Lucy's magnificent rod (Lucy)

[Anastasia]

Ebony soon returns with a small diary. "She didn't get too far, only a few pages. I warn you, she's not much of a writer," Ebony hands you the book, taking her seat after.

[Corwin]

Lucy accepts it gratefully and turns the page!

[Anastasia]

It reads as follows:

My name is Simmer and I'm a pyrodryad. I've never written anything like this before. I'm told that this means it won't be good, but Elder Magi Tepen insists. For the sake of knowledge, he says. I don't like it. What is a book to an open flame? It's tinder. Fire doesn't need to know. Fire knows everything it needs to from the moment it is sparked.

That's the point of this. Everyone else that isn't fire doesn't understand it. Fire is the root of all fire and and provides everything fire needs. Fire's the Elemental Plane of Fire. An uppercase Fire refers to that and lowercase refers to normal fire. It doesn't translate well from Ignan. The entire language is predicated on thousands of ways to refer to fire and related concepts.

Fire and creatures touched by Fire don't think like a dryad does. I should know since I used to be one. They don't think how a humanoid does. Outsiders and spirits have the same focus to what they are. Ask an angel about good and you'd get something similar to this. But most creatures don't. Mortals and other creatures don't have an overriding purpose. They don't have an absolute connection to an element or ethos.

This is also why outsiders deal with mortals better. Mortals naturally understand good and evil. At least I'm told that and it fits with what I've seen. They grasp law and chaos to a lesser degree. They don't have the same relation to elements. Express good to a mortal and they're equipped to deal with it. Express fire to a mortal and you get a burnt corpse.

Every creature of fire has a connection to Fire. At heart we are a burning inferno. Whatever form we wear is what we use to interact with Creation. I would be an ever-burning fire were this form disrupted. Most creatures of Fire cannot understand anything else. Creatures that are not of Fire are as alien to them as vice versa. I am better able to appreciate this because I was once not of Fire.

I am a fire. I am Fire. Fire is I. Where you see a forest? I see kindling. Where you see a roaring fireplace? I see a spot of sanity amid madness. Where you see a woman with a disfigured face from burns? I see a lady given true beauty. Where you see loss and ashes? I see purification and rebirth. My mind is not sane to anything that is not Fire. None of you are sane to me. That is what Fire tells me.

My heritage as a dryad allows me to see past this. I accept that what Fire tells me is right but it is not wholly accurate. Were I born a pyrodryad I would be reckoned mad by Fire. I am insane by any reckoning. I am an anomaly that is no longer part of the fey Cycle. I am a freak that will not fully accept all of Fire. This allows me to deal with things that are not Fire better than other creatures of Fire.

This makes me valuable to the archomentals. My loyalty would be highly prized by Imix or Zaaman Rul. My ability to understand things that are not Fire is in high demand. Elementals and creatures that only know Fire are poor diplomats outside of Fire. The greatest of Fire understand the limitations of our minds. I hope you do now.

[Corwin]

"I feel very conflicted over this record," Lucy muses, trying to find the best way to put what she thinks to words. "It vindicates my hypothesis, yet it is also incredibly discouraging to read. Especially the part about a burnt face, that gave me shivers. I do wonder if the same process Miss Simmer alludes to having undergone could occur in reverse, under controlled circumstances. Yet there is no chance of it happening, since no being of Fire would ever consent to the procedure. I suppose infusing the opposing essence would be the way to go to achieve a measure of balance?"

[Anastasia]

"I was until recently mortal," Ebony says, "If I may, allow me to add my perspective."

[Corwin]

"Please do, Miss Ebony."

[Anastasia]

"None of us tied to ethos or an element are sane, at least by mortal reckoning," Ebony says, "We are too pure, all but the rarest mortals can't withstand this. However, we become adept at becoming relatable, as Simmer is. I believe that says it all succinctly - sanity from a mortal perspective is just that, not a commentary on anything beyond mortality."

[Corwin]

"I wonder about that. Mortals all seem insane to me from a certain perspective, given that they don't comprehend eternity. Thus, any sort of short-term gain short of acquiring immortality should be measured against their fate in the afterlife, yet no mortal really does that."

[Anastasia]

"Mortals don't understand. I think....I had to speculate, that they're meant to be like that." Ebony sits back now, eyes closed. She is still, "Mortal life is to choose eternity, yet they do not understand eternity. Perhaps that is why, so that they make a choice true to themselves, rather than what they imagine they would desire."

[Corwin]

"That doesn't seem very fair, given what I know of how outsiders and powers operate on Primes," Lucy insists. "Nevermind that truly free choice is an illusion, there is a great disparity between the various lures. I wouldn't call being cajoled during a moment of weakness to be a choice made true to yourself."

[Anastasia]

Through all of that, what Ebony gets is one part. "What do you mean by truly free choice?"

[Corwin]

"I'm talking about the arguments of nature and nurture. Mortals are freed from the chains of the former, unlike us or elementals. But who teaches them values while they are at an important developmental stage is very much left to chance, and is not of their own choice. The same is true for their socioeconomic status or the type of kingdom they end up being born into. And that's before you add various extra-planar agents and similar influences into the mix."

[Anastasia]

"Certainly," Ebony says, "But in the end...we have the choice, we have to make those choices. I know this well, for I once walked the same road as Hell. Were what you said true, I would have never had the chance to turn away and repent."

[Corwin]

"Mmm, not really," Lucy muses, shaking her head. "You had a choice, as people have choices. But that is not the same as making a choice free of outside influence. Is a weighted choice like that really free? Miss Ebony, if I might ask, were you shown this other way by someone, or did you come onto it entirely of your own volition? And what of your previous choices?"

[Anastasia]

"Of course it is. Even in the darkest valley, we have the choice to look to the sky for the dawn." Ebony meets your gaze, "The sins of others do not rob us of our freedom. No matter how we are hurt or manipulated, so long as we are not unduly influenced by magic, our choices are our own."