Diplomatic aftermath

[Corwin]

"Fair enough. In that case, let's focus on the good. A meeting with Zanimoth was a welcome surprise. What did he have to say?"

[Anastasia]

"Little," Lady Sanzha exhales there, "He is entirely vexing at times, because you can never tell if what he hides or obscures is meaningful or simply for his own nature."

At this the Great Xorn perks up, "He does that if he doesn't like you."

Lady Sanzha turns and gives the Great Xorn a long look, "Speaking from personal experience?"

To this the Great Xorn begins to gesture with all his arms, "He once hid a diamond the size of a balor far away. He wasn't happy when he found out I had it for a big dinner. It wasn't even that good, diamonds really lose their flavor when they get much bigger than a pebble."

[Corwin]

"I'll ask Amaryl to have a word with him, then," Seira muses. "Alright. And what do we know of the situation with the xorn? Ideally, we would strike to free as many of them as we can, and the dao would be too busy fighting in the war to have the forces to recapture them."

[Anastasia]

"How are they?" The Great Xorn agrees.

"I wasn't able to get much - I could hardly waltz in where the dao may find me, but they're serving the dao and being enlisted there. That's no great secret," Lady Sanzha concurs. "They're also stomping down hard on any resistance, that's going well for them. The Xorn could desperately use a symbol to rally around."

Two of the Xorn's claws go to rub what is roughly his chin, "I've been a resistance leader before, it's fun unless the enemies find your secret base and destroy it. And if you don't have a secret base, you're hardly a resistance."

[Corwin]

"I think we're getting to the original reason I sought you out," Seira tells the Great Xorn. "You've seen my plans, more or less, and I'm proceeding either way. I don't have any designs on the xorn, either. But if you're willing to join forces, we'll get a lot more done. Perhaps you could convince the xorn to give us information on their dao oppressors. Or maybe you could get the xorn to rebel spectacularly. Perhaps even both. If you'd like, you could have the Cauldron as your not-quite-secret base."

[Anastasia]

A response is momentarily lost, as a great howling of wind echos in your mind. No words, just wind.

Amaryl grimaces, "What was that?" Slowly rubbing at her ears, "It's like the wind just screamed at me."

[Corwin]

Kulcak, do we have a problem? Seira decides to ask, speaking for the breeze and Amaryl's ears alike.

[Anastasia]

Your answer is more howling of the wind.

"Goodness," Amaryl murmurs, "It sounds like an angry goblin with too much air."

[Corwin]

"Let's continue," Seira decides, keeping the wind out with an application of her will.

[Anastasia]

The Great Xorn says, "That does sound fun," he says, "And I haven't had a real adventure yet, plus the dao need to stop. The Xorn can't be ground down into pebbles."

[Corwin]

"How soon could you get things going, and what do you need from us?"

[Anastasia]

"People to do things, there's always so much to do," The Great Xorn says, "But we'll do it!"

[Corwin]

"Got it. Vayley will be working with you-- remember her? She'll help you get set up in one of our Earth-based environments, too, unless you'd prefer a suite at the palace."

Returning her attention to Sanzha, Seira asks, "What would you suggest our next move to be? Wait on more results first, or set out as planned? You to the Padisha, Amaryl to see Zanimoth and myself to have a chat with Ben-Hadar?"

[Anastasia]

"We'd best strike while the iron is hot," Lady Sanzha doesn't hesitate, "There's nothing but provoking the Gith Queen that's stopping an assault on the Cauldron. We may not have ease to travel later."

"I agree. If we can round up more allies, then we triumph easier," Amaryl says, "A forest is more than one tree."

[Corwin]

Seira inclines her head. "In that case, Amaryl, take Yandrazrt with you as you go. Since both of you know Zanimoth, it should make things easier. Sanzha, we'll travel together with Elle and Donald to the Padisha's court, and then part ways. Would Donald be a better foil for you during the audience, or would you prefer subtlety and Elle?"