The assault on Salty Pier

[Anastasia]

"That was my ability as a seer," Xandra explains, "I do not use it lightly, but our business is our business and best not wasted, for our time can be used better."

A beat, "Though in the future I hope the power will warn us when Moonlight needs to cover up."

[Nephrite]

"It probably doesn't see things like that as important." Moore says with a smile. "But I think I understand what the third use is, though I admit I'm not sure I know how to put it into words -- ironic, isn't it? We can worry about it later." He says the last part as he gets up to fly to the door.

"I won't be drinking, just in case you were hoping to see some Celestian Scandal." He warns her.

[Anastasia]

"Goodness no, Grias will try and ground you to here for a century if you," Xandra chuckles warmly, "There are more places to bring the light of Celestia to, Salty Pier is but one. So-"

You feel it. A shining resonation between yourself and Xandra, a sensation of the bond between the two of you. You feel it as...

Node update.

Refrain's enhancement bonus rises by two.

[Nephrite]

Moore smiles. "Is there a deity blossoming somewhere that has power over the bonds of people?" He asks.

A breath in. "Let's go celebrate a job well done."

[Anastasia]

"Let's go," Xandra says, and from there...

Expect a loot post shortly.

[Nephrite]

Roger dodger.

[Anastasia]

Posted.

[Nephrite]

As was stated in loot, Moore is happy to use some part of the money to help the slaves out depending on what wants to be done there (i.e. do they want to return or stay in Celestia, etc.), he's unsure exactly how to sort that part out on his own so is happy to defer that up the chain, otherwise he'll do his best to sort it out on his own.

[Anastasia]

Money's fine in the node topic.

That's pretty much offscreen stuff, anyway. Are you going to want to deal with that first thing, I presume?

[Nephrite]

That is likely the most pressing thing to deal with.

[Anastasia]

The simple question is - now what? You have over a hundred slaves of all sorts of types, providing for them and offering them money. How are you going to try and sort this out?

[Nephrite]

The best thing to do is find out whether or not they have homes to return to. That'll be a process that likely will involve needing information on the planes they came from originally.

If they do want to return, we'll do our best to facilitate that with an understanding that we'e not just going to drop them back off into a hovel. If they were poor or whatever and came from bad places, we won't return them there unless they really really want to go.

For those that don't want to return, Moore would like to better understand what Celestia's rules on that are. Can they just stay in Celestia if they so choose? Should they?

If they don't want to stay in Celestia and don't want to return home, he'll likely see about getting them to Lifasa. He knows that's going to be a safe place for them and knows they can make a life for themselves there. If it's a matter of working with Aurora to help do this, Moore's happy to send money along to pay for whatever they need until they can establish themselves.

[Anastasia]

To your question as you talk it over with your node, "It depends," Cresiel says, "Some can hear the call of the mountain and stay. Some will find only emptiness when they hear it, they are not ready and will leave of their own volition. It is not their time to climb higher. Generally, anyone who wants to stay after this can stay, so that they can be guided to righteousness. Be it into the afterlife or to leave as a crusader to avenge wrongs like they themselves suffered."

[Nephrite]

"All right, then it'll be up to each person individually." Moore nods. "That's fine. From there we can handle the rest."

So with that in mind, whoever can stay gets to do their own thing. Whoever wants to return to where they came from, we'll do the best we can to help out, and those that don't want either of those can get taken to Lifasa to help make it a better place. Funds can be used for any of these purposes as needed.

[Anastasia]

-49000 gold for that. More.

It takes a few days, but people are sorted out. Treasure is moved, people go...and you still have one problem. "Moore," Grias flies into your room, "A few of the liberated slaves have come here and they want to talk to you."