The Great Druid Hunt (Jaela)

[Anastasia]

"Discuss what you know," Your own voice says, then silence.

[Corwin]

"That's not a hint!" Jaela complains just a bit petulantly, before looking for Mirima. Discuss it is.

[Anastasia]

"I've been drafted?" Mirima tosses her hair and goes to a nearby tree, sitting back against it. She pats the ground next to her, "Since apparently you want or have to talk about it, talk. What do you know about souls and how is that different from how you feel?"

[Corwin]

"The soul is who you are," Jaela responds, sitting down next to her. "Somehow, outsiders have their souls double as their bodies, which are different for mortals but the same thing for outsiders. It doesn't make any sense, does it? And how do you use the soul, anyway? It's one thing if a spell changes the composition of your body, I know how to turn myself into a celestial temporarily. But if you don't use magic, do you just... what, wish really hard and wait for your body to explode and wish really hard again for your soul to form a new one?"

[Anastasia]

"Honey, you should've brought the gith or Tepen," Mirima smiles and throws an arm around her shoulder. "There's a lot of talk there about you, yourself, souls and all of that. I won't pretend to know much about it, but I do know one thing. Being mortal is about choosing and where you end up for eternity. A brief bonfire that burns out around the unburnable soul to decide which way it will go."

Mirima watches the pond grow still once more, free hand going to smooth her hair back. "From what I've gathered at Aurora from the various spirits and outsiders there, that's important. That choice until the moment of death, when all is decided."

[Corwin]

"That's how it normally works," Jaela agrees. "But there's stuff that doesn't make sense. Mom had kids, so her soul made her a proper, normal body. Except it's better in combat in every way. And I studied enough to tell she's not an exception. Though speaking of exceptions, there are people who can force it. Change without dying. And then there's Medi's cheating chamber. If you can take what's her face and turn her into an outsider, it suggests this is just a matter of finding the right arcane formula. But that's not really how it should happen! Still, the Triune told me it was valid? She might let me make my own mistakes, but there's a difference between making a bad choice emotionally and making it based on a lack of information I couldn't fill in on my own."

[Anastasia]

"I think..." Mirima stops there for a little while, listening to the whistle of the wind. "More than anything else, I don't think Medi's chamber is indicative of anything, save that Medi's perhaps the greatest wizard to ever live. Aurora is unlike anything I have ever seen and I pray I do not see its equal."

A rabbit hops by, Mirima watching it go before smiling a little and going on. "What I think is that if it's possible to force it and ascend through some sort of enlightenment? No, not always that. De-enlightenment? Fiendish exultation? Semantics. Perhaps the chamber suggests it's not a question of finding the right formula, but that the chamber has some way of finding that mystical key to make the transformation. That it transcends magic and is a work of the soul rather than the Weave."

Then Mirima turns with a smile, "I find such speculation to be little more than the gas of the efreet - hot air."

[Corwin]

"True enough!" Jaela agrees. "Maybe it breaks the body and gives you the chance to change or die." There's no way they're running actual tests, so she decides not to dwell on it.

"So I know the theory well enough. I know I can actually do this. But not the how." Jaela focuses on forming her light gauntlet, stretching her arm forward. "Is it control like this, except on a bigger scale?"

[Anastasia]

"It might be, or some cosmic truth you realize." Mirima says, "There is one thing I've learned at Aurora - if you lack the knowledge to answer something, change the game and ask another person who does know."

[Corwin]

"If I had any realizations, it's that it's okay to fail and try again," Jaela muses. "Mm. You know what, let's Gate in someone who might have an insight. How about Mirajane?"

[Anastasia]

"As you like," Mirima says.

[Corwin]

The magic reaches out across the planes at that, seeking to bring Mirajane over!

[Anastasia]

Mirajane emerges, in armor and ready. "You called, Mother?" she greets her.

[Corwin]

"Yeah, thanks for coming!" Jaela says, waving her over. "Mirajane, you know how I'm on a quest to better myself by tapping into my nature? I've hit a wall because I can't really bridge how I visualize souls and existence with what I know about them, and because I can't just figure out how to draw from my soul directly without magic. I need advice to get going properly. A push in the right direction."

[Anastasia]

"There is one way I know of that works for everyone, to come to death's door. The soul loosens from its bonds of the body, ready to fly free." Mirajane says, calm. "Have you ever been terribly injured, Mother? Your vision may grow red or white, you feel loose from your body and drawn somewhere?"

Mirima shakes her head, "That sounds stupid and dangerous. What, cut her own throat and slowly drown in her own blood to do it?"