leicesters: (112)
Claude von Riegan ([personal profile] leicesters) wrote in [community profile] kenoscomm2024-03-08 01:40 pm

LOCKED TO MERIDIAN

[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.
escardos: (pic#16854341)

[personal profile] escardos 2024-03-12 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
[ absolutely unprompted: ]

And my friend! Back at home we were classmates! Please treat her kindly!
escardos: (pic#13489836)

[personal profile] escardos 2024-03-12 04:40 am (UTC)(link)
Ah yeah, having spells for poison is super useful! I've had to develop a couple for when my parents would try to kill me with that.

[ he says this so cheerfully. ]
gravings: (038)

[personal profile] gravings 2024-03-12 04:45 am (UTC)(link)
[ this is the equivalent of a high school freshman popping up to emotionally support a high school senior ]

Flat! That's... um. Thank you for your support!
warmare: (見張る)

[personal profile] warmare 2024-03-12 04:47 am (UTC)(link)
[uGHHHHHH]

Well, surely he can not just... Just stand next to it forever...

[... But yes. The power she said she had. The one she had been vague about, with only "it may be able to rob some of our more powerful enemies of their advantages." But this was definitively an advantage.]

- That power may exhaust me a great deal.

I must be mindful with it.
damnpire: (pic#12042672)

[personal profile] damnpire 2024-03-12 05:03 am (UTC)(link)
I'm not sure if it was looking to be friends.

[A VERY BAD, DRY JOKE. Delivered very badly and dryly.]

I don't know. [Which frustrates him.] The crack may be metaphorical.

When it spoke to me, it said it got in from the "choices" made. If it's becoming worse, then it must be something someone is doing. Us or someone else.
damnpire: (pic#12042813)

[personal profile] damnpire 2024-03-12 05:07 am (UTC)(link)
[Lucky for her, D will also not acknowledge any of it, so she can continue to pretend like there is no sympathy there. And since it's private, it's just the sympathy and both of them :man_standing: between.]

I'll speak to Gray, and then I'll speak to him.

[...]

Do you want to attempt before or after the next Oracle?
wolfish: (setback)

[personal profile] wolfish 2024-03-12 05:27 am (UTC)(link)
...Must've been delightful people, your parents.

[ Which is to say: horrible people.

Yuri's grateful every day that his mother is loving. Makes up for how terrible most adults were. ]


But good to know someone else knows his way around poisons.
warmare: (進み出る)

[personal profile] warmare 2024-03-12 05:57 am (UTC)(link)
[Yeah... that... it's cool... She won't breakdown or show vulnerability at the actual event or anything.]

...

[That is a good question. If the Oracle could appear any day now, though... What if the procedure failed? Being handicapped in that way might be worse than anything the Hag's Eye could potentially do, so if she must choose...]

After.

[She will not say why. It is rude, an inauspicious as well, to speak of failure.]
warmare: (お尻)

[personal profile] warmare 2024-03-12 06:09 am (UTC)(link)
I understand. The ability I have... found myself capable of is also. I think it will cost greatly. I must be mindful.

[And who can cleanse her if she goes too far, too fast?]

For now, Alenroux is fortunate to have just the church.
warmare: (死ぬ)

[personal profile] warmare 2024-03-12 06:10 am (UTC)(link)
... It sounds like watching two incompetents having a slap fight.
warmare: (死んだ目)

[personal profile] warmare 2024-03-12 06:21 am (UTC)(link)
I did not say they could not defy their nature.

[Akua was defying her... culture, was she not? In a way? ... Not. A lot. But enough to be on a mission to atone for going too far once.]

But speak plainly, because all I am seeing now is some strange attempt to argue with me about language over whether an evil, manipulative hellbeast should be neutralized based on being an evil, manipulative hellbeast or not.

The answer does not change.
dreamflowers: (skinning the children for  a war drum)

[personal profile] dreamflowers 2024-03-12 07:02 am (UTC)(link)
Indeed. I haven't been around long enough to gauge how awkward it's gonna be. I won't be labeled as a "traitor" or anything simply by talking to one of them, will I?

[Asking because of. Reasons.]
dreamflowers: (yes i'm sure that's very interesting)

[personal profile] dreamflowers 2024-03-12 09:15 am (UTC)(link)
What kinda stealth operations have been attempted already?

[She's asking because of reasons.]
cyfaredd: (Default)

[personal profile] cyfaredd 2024-03-12 02:41 pm (UTC)(link)
And you on me. [ Which he'd really prefer... and not just because of his ego. She's too young for Howl not to want to protect her. ]

How are you feeling about this upcoming "Oracle" business? A victory would bring us very close to being done with this place, wouldn't it.
warmare: (ツンデレ正座)

[personal profile] warmare 2024-03-12 04:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Khalid, he is like five times your size...

[It's not even not "playing" fair, it is just not existing fair! That is not an even playing field, but... Technically, that excuses some watering down of the drinks.]

...

But. He is a decent man. Yes. Despite his aversion to clothing.

I am grateful.

[... Because he reunited them. Because she was then able to finally say... it.]
sheezit: (s24)

[personal profile] sheezit 2024-03-12 05:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Yeah? Gotta say, you're a pretty tough crowd.

[ It was a jab at her latest communion, yeah, but a friendly one! Made in jest! But it's okay, it's fine, one day he'll find the kind of humor that works(?) on her!! ]

Anyway, I guess this is one of those promotions where you've been doing the job all along and they sort of belatedly acknowledge it, huh? Can't think of any other Shardbearers who've been putting in more work with the military than you. Just don't go taking on a heavier burden than you can handle, okay? We're all still here to help.

[ Y'know. Because of her honorary Faerghan tendencies... ]
sheezit: (s24)

[personal profile] sheezit 2024-03-12 06:35 pm (UTC)(link)
Aaah, so that's why you were especially interested in Oracles, huh...

[ Not that he... gets how Oracles and prophets are related. Or how any of that is a religion thing. But he wasn't deep in the religion of his own world, either, so what does he know!! ]

What kinda visions do you get, though? 'Cause if you could ever get a glimpse into the next trial, that'd be real helpful! We hardly ever get an advance warning...
sheezit: (s10)

[personal profile] sheezit 2024-03-12 06:51 pm (UTC)(link)
... that was on me. If I had intercepted him faster, he wouldn't have gotten the chance to warn Yima or anyone in Zenith.

[ And while the sense of guilt crossing over Communion comes mostly from a place of failure, he can't say he was happy about killing a friend, least of all one who used to be on their side. ]

But is it really fair to judge their faction for harboring an assassin and a murderer when Meridian is the same? All of us from Fodlan have killed before, and that's what we were trying to do with Yima and your weapon, right? Are you calling us bad people for that?
hauntedking: (17)

[personal profile] hauntedking 2024-03-12 06:59 pm (UTC)(link)
That... will depend on who you ask.

[ Dimitri admits with a bit of a rueful little laugh. ]

I won't label you as such, certainly.
redsoil: (that sign cant stop me bc i cant read)

[personal profile] redsoil 2024-03-12 07:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, do not misinterpret. I do not feel Meridian are good people, any more than Zenith are. In the end, we are all working to win and deny one another a life that we desire.

[ good and evil don't matter too much to a war god, when it comes to this ]

I am saying that I could put money down on it mattering to him. He is the one who has struggled with his choices and has been isolated by them, and that weakens him.
redsoil: (pic#16220543)

[personal profile] redsoil 2024-03-12 07:23 pm (UTC)(link)
That depends on two things: does she like that connection, and what do you know about her as a result of it?

Her practical skills, her personality, her vulnerable points — who did she leave behind in choosing Zenith, who did she likely choose to salvage? You know. "Who is she, as a person".
Edited 2024-03-12 19:24 (UTC)
redsoil: (pic#16220564)

[personal profile] redsoil 2024-03-12 07:35 pm (UTC)(link)
He was proud and happy for Meridian's victory, once. It excited him. Whatever changed — well, even I recognize it was dire enough to mar that joy.

[ which doesn't mean Set will empathize with him, just that he saw it, catalogued it and will not let it affect his resolve ]

Everyone knows a man like you is better suited for personable work.

[ 8) because claude is LIKABLE ]

Will you keep trying to reach out to him? I think keeping him from depending on the core Zenites and gentled to us is a sound strategy. Anything to keep his mind staggering.
a_noble_flame: (015)

[personal profile] a_noble_flame 2024-03-12 07:56 pm (UTC)(link)
... That does sound like something out of a book, doesn't it.

[Then she laughs gently.]

That's not precisely how I said it but I do appreciate how nice you've made it sound. You're not a writer by chance?

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