Phoenix

[Corwin]

"Few worthwhile things are easy," Seira reasons. She moves forward as she speaks, daggers striking out in a feint to draw out Donald's sword. If she manages to lock it down even for a moment, Donald will get a painful reminder of the way Seira can fight with her entire body, including her feet!

"Ranbar wants to duel someone strong, it seems like. And I think Amaryl wants that too. What's the appeal in it?"

[Anastasia]

Donald seems to see through it - perhaps the fruit of this being far from your only practice together. He keeps his distance, using his practice sword's reach to his advantage.

"To prove yourself stronger over the broken body of your enemy?" Donald says as he jukes aside, a testing slash that makes you dodge. "The fact that are enemies are all horrible and each one we destroy is a net gain for Creation? The treasure they tend to have afterwards?""

[Corwin]

"Only the first is a reason to duel someone," Seira disagrees, her attack flowing into a series of rapid dagger strikes to keep Donald on the defensive. "The others are in fact a vote in support of ganging up on them. It's not that I don't understand the romance of it, but surely all of us but Ranbar have had amples times to prove ourselves over the years? I can see her craving it, but not the rest of you."

[Anastasia]

Donald's answer is lost as you feel it. Kossuth's presence, an overwhelming inferno. It is at your borders, as if about to enter.

Donald draws up short, "Speaking of," he says, "Want to finish this some other time?"

[Corwin]

"We'd better, yes," Seira agrees, and without further ado she's gone to freshen up. Meanwhile, her avatar is right there to greet Kossuth!

[Anastasia]

Kossuth appears as a great being of fire, a man-shaped thing that burns forever with intense heat. "Seira," he greets on seeing your avatar, "We will talk now of matters of Fire."

[Corwin]

"Of course," Seira agrees, as her avatar guides Kossuth to her palace and then to a balcony on the second floor where her real self and Amaryl wait. With a nice view of the lake of lava below and the golden flame at the center of her temple above and the assurance of secrecy that comes from divine powers, it should be a pleasant spot to discuss matters without getting ostentatious.

[Anastasia]

Amaryl is clad in an elegant orange and red dress like flames and bows deeply to Kossuth. "Lord of Fire," she says respectfully.

Kossuth does not sit. He burns. He burns as he stands and declares, "We will speak of the Crimson Firebrand, and how he rebels against me even now. He is a grave threat to Fire and must be stopped now that he has chosen to emerge at last."

"And to tell us why he hasn't been stopped yet?" Amaryl asks back, sitting primly. "There must be some reason you haven't extinguished him in the shadows."

[Corwin]

"I want to understand this," Seira agrees, "as well as why he is rebelling in the first place. Not every single power on Fire wants to take your place, after all, and wasn't he always focused only on the efreet?"

[Anastasia]

"In the beginning, he was." Kossuth begins, "For that was what I created him for. He was created to civilize the efreet, to forge them into one race rather than nomadic tribes."

Amaryl listens to this and takes it in, "That was your purpose?"

"That was why I created him," Kossuth confirms, "But his will was exceptional. I sent him forth to learn efreet life and culture; the Crimson Firebrand took to it easily and started his task early. Through charisma, strength and brutality, the Crimson Firebrand united tribes under him and crushed those who opposed him. I had intended support so his task would not fail, he did not need it." Here Kossuth's gaze bores into Seira, "He destroyed the Alliance of Bonfires which opposed him. He established the City of Brass and saw to the rise of the efreet. He was then to die, to fade away and to leave the efreet established."

Here Kossuth turns, "Little did I know that he sought and received audience with the Incarnation of Law, whom he impressed with his clarity and strength of purpose." A burning fist clenches tightly shut, "The Incarnation of Law allowed his full apotheosis and placed him beyond my power. He then staged his own death and defied my attempt to slay him. He had grown far more powerful than I intended, and the Incarnation of Law only made him stronger."

"Oh." A soft noise from Amaryl, "You succeeded too well with him and he bit the hand that created him."

"He is kin to the devils in spirit, if not blood," Kossuth crackles like a bonfire, "I sought to destroy him, but the Incarnation would not see what interested it so discarded. No. It granted the Crimson Firebrand safety from my wrath until he returned to take his throne in the City of Brass. He has grown even farther in that time. It seems it is the will of the Incarnation of Law that we battle to determine the ruler of Fire. I will NOT accept this lightly. I will not be defeated by the minion I created!"

[Corwin]

Didn't he accomplish all that Kossuth wished of him? And dying and becoming a divine servant before using the countless millennia to grow would've been the same, too. In fact, he probably could've broken away later if he chose that path, too.

Ah, there's so much Seira would like to say. She supposes Kossuth feels a betrayal on the level of had Seira acted against Waukeen after she ascended. But minion? And a sense of entitlement, at that? She'd expect to hear it in a villain rant before one turns into a giant snake. Plus if nothing else it clearly shows the dangers of devilkind to Fire, so why were they allowed to act as they wished there all this time? Even as a mortal she'd come over and bust a devil lab now and then!

"I doubt that the Incarnation of Law would actually act in this struggle, so I would like to ask two things, Kossuth. Are you sure that the Crimson Firebrand wishes to take your seat away from you? And could you live with an outcome where he is not destroyed?"

[Anastasia]

"Yes, I am. He told me to my face," Kossuth says bluntly. Then with a keen gaze on you, "Speak what you have in mind, Seira."

[Corwin]

"I was thinking about the future," Seira responds. Badmouthing a friend even if she thinks he's wrong is just plain stupid, but perhaps she could try to offer some advice since it's been solicited? "If a bit of order in one's followers is necessary, archons make a better example than devil kin. They can be uptight at the best of times, but they aren't the betraying, backstabbing kind. And it does coincide with my desire to bring Fire closer to Good than Evil."

There was something that troubled her in Kossuth's ealier words, and she decides to ask about it now. "Since the Incarnation's protection was only until the Crimson Firebrand acted to retake his throne, what prevents you from leveling Brass, say?"

[Anastasia]

"The Crimson Firebrand has grown strong, strong enough to oppose me." Kossuth explains simply, "He is now capable of directly opposing my will."

"He must be powerful," Amaryl muses softly, "Then again, if he wasn't, you wouldn't need allies for this. Strong enough to prevent the direct approach, so you have to muster strength and prepare for an actual battle. It must be novel for you."

[Corwin]

"Can he oppose you locally, or all over Fire? I was thinking that if Brass is special because he's physically there, you could wipe out any military outposts loyal to him across Fire. No reason to wait if fighting is inevitable, after all."