Knowledge shall lead the...

[Corwin]

Perception 115

[Anastasia]

You get...

A feeling of wrongness. The spark refuses to settle in, as the entire dream ultimately disintegrates before you. You stand where you fought, untouched but with no sign of Ianvasah.

Your proxy spark returns to you unused and undamaged, to be clear.

[Corwin]

"Why would you do this, but not allow us to succeed?" Seira asks the Guardian. "Are you unable to realize how important it is to us to have all hands on deck? How impossible a task it already is for us, who unlike you have many limits and are still striving to save Creation?"

[Anastasia]

"My task is a test," Is all the Guardian says. "Are you prepared for the last test?"

[Corwin]

So that was a pass? Why? Because they destabilized the dream and destroyed it?

"Yes."

[Anastasia]

Then the answer is simple, "Show me your wife's perfect dream, Seira. You may not summon or call on her."

[Corwin]

Without missing a beat, Seira calls upon her understanding of how dreams have been forming here to call up a weaker but nonetheless still impressive replica with her arcane might, divine power solidifying it much like Oberuth's touch had earlier.

It is a gathering, more formal than a picnic yet still casual enough to allow for proper relaxation. Nature abounds, yet the familiarity of their divine realm is a welcome echo, the unity of elements always at her beck and call. Seira and Amaryl are there, sitting by an energetic stream. Amaryl with her hands resting on the grass as she leans behind her, eyes closed contentedly. Seira is perched on a stump, showing off one of her rarely-used skills as she sings quietly, her voice merging with the sounds of the forest. Xera and Emily are there, enjoying a light lunch, and if all of Seira and Amaryl's close friends are giving the family a bit of private time, their presence at the gathering is felt.

Deities, however, are not entirely focused in one place, and so Amaryl and Seira's avatars are working with those of their daughters to help administer Creation and make life better for all, the job much easier after the forces of Evil had been defeated. Perhaps that Answer will not be immediately accepted by the Incarnations, but Seira and Amaryl share this one between them, and what differences do come up boil down to aesthetics.

Seira can capture her beloved wife's desired aesthetic pretty well after decades of marriage and telepathy, however.

[Anastasia]

Give me a Charisma check as well real quick.

[Corwin]

19:06 <Seira> roll 1d20+13+5+2+16 cha
19:06 <Penuche> Seira invokes Penuche's magic: < 39 > [d20=3]

[Anastasia]

The dream manifests for one beautiful moment, all around you. That is all, and yet all that is needed.

"You have created a dream, however momentary," The Guardian agrees.

[Corwin]

"And with your lack of limits, you know it's what she dreams of when she dreams of perfection. Details shift and change, family grows, but the core of it is still the same after all these years," Seira tells the Guardian.

[Anastasia]

"You have done enough to fulfill my duty," The Guardian says at last. "Human." His gaze turns to Oberuth. "Why have such things been done to you?"

With a darkening expression, "I'm told it was needed." Oberuth declares, voice tight. "And that I'll meet him meet again."

"You have held an entire world in your hand," The Guardian goes on, voice a quiet hiss. "The spark of life rests in your hand now. Why?"

There's a short pause before Oberuth says, "I made a choice that life is better than death," he says at last. "No matter how unnatural it is." He holds out his hand and looks down at it, "Life for myself, life for those I touch, life for the Fairest Star."

"Seira," Attention is turned back to you, "What of death to you?"

[Corwin]

"Are you asking what it means to me?" Seira inquires. "When I was a mortal, it was the final enemy to be overcome. As a deity, I've found it to be far more surmountable, but still, there are times like with Ianvasah where my own power is not enough. And yet, just as with poor Shamal, I still try in the hope that those with greater abilitis will help me for I don't have the necessary power in the present."

Looking reflective, she adds, "For regular mortals whose souls come to me, death is a moment of choice. Either a sense of retirement, perhaps with reward for a lifetime well-spent, or a chance to continue to do good on a higher level of existence. But still, it is never the end. The Cauldron doesn't accept souls that merely want to merge with it and cease to exist altogether. It is never the end of a story."

[Anastasia]

"I understand now. The dream with Ianvasah." The Guardian remarks.

"Who can accept death?" Elle declares with a toss of her hair back, "There's so many more reasons to live."

[Corwin]

"The arguments I used are both true and valid. We do need her help to improve our chances against Shar, and she would aid us all and Creation itself greatly. Yet at the core of it all, for me, is a refusal to accept a dead end as the one that befell her soul. Will you reconsider?"