Cooldown (Everyone)

[Corwin]

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."

[Anastasia]

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."

[Ebiris]

"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!

[Corwin]

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."

[Anastasia]

"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."

[Nephrite]

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!

[Ebiris]

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?"

[Corwin]

"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."

[Yuthirin]

'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.

[Anastasia]

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.

[Ebiris]

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.

[Corwin]

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?"

[Yuthirin]

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.

[Nephrite]

Well, he doesn't have a whole lot of choices but he stands there in spirit!

[Anastasia]

"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.