden. Please give my regards to Sehanine Moonbow as well, as after all of this is over, I hope to meet her again."
Surraruthru nods thoughtfully for a moment.
"I would like to know about this place. I have a lot if research to do, but if I can get there in time, then I should. Speaking of my research, I'm going to assume you know about my plan for the Lifasa tree. Will it work and is there a way to speed its growth and absorption of memories?"
In the end, Selune simply ignores Tryll's comment altogether. Instead she says, "Balyss will have the information you need on the 'morrow."
Surraruthru inclines his head.
"Thank you. Anything that will speed my research will help greatly."
Last call in here.
Calleigh reseats herself on Moonlight's shoulder, "You don't happen to know where we can find either five million gold or a very large amount of raw adamantine, do you?"
"I think I could help with that." Moore says with a look to Calleigh. "I can entreat with the denizens of Mineral or ask the miners of Mount Celestia for aid in that regard."
Calleigh cocks her head, "We'll probably need both." Her expression brightens. "Also! Afina and Latha and a huge bunch of smiths. And maybe Lathander. He's gonna want in on this. Oh! Selune! You want in!? This is gonna be super double awesome!""
"Ah, I think I'm starting to follow the idea... or at least the basics." Moore nods a few times. "We'll work on both, then."
Actually, he does have a few favors to call in for this...
"It may happen, Jaela," Selune finally says, "Be wary of the possibility."
"You see the path before you, Calleigh," Is all Selune says, before Balyss falls to her knees, the moon light around her gone.
Calleigh blinks, "Well okay, guess not. I'll ask just Lathander then!"
"Wait, that's right! Lathander's here! Hey Lathander!" Calleigh turns to face Moonlight's ear. "We got a plan! Think you could meet us at Latha's forge in a bit? I'd ask you now, but if you say yes, I don't wanna have you do stuff that makes Moonlight's head explode or something."
"I... don't think that's how it works, exactly..." Moore says with a small smile.
"Well I don't wanna risk it! Besides, we need Latha for it anyhow!" Calleigh replies, "And the raw power of the Sun. Like, big-style. Lots of Sun. Super sunny. You're gonna love it, I promise! Lots of sunny sunlight and unhappy devils."
"Since it sounds like you have a plan, I'll work on trying to find as much adamantine as I can for you." Moore says with a smile.
"Good, cuz we're gonna need a lot! A mountain! Or a large hill. Is that a mountain? Enough to build a really big golem. Really big. Think about the size of Baleruk. Maybe bigger."
Lathander and Erathaol left, Selune was the one fielding questions.
Going to lock this now, interim topic coming.