Knowledge shall lead the...

[Anastasia]

Sanzha steps up with a smile, "What a cunning little bit of trickery."

Oberuth stomps forward, "Nothing more than trickery."

[Corwin]

Seira checks for magic!

[Anastasia]

Spellcrafting.

[Corwin]

10 for 120

[Anastasia]

There is no magic at all.

[Corwin]

I think we reached the entrance, Seira tells the others. Even though we're drowning in magical effects, I can't see any conventional magic.

[Anastasia]

Oberuth nods shortly, "This way," he says, striding away from the beach. "The dream's not right there. Different."

"You can tell," Elle quickly gets herself back in order.

"Yeah," Oberuth doesn't slow down, "It isn't as it should be."

[Corwin]

"Wow, thanks! I'm pants at this," Seira says, following in dragon form.

[Anastasia]

"I've dealt with twisted and hostile dreams not my own for decades," Oberuth says as he leads you along. Ahead is just a bit of plain land - which shimmers and shifts a you approach, into a stairway into the sky above.

[Corwin]

"Perhaps once this excursion is done, we can finally go and ask Sylian why?" Seira offers, following Oberuth's lead.

[Anastasia]

"We can ask him many things," Oberuth's voice is stony at that, hand going to the hilt of his sword.

"Be prepared that you may not like the answer," Sanzha says, "So often we find out that the answer is not the satisfaction we hoped for." With the hints of a smile on her face, "Will you fight him, Hellman?"

Oberuth spits to the side as you stride up the stairs, "Is there any point?" He says, a bitter tone to his words. "When weighed against necessity?"

[Corwin]

"If we choose to damn a good man to save Creation, that's a terrible plan and we should do better," Seira responds, shifting back again to better fit in. "Definitely, there is a point. The other side deals in necessity." She snorts, adding, "And yet, somehow, the ones who are forced to make the hard choices and painful sacrifices are always someone else for them."

[Anastasia]

"Is that why the Heavens praise martyrs so?" Sanzha remarks as you climb higher and higher. "Because at least martyrs have the decency to make the hard choice and sacrifice themselves rather than another?

[Corwin]

"There is that aspect," Seira agrees, nodding at her friend. "Look at it this way. Had Sylian approached Hellman properly, explained as much as he was able to and then asked him to volunteer, I believe the Commander would have done so. But just because the outcome is likely to be the same doesn't mean the choice is irrelevant. If you deprive a person of their agency, if you keep them from making a choice, then something quite real is diminished in the process. That is a big reason for why the heavens praise those who make the choice to save others."

Smiling slightly, Seira adds, "It helps that these martyrs and their heroic sacrifices often make for engaging stories and their legends serve to inspire a great many others to improve Creation. That would be another reason for the popularity."

[Anastasia]

"Hold on," Oberuth says shortly, "Ahead, to the side. Here."