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

Silco

[warmare]

And what is to be done with Silco?

Ideally, I would see him answer for his public actions in the exact same dramatic manner he seems to love. His execution in the courtyard of Heliopolis could do just as many wonders for Springstar's morale as the Tribune's assassin.

But if he keeps hiding in Kowloon, how will he be dragged out? Perhaps he has changed from a rat to a whelk.

I do not know exactly what he has done to change himself, but he did do something before the Harbinger Oracle. He is supposed to just be a human, as far as I knew, but he somehow had two hands again when I encountered him in the labyrinth, and he moved far too fast for what his wizened knees should have been capable of.

His bones are not any more durable than a human's, though. My arrow pierced his skull just as easily as it should have.

I know some of you must know more. So I ask you to tell us.

His madness may have made some Zenites cringe away from him... but those that remain are willing to be his ilk. And more of that is the last thing we need. As rewarding as an execution would be, taking care of him in a way that is far more final is likely best.

[hauntedking]

While a public execution would be what he deserves, a point has been brought up - what if by shattering shards we are fraying the threads that bind not only this world together but also what is left of our own? It is impossible to say for certain, but I think we should take the cautious - and pragmatic - route now. Dissipate him. Capture his shard so he cannot return. But we must wait for that last level of finality to ensure we do not do more harm to ourselves than good.

That said, there are a few alternatives... he likely has bolt holes and hiding places all over Kowloon at this point. Simple force will not avail us. If we cannot find and catch him in an Oracle, we will need to plan and go carefully... and loosen his grip. What has been done can also be undone.

[warmare]

The nobody from Tosa got to you?

I heard that point, and I dismiss it. What proof is there for it that is any stronger than the guesses we have for others? Besides... that sun goddess tried to keep him trapped like a little pet she whispered to in order to keep him happy and less lonely, and look what happened to her. While the shard remains, their little allies can liberate and revive them.

I am hardly advocating we go about shattering every single soul. Just the ones that are more dangerous kept alive.

And Silco is too dangerous in his burrow. I am not suited to the narrow streets and stairs of Kowloon, either, so I cannot aid you there.

[hauntedking]

I choose to err on the side of caution if only for the sake of people we are trying to return. They're the reason we're fighting, after all.

[ Or at least he is. ]

And I have no desire to keep him as a pet... I do not know the details of Quetzalcoatl and her keeping of him, but it sounds as if she were lax.

[warmare]

She was deathly lax. But she was also powerful, and Zenites risked it anyway. For that shriveled gaki.

[Literally ignoring this caution bullshit bye]

[hauntedking]

[ Yeah, OK, they can disagree on that (there is no agreeing to disagree, it's just disagreement). ]

Why? He seems mad. What does he offer them that warrants so much loyalty? I certainly wouldn't protect him... even if he were Meridian.

[warmare]

Because most of the Zenites are mad, Dimitri. That, or they are willing to embrace that level of filth just to play god.

[She's been SAYING IT...]

[hauntedking]

Madness? Most people aren't mad, even if fighting for a cause we think mad, Hayame. They have their reasons. And I feel as if understanding some of those reasons will help us defeat them, in the end.

[warmare]

Then you go understand them.

I have no interest in it. And thankfully, I am strong enough to prevail without resorting to.

[hauntedking]

You have your way, Hayame. I have mine. Even so, we work together towards our greater goal.

[cyfaredd]

Oh?

[ Howl's flippant voice suddenly butts in, having heard something that his mind unavoidably grapples onto. ]

Changed your mind about slaughtering everyone, then? I distinctly remember you threatening every person standing in our way. Which is all of them, isn't it? Whether they're dangerous or not.

[warmare]

That is what you heard.

Every person who stands in my way.

But I am not everywhere.

And just like in Meridian, not all the Zenites bother to stand.

[cyfaredd]

[ He clicks his tongue and sighs. ]

And here I was, thinking I could rely on you to take your devotion to its extreme. What's there to lose by slaughtering them all, hm? Whether they're "standing" or not? Whether it's a Zenite in your way or someone on your own side? You should really just clean this place up yourself, shouldn't you?

[warmare]

Like I wish to be relied upon by a man who cannot even be relied on to shuck beans properly. Whether it is a Zenite or a Meridian, if they stand between me and returning to my world, I will eliminate them. That has not changed.

And my devotion is already as deep as one can possibly tether, so your little words do nothing to change that, either.

+ Silco info

[sterngaze]

I do not know when or how, but based on his actions during the last Oracle trial, it seems Silco has become a vampire. I witnessed reports after the fact, of him biting others and drinking their blood.

Given the variety in vampire lineages here, however, I don't know how much more information that gives us. At a minimum I would be more wary of his strength and resilience than before.

[warmare]

A vampire?

[That's... what? Why? Are they not dead things???

This is what she gets for not knowing how to read good.]

[sterngaze]

[Hayame why are you so shocked when you already know two dhampirs, and also a third guy introduced himself as a vampire up in this same communion post?]

That would be my guess, yes. It seems unlikely to have been accidental, given his possession of a personal bodyguard, so I must assume he wished to transcend the limitations of his mortal body.

[Does he sound a little judgy when he says this? Perhaps. Only a deviant would willingly choose such a thing.]

[warmare]

[Because those two dhamphirs were born that way and she didn't know that vampire as a human before?????]

No, you are right- that madman had to have chosen it, with that demon at his side.

[But also, yes, get your judgy on!!!! Because she definitely says it in a "what a fucking freak" tone.]

So what? Just that easily, he is now immortal?

[sterngaze]

Well... immortal in a sense. I can only speak on the nature of vampires from my own home, but although they did not weaken with age, they could still be destroyed.

Much as shard-bearers can be revived at the roots of the Tree, vampires could regenerate if struck down, as long as they could return to their resting place.

[Usually a coffin, but those killed by vampires aren't always buried in coffins, so there are probably exceptions.]

Those where I hailed from could be permanently destroyed by the touch of the sun or immersion in running water, but I don't know if that necessarily holds true for him.

[warmare]

Has anyone seen him out in the day? If he stays in Kowloon, he would be safe... But he was revived by whoever stole his Shard from that idiot goddess, and how could he have made it from the Tree to all that scheming and shattering without ever seeing a sun ray?

[The idea that some power hungry maniac could just... let himself be bit and then magically somehow become a being more powerful than a human, and then, what? Somehow avoid any negative consequences or weaknesses?

It makes her sick.]

[sterngaze]

There are ways to avoid being touched by the sun, of course. Springstar's shadows are long, these days.

[His communion is rocked by a slight shudder at this, no stronger than a tremor from a breath of wind. It has been many a day since Springstar's shadows were comfortable places to be.]

Magic can protect one from it, as well. The spell I use to comfortably go out in daylight would suffice.

[warmare]

[... No. They were not comfortable, were they.]

... So he might still be weak to it?

Would Meridian's light do? Or must it be an actual sun?

[faceripper]

The idiot tried to bite my neck. While I was using “Disguise Self”, of course, since he’s not that daft, but. I may as well personally cite my own experience that, yes, he is a vampire.

[ a beat ]

And a wretch, through and through.

[leicesters]

I'm curious about which Zenites might have turned against him... If there's some way to exploit that and work together to deal with him for good.

--And I know what you're about to say, Hayame, but what I'm suggesting would be a temporary alliance. If we all have a thorn in our side, we might as well collectively remove it.

[warmare]

If you know what I am about to say, then I need not say it.

I leave you to handle that, if it comes to some sort of fruition.