Muirfinn's diary (Moore)

[Nephrite]

"Maybe we should try and bring back a little bit of Arborea to Aurora." Moore muses. "I think it'd look nice."

[Anastasia]

Quiet agreement as you walk along. You soon come to a bridge over a river, where Sune's quarter should reside. No one stands guard over it, at least visibly.

[Nephrite]

Moore glances around, gives a brief shrug and continues on. "I know the basic tenets of how to get an audience, I think we fit the bill nicely."

[Anastasia]

You begin to cross the bridge and your progress stops cold. All fades away except for Moore and a single question is wordlessly proposed to you: What would you do for those that you love?

[Nephrite]

Well, that's easy enough, he doesn't even need to think about it.

Anything. Whatever it takes, whatever is required, no matter what the cost is. He has to do whatever is in his power to protect that which he loves. Didn't he say this same thing once? A long time ago?

[Anastasia]

Question I have to ask: Is Moore telling the full truth?

[Nephrite]

There is one caveat to it -- he won't betray someone for another. other than that, yes.

[Anastasia]

So noted.

You stand on the other side with Ilsenine.

Ahead of you is a maze of buildings, well lit and with broad streets. The air here is sweet and pure, like that of the forest. Everything seems soft, pleasant, wonderful. The streets are paved and lead you further within.

[Nephrite]

"I wonder if you have to do that every time you cross the bridge." Moore muses with a smile as he continues forward. Sune's temple itself has to be in the very center of all of this, surely. Or at least the most obvious building. "I wonder what else goes on around here... I'm not sure I could ever want to live somewhere that judges you so much on outward beauty. Some of the most beautiful people I've met have been the most awful."

[Anastasia]

"Oh?" Queen Ilsenine asks quietly as you walk, sounding curious.

[Nephrite]

"I met a very charming elf woman once, a long time ago. She was having trouble getting people to listen to her, despite her beauty. I happened to be passing through at the time and tried to help her by offering some pointers and some motivation on how to get people to to be more agreeable to you." Moore explains.

"Well, it turns out that the beauty all came from magical makeup that just made her look beautiful and charming. The problem was her personality was just... abhorrent. She was arrogant and completely self-absorbed and petty. It didn't take me very long to figure out the reason why she couldn't get anyone to listen to her is she spent the entire time just berating them if they didn't do what she wanted. So it ended up being a learning experience for me to not judge a book by its cover, really."

[Anastasia]

A soft sound of acknowledgement, "I see. As the sages say, there is more to a book than its cover?"

[Nephrite]

"Yes, exactly. I met a very charming orc once, too. Despite being outwardly rather unseemly, they had a passion for writing. It doesn't matter what you look like if you're writing or telling a story, you know? These sorts of things are common, I think... I mean, in so far as it really requires getting to know someone, both inside and out." Moore says as he looks around, whistling. "I suppose when you're this close to Sune, you really have to make sure you play the part."

[Anastasia]

"From what I understand, Sune cares more about the cover than the book," Ilsenine retorts. As you go ahead you can begin to see people. Creatures of all types, all of them notably pretty. Not an ugly face to be found, or even an average one.

[Nephrite]

"It certainly seems that way." Moore agrees. "That seems so strange to me, though. Love blossoms between all sorts of people... I wonder how you reconcile that." He shakes his head. "I suppose that's more of a theological question for Sunites."