Emancipation

[Anastasia]

Waukeen pauses and dabs her lips with her napkin, "I do rather enjoy hearing you plan," she says, "I've seen tactics like that employed. It can work, but there are several complications. First, while the mind may be as sharp, the body is only as strong as what is possessed, for better and for worse. Two, while you can't divert the course of a soul?" Here Waukeen smiles, rather unkindly, "It's the most natural thing for a soul to move on, no matter how much you don't want it to. Merely provide a circumstance that stalls it and many souls, especially mortals, will move on as if their body died and leave behind an empty shell that yet breathes. Three, soul trapping magic can and does happen."

"...It's personal?" Elle asks, softer now.

"Old history with an old pest," Waukeen says, lightening, "I've seen that work and I've also seen it go on. Proceed carefully, there are risks to it and older, more experienced beings may be able to counter it."

[Corwin]

"What about the mechanism behind summoning spells? They do bring a desired creature over, but return it unharmed at the expiration of the spell or upon death. To the best of my knowledge, nothing permanent can happen to the summoned creature... aside from possible mental trauma, I suppose?"

[Anastasia]

"Generally not," Waukeen agrees. "Summons are usually safe, though you can traumatize a creature in that way."

[Corwin]

"Luckily," Seira says with a wry smile, "we've all been through incredible trauma and know how to pull through from it."

[Anastasia]

That gets a mixture of laughter and knowing looks.

"The fact we can all say that says a lot bad, mostly about Shar," Donald says at last.

"How about this," Emily raises her glass, "A toast to Shar: May she roast in fire and shit."

"Emily," Amaryl chides, "Language."

[Corwin]

"Eh, let's not. A toast to triumph over Shar, one battle at a time!"

[Anastasia]

Either way there is a toast and...

Do you have other things to cover here, or things you feel need to be covered? Due to the extremely slow pace here due to falling on vacation, it's lost a bit of it's wind here. If you're good we can move it along a bit to freshen it up.

[Corwin]

Anything we do in the next 8 days will be slow, to be fair.

I've dropped enough very heavy hints so if Ia-chan doesn't bite that's that. In that case we could proceed to a more restricted after-party. The invitees depend on whom Xera and Zariel wish to involve, it's entirely up to them.

If she does bite, with or without Emily, we can do that first while people are dispersing.

[Anastasia]

She plans to, just not out in dinner. I'll skip you on a little bit to that then.

Dinner progresses. It's drinks and mingling after, everyone in little clusters - except Ianvasah, who you find quietly approaches you after you finish a chat with Waukeen.

[Corwin]

"Hello," Seira greets her, establishing an unobtrusive zone of privacy around the two of them. "Are you enjoying your visit of the Cauldron?"

[Anastasia]

"Yes," Ianvasah says quickly, "It is...whimsical." Her expression is faintly withdrawn, quiet, eyes occasionally darting to the sides.

[Corwin]

"I decided my seat of power would have that, and then made it happen," Seira reminisces with a fond smile.

[Anastasia]

"I..." Ianvasah shakes her head slowly, quietly. "It's like the rules don't apply here."

[Corwin]

"Well, it is a heaven, my dear. Perhaps not as obviously as Arvandor or Celestia, but different rules apply. There is no hunger or, indeed, scarcity to worry about."

[Anastasia]

A long breath out at that, "What about...other things? Like finding true love the that bards sing of so?"