LOCKED TO MERIDIAN

[leicesters]

[Claude's communion prescence has always been like a summer breeze; warm, easygoing, albeit difficult to read before it moves on. Now it has more of a brittle, bitter quality, like a looming dust-cloud he has to hold at a distance. There's no going back from this point when he knows things will only escalate from here, and so now seems like an important time to address his fellow Meri.]

The fight for the next Oracle will be on us soon. The Tribune may have been slain, but he entrusted the future of the worlds to us. Though he won't be able to help us see this through, we can still fight for him, and all the others we've lost along the way. We can fight for Springstar... and we can fight for Quetzalcoatl.

[There's a brief pause on this point. Her death deserves respect and acknowledgement, and she may not be the last to meet such a fate before the fighting is over.]

...We'll fight for your homes, too. After all, our worlds aren't that different, right? They might be flawed in their own ways, and there might even be some of you who would rather stay here when this is done. But every world and the life on it is precious, and it beats whatever phony world Yima and her followers come up with.

Speaking of Yima: I've discussed this with a few people already, but I suspect she's still alive. When the Blight almost destroyed Kenos, somehow she was still around. When I asked her about it, she said she wasn't bound by time like a normal person is. She can exist in different times and different places simultaneously; I don't know how it works, but maybe she even foresaw this attempt on her life before it even happened.

That said, it's just speculation, so we might as well play dumb and behave towards Zenith as if we're convinced she's dead for now. It'll be easier for us that way.

[Others have probably arrived at a similar conclusion, perhaps people among Zenith's ranks too, but it bears saying, particularly for those newly arrived to the conflict.]

Anyway, enough about her -- how about we use this opportunity for a little strategy get-together? We have a few new faces around, so feel free to introduce yourself and your capabilities.

For those of us who have been around longer, feel free to toss in an introduction too. More importantly, share what you know about Zenith and its current capabilities, in combat or otherwise. Any insight into their current thinking would be useful right now, too. What's their morale like? We know by now that some of them really hate our guts, and I wonder how much their desire for revenge is going to play into the next battle...

[He sounds casual, almost flippant, but there's a serious point in there he's sure he doesn't need to overstate: the more loyal Zenites are going to have some serious motivation in the next battle to get back at them, whether they believe Yima is gone or not.]

Let's not let our own judgement be clouded by revenge, even if we've sustained losses. We need to go into this with a clear head, looking toward the future.

Oh-- on that note, Hayame wants to speak with some of you about some further strategising either before or after the Oracle. Sorry that's a little vague, but I'm sure she'll talk to you about it properly when the time comes. For now, let's just focus on one thing at a time.

Comments

[warmare]

[TCH. Enjoy your way, Dimitri!

... Until later, when she hits him up for [Redacted].]

[hauntedking]

It is not a hope I will put aside.

Hope is important.

[wolfish]

[ The irony that Yuri would often call meeting up with someone a date so casually with zero actual weight... ]

Sounds like a plan to me.

[ And a fair exchange, ever the better for a man who hates owing anyone any little thing because something about leverage. ]

So where are you lodging these days? I can come meet you.

[ He wants to think Springstar's citizens have accepted Howl, but it doesn't hurt to be cautious. ]

[wolfish]

True enough. It'll be worth it if we learn something useful, at least.

[ He does want to believe they will. ]

[wolfish]

I guess that would be a fair trade, wouldn't it?

[ Yuri may be terrible at relying on others, but he knows Dimitri isn't the best at it either. They're both aware that neither of them are.

But relying on him as a favor... Dimitri, please. ]

[hauntedking]

Perfectly fair.

[ Dimitri might be a touch smug. Maybe. ]

[hauntedking]

Then I wish you all the luck in the world.

[ex_fend346]

Do you mean you'd face someone like that alone?

[ He suspects he knows the answer, but he asks just the same. ]

[fishfearme]

Clearly you haven't witnessed two bards conduct a poetry battle, before.

[redsoil]

That there was one thing he would always hold higher than his love for Yima.

[ Set knows better than to bank anything ( let alone everything ) on someone else ever again; he'd believed in Quetzalcoatl's promise to go home with him, and now all that was left of her was memory, and for Set to carry his grief to her people one day.

He's also uncomfortable, discussing... the way he could be viewed for such a decision, by Hayame. So, he locks down the conversation into a PRIVATE corner and tells her. ]

He knows about Anubis. He read of him.

[redsoil]

Dimitri, be sensible about this. He turned his back on friends when he despaired, instead of relying on them.

And he chose to remain with Zenith, after the murder of the Tribune and Quetzalcoatl — both who offered him their faith, love and charity. Do you really think you are ever going to win him over, when he is electing voluntarily to remain with someone like Silco over you? Some friend he is, to accept a Faction of liars, murderers and fiends more than those who tirelessly supported and openly loved him.

[ if Set is scathing, it's because Link hit a REAL SORE SPOT with him ]

[wolfish]

[ Smug isn't a bad look for Dimitri. ]

I'll accept your terms then. No complaining if I turn out to be troublesome, now.

[wolfish]

Oh, I make my own luck... But coming from you, I'll take it.

[ He's quiet for a spell, then adds something Dimitri likely is already aware of. Still, sometimes it's good to state things. ]

Of course, I'll keep you apprised when I have results.

[dreamflowers]

It's more often that I see into the past, but even that can sometimes be useful. It usually happens when I'm at a specific location or touch certain objects of relevance.

The visions themselves don't take too much outta me. [That she's aware of.]

[hauntedking]

We may do things in the grip of despair we come to regret later. I certainly did in my own time. It would be the height of ignorance and folly for me to not offer him the same chance.

[sterngaze]

[Yeah ok, she gets a pass as long as she takes everything about the booby-trapped shards to her grave with her.]

This is true. I don't know where Sebastian's shard resides, but presumably it would be considerably more difficult to hide while in the form of a beast.

[redsoil]

Well, I will not. Regret does not resolve anything, and feeling poorly for one's actions does not earn forgiveness. He made his choice.

[ Coldly. ]

He warned them. I advised him against it. I will have my due for his actions. I care not a whit for his reasons.

YIMA.

[redsoil]

At the least, she is at a distance from any new Zenites. I feel she is still alive, too. I actually like his idea of "playing dumb", so bravo to him for proposing it. Faux ignorance is a wonderful tool to use.

[ actually, he Knows for #reasons ( he sussed it out ) but he's not saying this ]

Claude and I had a discussion once, about who she could be. More important than that, is how best to kill her and remove her from Zenith's future. They cannot rely on her to create their world, as many have said they will. This could destroy their desire to pursue this path, and hopefully they will just lay down and die as a result. Not like any of them have the fortitude to take on the divine task of Creating Life.

The facts are laid out as this:
— She is one of, if not the oldest, individual in Kenos. Perhaps the first individual to ever arrive.
— She arrived from a destroyed world, and her children were lost to her in a way that she could not bring them as she brings Shard-Bearers.
— I once asked for her guidance and was lead to explore the depths of the Beyond — the place where I built the weapon that destroyed her Manor was the location she directed me to. It was the temple of my sister, Isis, long-destroyed by both hand and time.
— Claude spoke with her, and like he said — she said she was not bound by time like a normal person. This is my experience as a divinity, too. Though, I am confined to a single moment by Kenos's rules as a Shard-Bearer.

[hauntedking]

Perhaps I wish you to be troublesome.

[ Ha. ]

[hauntedking]

And what is your "due"? What do you think is owed to you?

[redsoil]

[ Those thoughts should ONLY be "he owes us a pound of flesh just like amos and silco do" if they're named LINK!!!!!!!!! ]

[hauntedking]

Very well. I'll be waiting.

[hauntedking]

...the past might be even more useful, honestly. There are things about this place we don't understand - the past chief among them.

[redsoil]

I told him where the line was, and he willingly crossed it.

[ which, to him, means he has full liberty to decide the punishment <3 ]

If Yima lives, she may have heeded any warning received — meaning, we have walked away with TWO dead members of Meridian to their none. Because your "friend" obviously picks and chooses who he will stand by and trust in, and it was not you.

[sterngaze]

That does sound useful, yes. I imagine an item for the detection of evil creatures could also prove useful, though of course the denizens of the lower planes are hardly the only ones who might be detected by such magic.

[On the other hand, it's never a bad thing to know when something evil is nearby.]