It's chilly in Heaven (Moore)

[Anastasia]

"Um, Erathaol looks over knowledge," The archon says, dipping down in the air. "I bet a lot of big archons look after with him, too!"

[Nephrite]

Moore nods. Erathaol... Erathaol... something about that name...

[23:06] <Nephrite> roll 1d20+19 K:R on the name Erathaol
[23:06] <PlushieIthea> Nephrite roll for PlushieIthea < 28 > [d20=9]

[Anastasia]

Erathaol is the Third of the Hebdomad, the ruling archons of Celestia. He oversees destiny, fate, knowledge and similar concepts. He rules Venya, the layer you're currently on. You also recall that he always surprises his enemies when he fights, even when he should be surprised instead.

[Nephrite]

That can't be a coincidence. Can it? Hm.

Moore will continue on, looking around as he goes. "It's a thankless job, I bet, looking after knowledge and fate like that."

[Anastasia]

"Especially since knowledge is power," Beniel goes up and down, bringing to mind a nod. "But that just makes it more important to do." Ahead the passage winds on for a little bit, before coming to a stairway going down. But as you approach it, you are stopped by an unseen force and pushed back. A quiet, thoughtful voice murmurs, heard as if right besides you.

"What are you doing here?"

[Nephrite]

Moore jumps a bit and looks around. He starts to speak in one direction, but pivots occasionally in case he's pointing in the wrong one. "Oh, hello! We're exploring! I was told this was the way to Xiranthador. I was told when I got here by a nice young man who was tending to some animals that I should try and find it, amongst some other things.

[Anastasia]

Beniel is silent, unmoving.

"Tell me, what would you do with the knowledge that lies within Xiranthador?" The voice asks, coming from the same side (right), no matter which way he turns.

[Nephrite]

Moore will stop turning, in that case.

"I was told that I'm needed to help aid in the fight against the Duke of Destiny. Before I do anything, I want to better understand who that is and what I have to do with it. I'm not going to turn away from my own fate, my own path to follow, but... I want to make sure I understand it before I start to go down it. I think the best way I can be of help is arming myself with knowledge beforehand." Moore says, nodding to himself as if he's satisfied with that answer.

"I suppose I'd also like to try and find out how exactly I came to be here. I'm not objecting to being here -- no, I'm sure someone knew I should be here, in fact. But something definitely happened to cause me to be here, and I'd like to know what that was." Moore says.

[Anastasia]

"Then what would you give for knowledge and the power that knowledge brings?" The voice asks.

[Nephrite]

Moore folds his arms and looks down at the ground for a long while on that one.

"I suppose the best thing I could offer is my life -- the dedication to that knowledge and the dedication to the power to help people with it. People with knowledge... any kind of knowledge... should always share it with others. Knowledge does no one any good to stay in one person's head, never to see the light of day. If knowledge was more widely spread across the world then I think everyone would be able to better understand each other."

[Anastasia]

"You would give yourself?" The voice challenges back, "Then what value is your own life if you give it away so freely?"

[Nephrite]

"The value of one's own life is determined by the person living it, and no one else." Moore answers. "To dedicate one's self to a task is to give everything you have to it." He continues, folding his arms again. "But ultimately, the search for knowledge never really ends, does it? So even if I gave myself to it, I'd always be finding things no matter what. So, I guess, in the end... I'm not so much dedicating my life to knowledge, but I'm dedicating myself to always be in search of knowledge. So... to answer your question: The value of my life is what I see and do with it -- I cannot put any kind of tangible answer to that question." Moore says, nodding to himself again. "Yes, I believe that's right -- the value is the person."

[Anastasia]

"An interesting answer," The voice replies, "Come forward."

Once that's done, Beniel shakes up and down quickly, "Sorry, but he told me to be quiet and not to interfere!"

[Nephrite]

"He wasn't the one with the dog for a head, was he?" Moore asks as he continues on. Iris was right -- he should just speak clearly and firmly... he has no reason to doubt himself.

[Anastasia]

"No, he was another one. I could tell he was a superior when he was able to speak into my mind. Normal archons can't do that." Beniel follows as you go down the stairs. Down, down, down, down. Soon the walls begin to shimmer, laced with semi transparent quartz. More and more quartz in the limestone, which grows more and more transparent. You soon see bright blue water outside of the stairway, shining with a pearl-white light from below. Great schools of multi-colored fish swim about, joined by silvery dolphins.

Below all this, you can see the stairway heads towards a fotress. It seems to be made of pure pearl, glowing with a light that illuminates all the deep. It is vast and faraway - you can see whales farther down, mere specks compared to the massive fortress.