Kingdom of Ashes IC discussion (What if we held a war and *everybody* came?)

[Archon]

Secrets

Before Archon can move to retrieve his book his thoughts are disturbed by a knock at his door. Answering the door he finds Xath standing there with his journal in hand.
"you left this at the table," she said.
in response Archonus nods and accepts the book.
"thank you," he replied.
And with a nod farewell she leaves as he closes the door behind him and tosses the book on his bed. And after getting dressed quickly Archonus exits his room leaving his door slightly ajar.

 

[Laurel]

This Is Not Set In Stone......

Penny had left her door wide open, so she would know the moment her archon left his room. She dared not go into the hallway to hear what that Xath was saying to him, but she left shortly enough so it wasn't a big bother.
A few minutes later Penny got her chance. She heard his door open and his shadowy figure stride past down the hall.
In her haste to get to the door, papers scattered and she almost broke her glasses as she wedged them up on her nose. She tried to re-think the list of good questions about the mission she hoped to run by him.
But as she stepped into the hallway something made her turn her head the other way to look back at his room.
Her eyes refleceted the deperation she felt as she watched his retreating form, and chewing her lip in frustration walked towards his door. She looked up and down the hallway, and some small part of her pleaded for someone to appear. Instead her hand reached out almost of it's volition and her fingers slowly applied pressure to the wooden slab.

 

[The_Universe]

What's Archon's listen Modifier? Kat--what about Penny's Move Silently?

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

Meanwhile....

Justice savors every last bite of her breakfast in silence... the monks and priests around her talk softly and she absorbs the pleasant atmosphere. She likes it here. She likes it a lot.

Looking up from her bowl, she looks at the Bishop. There are so many questions she wants to ask him... "I know we must have terrified you, Bishop... and, I am sorry. But, there are so many things that we know... so many things that we need to have accomplished... and we just don't have the power to do them all ourselves. Despite the fact that we try, we simply do not have resources or the magic to undertake all of them...

"We have asked a lot of you already... but, would it be too much for me to ask you some questions about the Apecto, the Faith, and the Church in general?"

 

[The_Universe]

I curse thee, double post! I curse thee to the ends of the earth!

Unto the seventh generation, you shall suffer!

 

[The_Universe]

Bishop Arin Carr as played by Denholm Elliott

Justice savors every last bite of her breakfast in silence... the monks and priests around her talk softly and she absorbs the pleasant atmosphere. She likes it here. She likes it a lot.

Looking up from her bowl, she looks at the Bishop. There are so many questions she wants to ask him... "I know we must have terrified you, Bishop... and, I am sorry. But, there are so many things that we know... so many things that we need to have accomplished... and we just don't have the power to do them all ourselves. Despite the fact that we try, we simply do not have resources or the magic to undertake all of them...

"We have asked a lot of you already... but, would it be too much for me to ask you some questions about the Apecto, the Faith, and the Church in general?"

The old man slowly lowers his spoon back into the steaming bowl of porridge. "I assure you, young lady, that I was not...what did you say? Terrified?" As he speaks, shaking hands bely his apparent bravado. "I am just not the...crusader...that some of order are. I have dedicated my life to the books, and to the cathedral...to the earliest home of our order, and one of the holiest places on Aeres, beneath the Light. And if I should quail a bit at the sight of my own blood, it is not for lack of bravery. Only lack of practice.

"And you certainly seem powerful enough. You made relatively short work of one of the King's most trusted advisors, as well as a Talon Redmage! I have high doubts that there is much I could do for you that you could not do for yourselves. The only aid I could provide is for your dead friend...and for that, I am leary, to say the least. The Apecto's words strongly caution against playing with Life and Death. This is the province of the Light, itself!

"While such magic was once used to bring the Woodshadow back from the dead, it also twisted a Hero into an undying fiend that even now menaces us from the Deadrealms in the North. Even the Woodshadow was changed upon his return--it was short years later that he began his dark Mage-hunt, and then disappeared. This is hardly magic to be trifled with! But, if you persist...if you can find a way to try...I will do my best. But be warned--the result may not be as you expect or wish it."

He pauses, realizing suddenly that he has been wildly gesticulating with a porridge-filled spoon. A flush quickly overtakes his balding head, as other monks attack the tiny piles of goo with rags and sponges that the old man has deposited around the breakfast table during his unexpected rant.

Trying to regain his calm, he continues. "But please...feel free to ask me anything. I know your training in the ways of our order was not insignificant, but I appreciate anyone seeking after greater knowledge of our past, present, and future."

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

"Bishop, I assure you your help is absolutely necessary if we are to accomplish the tasks we have set ourselves upon. Yes, the magic is dangerous... but, danger is sometimes the only way. I have learned that the hard way..."

Justice pauses, eyes big. "There is so much that I want to know... But, I suppose... I will start with this... Bishop, what can you tell me of the Prophecy of the Stone Oracle?"

 

[The_Universe]

"Bishop, I assure you your help is absolutely necessary if we are to accomplish the tasks we have set ourselves upon. Yes, the magic is dangerous... but, danger is sometimes the only way. I have learned that the hard way..."

Justice pauses, eyes big. "There is so much that I want to know... But, I suppose... I will start with this... Bishop, what can you tell me of the Prophecy of the Stone Oracle?"

Letting one of the monks take away his mostly uneaten breakfast, he stares intently at Justice, almost ecstatic at her apparent curiosity. "Although one should not shy from danger, one should also not always seek it. You give much away but what you have said. It is a task that you have set yourselves upon, not a task to which the Light has dedicated you to. The Light wills as the Light wills, but as I said before, I have a hard time believing that the Light would demand that you bring a luminous soul such as your friend's--L'Aurel?--back from her eternal rest - the Kingdom of Light meant to be a place of rest for the fallen, especially the heroic souls who have mimiced the sacrifice of this Church's father. This risk, this danger seems far from necessity. Are you sure that you have opened your ears to the call of the Light? We are His Hands, Justice. To be His Hands, we must heed His will.

"And for the prophecy? The one that Headmistress Burns sent to us some months ago? Wild claims that one of her students managed to make the old Stone Oracle talk!" He begins to laugh, but seeing the seriousness on Justice's face, he continues with some small bit of gravity seeping into his voice. "I am sorry my dear, but there is very little I can tell you. Prophecies, as a general rule, are worthless out of context. This one in particular spoke entirely in riddle, conundrum and generality. The only thing clear was that the recipient was supposed to travel westward, and even that could easily have been a hoax--a fabrication! The damned thing didn't even hint at the distance to be travelled, or what could or would be found after the nebulous 'heroes' were found. All in all, more confusion than it was worth!

"I had a few of the younger priest's check it against the holy words of the Apecto, as well as some of our older collections of prophecy. They sent one copy to the throne's library in Caer Albion, and another back to the Jade Forest.

"If you'll pardon my asking, why do you bring it up, now? Surely you have not encountered another copy of the prophecy?"

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

Slender hands reach down to Justice's small brown belt pouch. Carefully, she pulls out the oft-read, yellowed parchment that holds her copy of the Prophecy... the one she scrawled just after leaving the cavern surrounding the mystical being. Placing it on the table, she speaks slowly...

"These are the words the Oracle spoke to me, Bishop Carr. I am the student that awoke the long-dead wonder..."

 

[The_Universe]

Slender hands reach down to Justice's small brown belt pouch. Carefully, she pulls out the oft-read, yellowed parchment that holds her copy of the Prophecy... the one she scrawled just after leaving the cavern surrounding the mystical being. Placing it on the table, she speaks slowly...

"These are the words the Oracle spoke to me, Bishop Carr. I am the student that awoke the long-dead wonder..."

Bishop Carr's eyes widen in surprise. "This is...unexpected!" His gaze narrows, curiosity defeating surprise. "So did it really speak to you? In those exact words? If it's not the hoax we initially suspected, perhaps it deserves further study...tell me--what is it you want to know?"