kenoscomm | DIRECTED TO MERIDIAN, OPEN TO ALL.

[ In the midst of the Advocate's beginnings, perhaps a few world adventures in ( ignore pax's belated posting in that case ), there is a quiet presence that coalesces within the minds of all. An Advocate, dusk-skinned and thoughtful as he addresses all present. Even his voice is morose, a little saddened by what he has taken notice of — though that is mostly on behalf of Meridian. He cannot imagine what it must feel like, to look upon something familiar and have it not be exactly what they want. ]

They're dying. These worlds — they're already lost, they're torn up and left in pieces, they're dreams of what was; please don't make them suffer when you can bring them a gentle end. Even if you fight to restore them in the long run, choosing to save them now is torturous. It is asking someone with a terminal illness to fight on, when they ought to be given the ability to rest.

[ He sounds like he is pleading with the Meri, a call not to stand so firmly with their impossible desire to restore all that they make such a glaring mistake. ]

All things have a right to live, I agree. But, all those same things also should have a dignified end. I am only asking that you understand this, and choose to help us give what is left of these worlds the ending that I wish our worlds could have had.

This time, please... just this time. I am asking on their behalf, for all to choose a difficult thing — but, the thing that only we now have the power to do for them.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

What they deserve is to not die in terror, because they are going to die.

[ That is a fact. ]

Did you not listen to the Advocate's request? It is not "save them" or "do they deserve to have a chance", it is "will you show compassion in the face of adversity".

No; it's you who hasn't listened. "Do they deserve a chance" is precisely the question that was asked. Does this world have value.

More than that, it is not up to me to choose their fate. That is up to them. You would make yourself the executioner of a dozen worlds - for what? Because you think it a kindness? You stain your hands with their blood and deny them even the slightest chance. That is not mercy.

The chance that the Oracle is speaking of is the chance we are given, not them. The chance to do what is difficult but kind in this battle, so as to not force them to experience the consequences of what is a short-sighted decision!

[ How can Dimitri not see it? ]

They don't know what is coming. They aren't ready, they're just living their normal lives, and you cannot look at them and say 'they have a choice' when they do not have all of the information available. Have you looked any of them in the eye and told them what is coming? Have you prepared them for Oblivion's hunger? Are they rallied? Armed? Prepared? If not, you are not giving them a choice.

You are being careless with their inevitable end. And that is... it's horrendous of you to choose an ending of pain and confusion for them.

And yet they live.

[ There's a mental shake of Dimitri's head. ]

No; you're wrong. I cannot accept the idea of some sort of cosmic mercy killing. It's atrocious. Obscene. This is simply the same logic that Zenith claims - that they are already dead and that we should therefore give up.

It's not fair. Choosing to make them face their end, just because you see more value in their living until a tortuous end than helping them experience a good death... how can you look at yourself and think you're doing what is right?

[ It's horrifying, to hear the arguments from Meridian. To hear that "because they are alive they must remain alive", to hear that living must mean they suffer at the end. ]

Were I able to fight in each world, to be at their sides and face the same agony they will face... I would choose the same as you. I value their lives, sir. I value their beauty and the wonder of their unique worlds. But, we are there for twelve hours. And then we have to watch them die, one way or another. It's not Zenith guiding me. It's just compassion, and Meridian seems to have none. Just a desire to watch something sick ail and die horribly, solely so they can claim that the ignorant were given "a choice".

[ He thought they were both Advocates; gentle, humane, capable of thinking about people as more than just what value they have while alive. But, noncombative as he is, he continues to ask questions — because he needs to understand Dimitri. ]

— do the dead have no value to you?

I think you have reached your conclusion and now cast aspersions on those who do not share your view of it; I do not know if anything I say will truly sway you when you think we lack compassion.

[ There's a pause. Dimitri is... not exactly angry, but perhaps frustrated. ]

The dead have more value to me than you know. I live in their shadow. I mourn the dead. But we also have to live. I spent years carrying their burdens and trying to make up for what I thought were my own failings for them.

I am frustrated, I will admit to that. I only want you to consider being there for these people in a way that is more compassionate than asking them to live until Oblivion ends them.

[ Because it is. It's an ugly, difficult, monstrous choice and — soft, between the two Advocates, is the knowledge that Drizzt ultimately understands that. That he comprehends he's asking something, not of Zenith, but of painfully difficult compassion. That the Shard-Bearers spare people the same fear, horror and agony that they went through. That yes, because they do wield that power, it is a slippery slope — but a decision he makes not lightly. ]

I know that. I live that same way, treasuring every day and every life and every world and the burden of remembering it all. We're not so different, really. I just want... I honestly, just want them to die in a way that gives them the greatest peace. Even if... if even Meridian wins and brings them all back later, I want them to experience the peace we didn't get to have. The peace I wish someone advocated for us to have, before we had to come here.

...that isn't peace.

[ Dimitri responds, his mental tone softening a little. ]

I don't know what comes after death. But I do know that life is precious. And I think preserving that life is more valuable than ending it, no matter if it ends later. At one point in my life some might have argued it would have been better to kill me to end my suffering. To prevent a tragedy. I cannot countenance the idea of killing an entire world as a mercy.

Yes, it is. You cannot claim life holds more value than death, for that is cruel to those who lived before us. Both are integral to our experiences.

[ His expression crumbles a little, trying to seek Dimitri's mind to assure him that it's okay to accept the quietude and importance of dying. To Drizzt, it is an inevitable thing — he has always known he would die in battle, and worked hard to live a life that he could be satisfied with, knowing that once he died, he would only leave behind deeds and stories. ]

Do you not remember what it was like, to die? To feel the world die around you as Oblivion took it? Before we arrived here, that was our experience. Please don't condemn these people to that sensation, too. Take them in your gentle hands, and care for the way they will die. That's all I ask.

[ He doesn't expect Dimitri to show such difficult, complicated empathy. Most Meridian's seem to put no consideration towards how people die, only seeking to deny that they will. ]

Thank you for engaging with me.

DIRECTED TO MERIDIAN, OPEN TO ALL.

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