Benfal (Afina, Jaela)

[Anastasia]

The two of you gather with Antenora to discuss Benfal. It's Aurora's meeting room, Elena also in there and setting up some refreshments. "Hi!" she says, then goes over and hugs Jaela, while the other Elena appears and hugs Afina. "Thank you so much for getting Muirfinn back! No one deserves what he got. Now I'll see you later, I'm going to go find out if I can hug Tryll."

[Ebiris]

"Things went better than expected, but I'll believe it when I see Muirfinn up and about," Afina says, briefly returning Elena's hug before she settles in.

[Anastasia]

"I rejoice yet I also fear," Antenora takes her own seat, "Hell does nothing freely or without a great profit to it. I pray to all the forces of good that the price was not too high, that the Father will not be used to somehow greatly empower Hell."

[Corwin]

Not to be outdone, Jaela gives her Elena a happy hug before sitting down on Antenora's other side. "The only price too high for rescuing a friend and comrade from Hell is the betrayal of another," she states firmly. "We'll deal with their plots as they come, and if they break the agreement we'll tie them up with Primus and make them regret it."

She grins hungrily. "Besides, Hell's going to be a bit busy putting out a few fires. Which brings us to what we should discuss quite nicely, don't you think?"

[Anastasia]

"Yes, do go on," Antenora says with her own smile.

[Corwin]

Jaela retrieves Afina's latest creation and places it on the table in front of her. "We were waiting on something to keep the Duke of Destiny in check. Here is that something."

[Ebiris]

"We were warned off of Benfal, if Aurora takes part then Taelfagn will also participate and bring our destined defeat," Afina goes, summarising in case anyone's forgotten. "This spear forged from the first embers of Goldenfire unravels destiny. With it we can bring our forces to bear and not have to worry about calamitous happenstance adding up to our utter defeat."

[Anastasia]

It is a simple spear. Unremarkable on a glance. That glance would be wrong.

Every few seconds the stone sphere flickers with golden fires. It draws you to its light, and in it, everyone you see looks younger. Vital, full of life and in youth's full flower.

[Corwin]

"There is no better time to strike," Jaela adds to that.

[Anastasia]

"Will this be the beginning of Lifasa's liberation?" Antenora asks, studying the spear intently.

[Corwin]

"A dry run of it, at the very least. If we get Taelfagn, Hell might end up in disarray long enough for us to make a push on our homeworld."

[Ebiris]

"Not really," Afina shakes her head. "But the hope is that in freeing Benfal we'll be able to spare more reinforcements from Alicia and Seira, as well as proving our commitment and ability so as to rally more support from further afield. Those are things we can then leverage towards a proper push on Lifasa."

[Anastasia]

"So be it," Antenora agrees, "Before we get into that, when would Aurora be ready?"

[Corwin]

"I believe the only relevant question is when the integration will be complete. Elena, could you shed some light on this?"

[Anastasia]

"About 12 more hours, give or take," Elena pops back in, "We're mostly done and on the stabilizing phases. There's not much we can do about those to hurry them up, it takes time."