Chronias

[Corwin]

"And why do it differently?"

[Anastasia]

"I wonder that as well," Amaryl agrees.

To this Zaphkiel nods, "As Creation grew, mortal kind developed something we did not expect or understand. They discovered good and evil, something unknown to our natures of law and chaos. In time we studied this and sought an Answer for those as well. My own struggle was internal and open, I often discussed this matter with the other Incarnations. The Incarnation of Chaos was far more reserved on the matter. Ao rarely spoke of his own efforts here, only that an Answer eluded him. By its nature, the Incarnation of Balance took good and evil into harmony as it did law and chaos, able to exist with both and yet being decided between neither."

"Is that why the Incarnation of Balance isn't broken like you are?" Bastian finally speaks up, "Don't see why Ao wouldn't use the same trick twice, if he's as big a bastard as he sounds."

"It is so," Agreement to Seira and Bastian before going on. "In time we created 21 as a tool to help us, yet it was not enough. I was deadlocked completely and withdrew to solve this problem. It is then the Incarnation of Chaos came to me and offered his aid, for he claimed he had a solution. I was torn, deadlocked and most of all, vulnerable."

Here there is a pause, "Ao simply gave me more information. This was not an Answer, but instead falsified proof. Proof that there was no Answer to good and evil, that my paralysis would only increase. I refused to accept it. I could not accept it. Ao laughed and I would not accept it. In the end, I could not choose. Good and evil warred within me - and from that war I broke asunder. Ao's laughter serenaded my collapse. In that moment, weakened and now unable to ever oppose him, he revealed the truth to the three of us before we were cast away into our places in Creation. Ao had long since made a choice, for he chose evil."

"As for the Incarnation of Balance, its nature protected him from the same fate. I know not how, but through trickery the Incarnation of Balance was caged before it could realize that matters had gone too far awry." Zaphkiel continues. "Yet in the eons the cage has grown slightly loose, and the Incarnation of Balance can act in small ways beyond Ao's control."

"For me, there must be justice. For Asmodeus, there must be vengeance. For Primus, he is too broken as he is now to understand." Zaphkiel concludes. "Our plan is to nurture our champions and chosen ones here, elevate them fast to the heights of power. At the same time, Asmodeus and I will work to restore as much of Primus as we can quietly, and gather what power we can to augment ourselves, bolstered by 21. When the time comes, our hope is that all of you challenge Shar in her realm, and this time you face her and destroy her."

"In that moment, with his weapon sundered, Ao will react. It is then that we will strike and challenge him. Even together in the closest unity, we cannot defeat Ao as we are now. At best we can stalemate him a time while we struggle to uncage the Incarnation of Balance."

Now Zaphkiel looks to each of you, "But your service does not end there, if you are willing. While we challenge Ao, those of you that survive the battle with Shar are to open a portal to Beyond. We will direct you towards Ao's abode, and there another will aid your passage through the horrors that surrounds the Incarnation of Chaos. Sylian has offered his services for his own reasons, and in our dire situation we have consented to his aid. There you will reach Ao - and challenge him as well."

Here Zaphkiel holds up a hand. "Do not believe for a moment you can defeat or even harm Ao. It does your courage credit to consider such a path, but it is impossible. No. You will be there as a distraction. One I believe he will not destroy out of hand for one reason: Ao has shown he has grown to enjoy the suffering of others. From what he did to myself, to how he has empowered Shar, to how he treats those he rejects from divinity. I do not believe his hatred will allow him to simply unmake all of you - he will play with you. It is our hope this distraction, one fueled by his anger at Shar's defeat, will be the final piece for us muster the opening of the Incarnation of Balance's cage. Should the Incarnation of Balance be freed, together we can match and stop Ao."

A moment here before, "Then - be it justice or revenge, there is one thing Asmodeus and I know very well. We know how to break an Incarnation asunder, as Ao did it to us. We cannot kill him, we cannot banish him truly - but we can impose the same sentence as he imposed on us. While he has chosen evil, he has not provided an Answer that solves our questions in favor of evil. We do not believe he has one - he has simply chosen what he prefers. There is yet some scrap of good and neutrality with him, enough to take equal parts of him, to shatter him and cast him down as he did us."

"It is a desperate plan and one that may well cost all of you everything," Zaphkiel goes on, "To face Shar and then Ao himself is unthinkable. It is suicide. But for Creation's sake, I ask that you follow this path."

[Ebiris]

Hearing all that, Alicia can't help but get stuck most of all on Ao's laughter.

How petty.

It doesn't match her impression of the Incarnations she's garnered, admittedly through nothing more than second-hand stories and visions, but still she can't help but feel disappointed on some level.

"What of the Arbiter?" she asks. "Is he a fragment of the Incarnation of Balance?"

[Corwin]

"This is a lot to take in," Seira admits. Rather than tackling the truly difficult aspects, she muses out loud, "Is my guess that the Arbiter stands for Balance correct? An avatar or a herald, perhaps similar to the way an aspect of Levistus escaped his imprisonment? Please give us all the information about Balance's cage and the leeway he found in it."

[Anastasia]

"Yes," Is the answer, "A fragment allowed to act."

After that," The Incarnation of Balance is not in a cage as you would understand it. It is a total prohibition, a total control and dominance. It is not something we thought was possible, but Ao's hatred has propelled him to new depths. To call it a cage is to merely put it into terms you can easily understand."

[Nephrite]

"Can the Incarnation of Balance affect anything in Beyond? Is this 'prohibition' only in Creation?" Moore asks.

[Anastasia]

"It is total," Zaphkiel says, "We will find little aid there, be it in or out of Creation, unless we free the Incarnation of Balance."

[Corwin]

"To repeat the Arbiter's words, three into two and one into three. The latter is obvious, but to confirm, what does the first mean? That Law as it existed is lost forever, but Balance still exists alongside Chaos? Or I'm off on a tangent here, and it means something else?"

[Ebiris]

"It hinges on Primus first though, doesn't it?" Alicia asks. "Is there any way we can help with that?"

[Iron Dragoon]

"What about Io? He's a powerful servant for you.  What will he be doing in all of this? He seems a prime option to help with the distraction, especially if he can impose his will on the other dragons.

And this method of dominance, have you worked out exactly how it was imposed?"

[Corwin]

"I've been trying to secure his cooperation with Shar by finding a fault in his Prophecy," Seira tells Alicia. "Perhaps Zaphkiel or the Arbiter could finally provide me enough to sway him and get a snowball rolling?"

[Anastasia]

"Three Incarnations into two," Zaphkiel agrees, "Balance exists, even if caged."

After that, "We do not know. We have carefully looked over the eons, but parts of it are aware enough to see us and resist or react. It may be we have cause for your aid there in time."

"Io will offer his aid and has done so already," Zaphkiel concurs, "We have not, unfortunately."

"I will offer my aid and insight to that, but know it is not entirely a mortal document, though well hidden. Your struggles with that come from that. Fragmented as he is, I do not believe it to be perfect, but it is still formidable."

[Corwin]

"Don't Incarnations exist outside of time?" Seira voices. "It's been bugging me. You aren't supposed to perceive it linearly, and the Temporal Compact does not apply to you. How can you be stopped even temporarily? And if an Answer is found, wouldn't your very nature mean you've already grasped it?"

[Ebiris]

Seira voices a good question really, but Alicia has another she'll add so as to gain a bit more context.

"Sylian is helping for his own reasons - and he is sponsored by Pale Night," she speaks up. "What is she, really? And what was her role supposed to have been?"

[Iron Dragoon]

"And while we're on the subject of less pleasant people,  who are Asmodeus' champions? Our counterparts so to speak?"