open | an alenroux press release

[sterngaze]

[A couple weeks after the conclusion of the Exalt Oracle trial, a communion message goes out to all Kenos’s shard-bearers — at a brisk mid-morning hour for Springstar residents, and evening for those night owls in Highstorm. Surely an agreeable enough time for all, yes? The voice will be familiar enough to anyone who listened in on the ambassador talk a Kenos month ago; it’s Liem, mayor of Alenroux Meridian’s resident straight man.]

Greetings, everyone. I have some updates to share regarding efforts to make Alenroux fully and safely inhabitable, which I hope you will be pleased to hear.

Last month, prior to the events surrounding the Oracle, a contingent of Springstar military overseen by several shard-bearers launched a multi-pronged expedition north into Alenroux’s forests, in order to locate the source of the monsters that continue to infest the woods. While I’m sure those of you who frequent Alenroux will have noticed that the flow of especially dangerous, augmented creatures mostly died off after the dismantling of Aetós’s underground facility, we have not been able to expunge the general monster population from the forest despite ongoing efforts, so this was an attempt to remedy that.

These expeditionary forces succeeded in locating three separate cornerstones and portals that were previously disgorging monsters. At this time we think it likely that they were connected to the timestream in some way that allowed creatures from other worlds to come through, but the portals themselves proved extremely hazardous to life attempting to breach from this side. All three have now been destroyed, and while we cannot say with certainty that there are no further portals out there, we are optimistic that this will allow the danger to those living in Alenroux to be further reduced by the joint forces still stationed there.

If you have further questions, you may direct them to me, or to Hayame, Akua Sahelian, Keitaro Miura, Gray, Byleth Eisner, Link, Kim Dokja, or Dee. [He means D.]

Comments

[appeale]

Thank you for the hard work, signore! And everyone else, of course.

[ and then, after a nervous pause, the connection narrows to something private: ]

Um... There's something I've been too nervous to confess, but I think it's time I talk about it. I'll tell everyone else in just a moment, but—if there are any further problems with the monsters in Alenroux, you can ask me for help too, okay? Because... I can communicate with them.

[sterngaze]

I'm pleased to have the opportunity to be of use, in my own way.

[He knows, of course, that Ruby is a noncombatant, and that she spends her efforts being useful to Set rather than to Meridian. But, considering that he likes Set, he doesn't see this as a problem.

Besides, efforts like this one are beneficial to both factions. Respecting the discretion she uses as she continues, Liem switches to more private communion as well.]

Are you concerned for those that yet remain on the island, my lady? That is a useful skill you possess, but it sounds risky to use, as well. I would not wish to place Set's shrine maiden in danger.

[He thinks Set might have some strong words for him if anything happened to her...]

🔒 private

[appeale]

Mm... I am a little worried about them. If there are any more that want to live peacefully, and I could help them, then...

[ she's not such a bleeding heart that she'd feel guilty over not saving every single monster – the weak don't have the luxury of living that way. her own friends are the ones she's more concerned about. but it's not that much of an effort just to ask if anyone wants to come with her, especially now that her secret is out. ]

You're right that it isn't always safe, though. It's not like I have any control over the monsters, you know? Whether they listen to me or not is their decision. So, I can't always know if they'll be friendly. I know it would be a burden, but—as long as I went with someone else, who would be able to help if things didn't go well...

[warmare]

[.........................]

You are welcome.

[(Because she can't see that private oops.)]

[baltimores]

This what you’re doing when you’re not biting down on people’s necks and sucking the life out of them, huh? Good job.

[ Is it said bitchily… yes, of course; this is the first time he’s hearing from the guy since he Capri Sun’d him and largely put him out of commission to fight for the Exalt Oracle. Like, fuck you for that? And now he’s gotta have you in his head? Come on.

But are those last two words sincere despite all of that? … Also yes, because like, this was an objectively good thing to do. So, you know. Good job. ]

[sterngaze]

[What are you so mad about, Amos? You didn't even die!

Liem chooses to ignore the bitchy remark on his informational communion post. Keep on-topic, please.]

This message should rightfully have come much sooner, but there was some time distortion around the portals that resulted in a delay in the expeditions' return. My apologies if it's come at an awkward time.

[warmare]

Do you have a complaint, Amos Burton?

About tactics used in battle?

[Is she on speaking terms with Liem right now? Maybe not. But does she lay out the return accusation in actual words, as he had? ... No. (If she did-)]

private to expedition members;

[warmare]

[It has been... extremely disconcerting, to be so sure she had entered Alenroux before the Oracle and then to have... somehow been back there, and somehow come out of the woods in the aftermath as if she'd been there the entire time yet also been at the battle between the factions.

What had happened to them? Had it been Aetos' time manipulating magic? Her group had encountered a trap like that, but the rest...]

... Have any of you suffered any strange or lingering effects of the time... distortion?

[fishfearme]

It's best not to think too deeply about such things when it comes to time. Paradoxes can't affect you if you ignore them.

[...or so Sothis had told him once, when he raised the concept. Though her words were more to the effect of "don't point it out!!!"]

[wolof]

Yes, I have.

[ Her more than the others in their expedition, she had Seen something, vague and disjointed.

She'd tried her damndest to unravel the vision of blood, thrones, stars and Nothing, but it led her to more questions than answers. It was a certainty — there was no Death in her future. Something more.

Her path was uncertain, but the meaning was clear. ]

Though since we have...reconvened, I have found that they do not linger much. Reality bent itself into a shape, but it was ironed out neatly.

[damnpire]

Yes.

[Firstly. Secondly:]

I was able to commune with Kim Dokja later to follow up. [Mostly because Dokja was acting fucking ill as hell during the expedition.] However, Dextera is not here anymore.

[bakedapple]

No. I don't think so.

[ But, perhaps strangely, there is a very distinct sense of disappointment behind this answer. Whatever is on Link's mind, he does not offer it up on his own. ]

[leicesters]

Hey, good job. I think we can all agree making Alenroux safer helps us all.

[pointedly ignoring all the communion slapfights in this post smh]

Out of curiosity, how'd you destroy the portals? Did you brute force it, or did it need some elaborate magic or anything?

[sterngaze]

[That's for the best, Claude.]

There was a cornerstone beneath the portal that my group located, and since it seemed to be linked to the portal in some way, we shattered it in the way you might any other large stone: with tools and about an hour's dedicated effort. That caused the portal to disappear.

From the reports of the other teams, their situations were similar.

[redsoil]

Once again, Meridian proves themselves the better and more rightful custodians of reality. Oracles, Alenroux, past and future.

[ Yes, he's feeling like being REALLY nasty as of late. None of the nastiness is directed at Liem, though. It's more of a general vibe, like Set's taken to lounging indolently upon a throne and recaptured some authority ( some divine monarchism ), as he flirts his fingers around the mental impression of Liem's ear. To tug lightly on the impression of a long, golden earring that he imagines to be worn at all times.

In private, he murmurs "into" that ear: ] Do you have any skills that might now direct you to any other incarnations of the timestream?

🔒 private

[sterngaze]

[Hmm, that seems rather inflammatory! Liem will let it slide, though, because unlike Amos, Set has rights. Still, he says nothing to encourage it, moving right to his private query instead.]

When it comes to seeking, I continue to be best at finding people and things. I was as thorough as was reasonably possible in inspecting the portal before we destroyed it, but I must admit that I could make neither heads nor tails of the magic involved. It did not even seem to display the energies of either Zenith or Meridian.

[That is to say, he's completely out to sea when it comes to understanding anything related to the timestream.]

[warmare]

It is exactly as you say.

We accomplish what Zenith never bothered to, nor could.

[That's not nasty, that's just the truth???]

[wolof]

Mm, I would suggest, dear heart, that we do not become too cocky with our... providence.

Certainty is a path towards destruction.

[ It may not be that this world follows her rules, but Akua still sees this world through such a lens. ]

[wolfish]

[ Why, if it isn't the tax man himself. ]

So that's what [ some of ] Byleth's forays were about...

[ Yuri wasn't about to interrogate the man about his business but it did admittedly leave him curious. ]

Your hard work's appreciated. Do you have thoughts regarding next steps for Alenroux?

[sterngaze]

[The thing about Liem being Alenroux's mayor was a joke. He is not in charge of these decisions.]

I imagine that's still up in the air. There's work to be done yet before Alenroux can truly go back to being a peaceful neutral ground, despite the work that's been done on that front.

But, my expectation would be that the next step would involve Highstorm and Springstar's leaders coming to an agreement over some sort of jointly-run local government to oversee the region. I wouldn't think that we as shard-bearers would be terribly involved in that level of decision-making.

[Maybe an island council? There are policies to be standardized regarding land ownership, trade, natural resources... All things that should be decided by professionals with experience in that kind of management, rather than foreigners who happen to have rocks stuck in them.]

For now, as shard-bearers, I think the most pressing task we can attend to is monitoring the forest to make sure that destroying those portals is actually having the effect we'd like.

[warmare]

Byleth was an invaluable addition to my expedition party.

He should be commended.

[- Is she saying that to Yuri and not Byleth???]

[cutlery]

Ah, well, I will offer my congratulations, at least. Politics aside, I am sure it is of the benefit to all for Alenroux to be a safer place.

[ Unsurprisingly, Sebastian... does not exactly care about the overall efforts made here. They're something he understands are important to most, and it is indeed an important bargaining chip when it comes to politics, but it's something he's pointedly stayed out of. Since his nature is very much public, he knew any attempts to bargain for it would have rung as very obviously false. So. It's best left to other Zenites.

However, when it comes to Aetós, he's considerably more interested. He still can't figure out just what that fellow (gender neutral) is up to, and thus it's a bit annoying to him. So that portion is more what he focuses on. ]

Though, I must ask. "Extremely hazardous to life"? How do you mean?

[sterngaze]

[Liem is willing to bet that Sebastian doesn't actually care at all about how safe or prosperous Alenroux is, but that's fine. At least he's polite.

Anyway, Liem's about to make Hayame even more mad with him by just answering Sebastian's question like it's a normal thing to do.]

Well... I didn't experience it firsthand, but some members of our expedition passed partially into the portals, before withdrawing again.

[He's not saying who. If they want to come forward and spill the beans, that's their prerogative.]

There was a rather immediate and intense vitality-draining effect, as if the body part passing the portal's threshold was aging rapidly. This, combined with the time distortion surrounding the portals themselves, is part of what makes me think they were connected to the timestream, though admittedly that subschool of magic is completely outside my own expertise.

[warmare]

The congratulations of a demon are not needed here.

Begone.

[Is Liem not actively talking to him? She doesn't give af!!!]

[wolof]

[ A soft laugh. ]

I am sure you can guess, dear. Think of it as a... hazardous one-way trip.

At least that is what I gleaned from observing the traces of magic that lingered upon it.

[ Familiar magic, though she does not say that. She has observed this before. ]