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Tizbiz Zeitgeist Campaign
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<blockquote data-quote="Lylandra" data-source="post: 8106162" data-attributes="member: 6816692"><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">Yeah, I also think that Nic genuinely believed that a majority voting for Miller's Pyre was a non-question, which is why he was back at his optimistic self. But the way I interpret him is that he's really bad at predicting how other people might react to different choices and situations. And he's had enough setbacks to not take it lightly anymore...</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">Which is a tragedy, really, because in that scene he was so positive and sweet. Even if this is only one part of his personality which was filled with a huge chunk of darkness over the centuries...</span></p><p></p><p><em><strong>Crossroads, part 1</strong></em></p><p> </p><p>Auryn takes the pendant with her and briefly returns to her room to examine the object.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">(She was quite sure that this was not a trap, but she wants to be sure that there is no hidden secret or backdoor before she puts it around her neck. She's really careful, especially with amulets and the like)</span></p><p></p><p>Bit by bit she understands that this might very well be the real, original Humble Hook of Triegenes that was lost so long ago. Especially as Nicodemus being its owner might be the reason why no one was able to find it over the centuries.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">(Which makes me wonder how Nic ended up with it? Did the Hook choose him back when he was still Miller? Or was there some truth to the Crisillyiri legend that an eladrin assassin killed the Hierarch who wore it? And if so, why would the Hook have stayed with a most likely corrupt and egoistical individual?)</span></p><p></p><p>She gets that despite the fact that this is indeed a relic of the Clergy, it does seem to be caring and evoke a warm feeling with her, so she decides to give it a chance. The moment she places it around her neck, Auryn gets the feeling of someone being “home” again, despite the fact that she can sense no real intelligence from the item. She realizes that carrying it in secret will be safe for now, so she simply hides it under Livia's robes and returns to Kiov and Haffkrüger.</p><p></p><p>“You were gone for quite the long time... is everything alright?”, Carlyle asks mentally the moment Livia returns and greets the two dwarves with a friendly nod.</p><p></p><p>“I guess it is. Nicodemus just took me for a walk and I... found something strange. Something that he lost. But let us talk about that later. It is nothing that <em>he</em> should know about”</p><p></p><p>Carlyle understands that it is Gradiax whom she is talking about, so he starts a new conversation about the necessity of a planar barrier now that Auryn has returned. He stresses out that no matter the outcome of the conference, no matter the plans of the Obs or their researchers, it will be pivotal to keep the planar barrier intact in order to protect our world from extraplanar invaders.</p><p></p><p>Gradiax is very much irritated by the fact that we seem to fear these creatures so much, as we didn't fear to face his magically enhanced daughter, so we take quite the time to tell him about what we were subjected to when Sijhen, a single Gidim, escaped from a planar prison. We explain that he not only was fond of a brain diet, he also devoured knowledge and thoughts along the way and was able to transcend the fabric of time and space. Now this is something that makes the dragon in a dwarf body raise an eyebrow.</p><p></p><p>When he's still not convinced that what we witnessed was the real deal, Auryn closes Livia's eyes for a moment and then asks him to experience her memories of the attack on the RHC. She doesn't seem too happy about the fact that she'd share her own experiences with the guy who once was her mortal enemy, but this seems to convince Gradiax to accept her proposal. So she casts a modify memory to show him everything that happened after Sijhen woke up in the antimagic cell from her perspective.</p><p></p><p>“Now this is alarming indeed. I agree about the barrier for now.” he says, but before we can dig deeper into possible plans on how to make sure to keep the barrier intact, we are all being called to the main hall. There, Nicodemus explains that he is very sure that the case of Zoltan's death will come to a closure very soon, which is why we all should continue to have faith in the Obs and their plans. Therefore he'd continue with the original program of making the very first straw vote on the grand design. He then unveils a big board with a few segments and a box filled with magnets.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">(Again, this is SO much like the conferences I know. Don't know if that was the intention, but you made academic me felt totally at home with the Obscon <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> )</span></p><p></p><p>Nicodemus claims that now that we all had a chance to see the various proposals, we may just make a straw vote on our favorite factions. He says that this won't decide anything yet and is simply meant to make us acquainted with the process and to give the higher ups broad image on what to expect from such a voting process. So we may feel free to vote on whatever we'd like. Nic then takes the box of magnet and pulls out the one with Ramos Zoltan's name before using his own magnet to openly vote for Miller's Pyre. He then calls for Vicemi Terio who proclaims that the Ghost Council will vote for “other” until the very final vote where they'd follow whoever holds the majority by then. He explains that the Council is independent even though it was Amielle Latimer who presented the Watchmaker's faction before.</p><p></p><p>We then come forth one by one to cast our votes. The dwarves Kiov Hetman and Erskine Haffkrüger both vote on Arboretum while Livia, Ken Don and lastly Luc Jierre and Ottavia Sacredotte vote for Miller's Pyre.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">(As this was a straw vote, we mentally agreed to vote for whatever faction seemed most logical for our alter egos to not draw attention too soon)</span></p><p></p><p>At the end of this round, it seems as if Miller's Pyre has a rather small lead before the Colossus faction which seems to surprise both our group and Nicodemus. What's even more surprising though is the fact that even the nutjob Watchmakers got a whopping five votes.</p><p></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">(we already guessed that there would be some selfish people among the Obs, but we thought that MP was obviously meant to be the reasonable choice, so yes, we were truly surprised to see that there was only a small lead for the Pyre)</span></p><p></p><p>As we don't know how many rounds of election are still before us, we decide to return to our murder mystery and find out more about Macbannin's true nature. After all, he is our main suspect at the moment. But before we confront him, Auryn takes Carlyle aside to show him the Humble Hook. She tells him all about how she came to this artifact and also that she feels like this pendant could be the real deal. Carlyle is a bit skeptical at first as this could easily be yet another trick of Nicodemus, but Auryn convinces him that Nic had no idea that she was anyone else but Livia Hatsfield. On top of that, despite the fact that she was still estranged by Nic abusing Andrei's body, she got no sign of aggression or malevolence from the man.</p><p></p><p>“He seemed sympathetic and a bit lonely. In fact, he encouraged me to be critical and showed nothing but kindness towards scared Livia. So much that I feel like I'd even feel like I'd betrayed him and his trust.”</p><p></p><p>She then shakes her head and returns the subject back to the Humble Hook. Auryn states that she got the feeling that the Hook wants to stay with her, even though she doesn't know why it left Nicodemus.</p><p></p><p>“Then it will be fine. Just promise that you'll keep an eye on the Hook. I don't want you to proclaim Crisillyiri propaganda in the near future” Carlyle jokes and then brings on the subject of Macbannin again. We agree that it would be best to find the ghost and get to know the current version of him better. We meet the ghost in one of the common rooms and talk to him but get the feeling that we won't get any clear idea of him by just talking to him via our Ob doubles as he is just too used to play his role of sly security officer.</p><p></p><p>So we decide to split up: Auryn continues talking to Macbannin in her role of Livia who appears to be fearful for her security and wants to be sure that she's going to be safe that night. Meanwhile, Kiov leaves the scene and retreats to a private place where he performs a sending spell to Macbannin in his real persona as agent Carlyle. Carlyle tells Macbannin that he know he's still alive and asks him if everything is alright as his seal is slowly fading. He also asks whether Macbannin would be in need of help and where and how he could find him.</p><p></p><p>It doesn't take much time and Macbannin returns the message by asking Carlyle two question: First, he wants to know his agent ID. Secondly, he wants to know who watches the Darkness in his stead. Carlyle is positively surprised by this clever response and answers truthfully with his badge's ID. Regarding the second question, he answers with “Risur and the Guardians of the Border”, which seems appropriate enough for Macbannin. The ghost asks him to send an RHC team as quickly to the island of Mutravir as there is currently an Obscurati convocation happening on the Bleak Gate side of this island and he isn't too sure whether he'd be able to disturb their plans for too long.</p><p></p><p>“And here I thought you'd know us. We got four agents and allies present at the convocation. Tell me why did you kill Ramos Zoltan?”</p><p></p><p>“To cause a distraction. To gain more time for us. To erase them one by one. Also, he deserved it”</p><p></p><p>Carlyle then ceases the sendings, moves closer to Macbannin and continues via telepathy. Macbannin is a bit surprised by this sudden change, but appreciates the clever planning of the RHC as soon as he tells the ghost about his deception. He then asks Macbannin to meet him and Livia in a common room where he'd connect them all via telepathy.</p><p></p><p>Macbannin seems glad to be reunited with those who stopped him from blindly following the Obs' conspiracy in the first place and then tells us more about the problems he's facing with his plan to eradicate the conspiracy right now: That even if he'd be able to kill all of them, the ghost council would still be able to reform itself and so might be the spirit Nicodemus. He guesses that the ghosts might be tied to their elder, an especially malevolent spirit by the name of Vicemi Terio. So if he'd find a method of erasing this ghost from existence, he might be able to dissolve the council as well. Even if that would mean his own end.</p><p></p><p>Carlyle looks at Auryn/Livia and says that maybe the eldest among us might find a way for one solitary ghost to find his way out of the ghost council before he'd take such drastic measures as he surely doesn't want to lose him again. Auryn gets Carlyle's hint and asks Macbannin to touch the Hook around her neck so she might find out more about his nature. But when the ghost does so, all she feels is a mix of sadness and the bitter determination of a man who would be ready to sacrifice himself in order to protect what he loves.</p><p></p><p>She bites her mental tongue and says that she didn't sense anything useful in this regard. Carlyle nods and then lets his mind run free before his gaze falls upon the giant lighthouse.</p><p></p><p>“What if... what if the Lighthouse is nothing but one giant lantern?” he suddenly suggests. He explains this idea by the fact that something must be the cause of this giant Bleak Gate bubble and that might very well be a lantern fueled with Witchoil or something like that. Auryn adds that this might be very likely as she saw Obs security use Lanterns to make her and Nicodemus cross dimensions earlier.</p><p></p><p>If that was the case, Carlyle states, then bringing the whole palace and all of its inhabitants back to the real world via planar oil might weaken the ghost council enough that Macbannin might be able to get free. Still, he doesn't know how to operate the Lighthouse properly and he isn't sure whether Kiov would be given the proper tour by Nicodemus, so contacting Luc Jierre might be a good bet. Even if we don't really know more about his true loyalties.</p><p></p><p>“Oh, but there's more... what if we had more of this blue burning oil we found in Knütpara? We could make each and every Ob in here lethargic. This would make them an easy prey...” Carlyle muses. Macbannin smiles from ghostly ear to ear the moment he hears more about another means to eradicate the Obs.</p><p></p><p>This is where Auryn intervenes. She unconsciously grabs the Hook hanging around her neck and looks at the two men with previously unknown determination.</p><p></p><p>“I'm sorry, but I will not stand idly by and let you two commit mass murder. This is not how we deal with opposing factions. If we went down that road, then what would separate us from these very Obscurati who don't shy away from erasing everyone who stands in their way?”</p><p></p><p>She waits a moment and then adds that just a day ago, we both condemned the Obs officers who bragged about their murders, and she really doesn't wish to become what they are. So she suggests that instead we'd use the blue oil, should we find it, to arrest the Obs to bring them home and gather more information from them. To get them all, she suggests we'd call the Impossible and bring all of our prisoners aboard.</p><p></p><p>This way, she muses, they might be able to stage the biggest coup of all and catch Han Jierre himself. Which might be a means of forcing him to officially tell King Aodhan about the Obscurati. Still, getting their hands on Nicodemus might be a bit harder since he seems to be a very powerful spirit of both magic and personality. But even he might be vulnerable should his host be subjected to see the figure of a beloved person...</p><p></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">(Aaand this is where the paths begin to split. For those who are not acquainted with Zeitgeist I don't want to spoiler too much on what happens next, but we had a good surprise and laugh to see that Nic's plans and Carlyle's/Macbannin's were so much alike. But Auryn wouldn't have it as she had kind of chosen her path the moment she picked up the Humble Hook. </span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">Also, there was so much more going on behind the scenes that she wouldn't have shown to anyone, not even Carlyle. Reading through her personal notes, she wasn't really sure about her role in the whole conflict. She knew that Kasvarina helped forming and enabling the Obs. Also, she really believed that Miller's Pyre was a good plan at its core and she feared that no one else from her allies would really feel the same. In this regard she saw herself as Kas' progeny, as someone who could be destined to continue her path, even if that meant to walk it alone. And yes, she was well aware that MP and the so important empathy aspect would make her world an easy target for the Gidim which is why the planar barrier would be so important.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">Bit by bit, she unravelled the order of the Ancients but also gave herself to her own delusion that it was Kasvarina who was the one who designed the plans for the Obs, that it was Nicodemus who was her ancestor's first disciple. And that maybe, just maybe she could convince Nicodemus to work with her. To eradicate the last flaws in the plan. And she was just about to see one final flaw of her own world's design besides obviously damaged Avilona: Reida. Which will be featured in the next episode, so this is a bit spoilery... in her eyes, the world they are living in right now is not without external influence at all as Reida binds them all to a certain fate which ceases all true independence. So to achievce true freedom, she'd have to cut the threads of fate once and for all. Which will be more important in later adventures, especially in #10 and #12.</span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)"></span></p><p><span style="color: rgb(65, 168, 95)">There is also the matter of her complicated feelings regarding Carlyle. I guess it is no big secret that she does love him (even if she doesn't state it openly), but that puts her in conflict with her growing pride. She felt like she was being taught humility in front of "Fordren" which is a big no-no for her. Also, Carlyle's seeming rejection of empathy and her way of seeing the world hurt her growing ego very much. Which is maybe the point why she resonated so much with Nic in this episode. "If only everyone else was able to see the world through my eyes" was her mantra to make the world a better place, which is what Carlyle called out rightfully as being presumptuous. But which is also exactly Nicodemus' way of thought. Still she has a clear moral threshold which is likely why the Hook chose her above everyone else. Which is yet another reason why she was/is very close to continue her way on her own. This and the fact that she wasn't quite sure if Carlyle undestood exactly how many sacrifices she would have to make in order for "them" to be a thing) </span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lylandra, post: 8106162, member: 6816692"] [COLOR=rgb(65, 168, 95)]Yeah, I also think that Nic genuinely believed that a majority voting for Miller's Pyre was a non-question, which is why he was back at his optimistic self. But the way I interpret him is that he's really bad at predicting how other people might react to different choices and situations. And he's had enough setbacks to not take it lightly anymore... Which is a tragedy, really, because in that scene he was so positive and sweet. Even if this is only one part of his personality which was filled with a huge chunk of darkness over the centuries...[/COLOR] [I][B]Crossroads, part 1[/B][/I] Auryn takes the pendant with her and briefly returns to her room to examine the object. [COLOR=rgb(65, 168, 95)](She was quite sure that this was not a trap, but she wants to be sure that there is no hidden secret or backdoor before she puts it around her neck. She's really careful, especially with amulets and the like)[/COLOR] Bit by bit she understands that this might very well be the real, original Humble Hook of Triegenes that was lost so long ago. Especially as Nicodemus being its owner might be the reason why no one was able to find it over the centuries. [COLOR=rgb(65, 168, 95)](Which makes me wonder how Nic ended up with it? Did the Hook choose him back when he was still Miller? Or was there some truth to the Crisillyiri legend that an eladrin assassin killed the Hierarch who wore it? And if so, why would the Hook have stayed with a most likely corrupt and egoistical individual?)[/COLOR] She gets that despite the fact that this is indeed a relic of the Clergy, it does seem to be caring and evoke a warm feeling with her, so she decides to give it a chance. The moment she places it around her neck, Auryn gets the feeling of someone being “home” again, despite the fact that she can sense no real intelligence from the item. She realizes that carrying it in secret will be safe for now, so she simply hides it under Livia's robes and returns to Kiov and Haffkrüger. “You were gone for quite the long time... is everything alright?”, Carlyle asks mentally the moment Livia returns and greets the two dwarves with a friendly nod. “I guess it is. Nicodemus just took me for a walk and I... found something strange. Something that he lost. But let us talk about that later. It is nothing that [I]he[/I] should know about” Carlyle understands that it is Gradiax whom she is talking about, so he starts a new conversation about the necessity of a planar barrier now that Auryn has returned. He stresses out that no matter the outcome of the conference, no matter the plans of the Obs or their researchers, it will be pivotal to keep the planar barrier intact in order to protect our world from extraplanar invaders. Gradiax is very much irritated by the fact that we seem to fear these creatures so much, as we didn't fear to face his magically enhanced daughter, so we take quite the time to tell him about what we were subjected to when Sijhen, a single Gidim, escaped from a planar prison. We explain that he not only was fond of a brain diet, he also devoured knowledge and thoughts along the way and was able to transcend the fabric of time and space. Now this is something that makes the dragon in a dwarf body raise an eyebrow. When he's still not convinced that what we witnessed was the real deal, Auryn closes Livia's eyes for a moment and then asks him to experience her memories of the attack on the RHC. She doesn't seem too happy about the fact that she'd share her own experiences with the guy who once was her mortal enemy, but this seems to convince Gradiax to accept her proposal. So she casts a modify memory to show him everything that happened after Sijhen woke up in the antimagic cell from her perspective. “Now this is alarming indeed. I agree about the barrier for now.” he says, but before we can dig deeper into possible plans on how to make sure to keep the barrier intact, we are all being called to the main hall. There, Nicodemus explains that he is very sure that the case of Zoltan's death will come to a closure very soon, which is why we all should continue to have faith in the Obs and their plans. Therefore he'd continue with the original program of making the very first straw vote on the grand design. He then unveils a big board with a few segments and a box filled with magnets. [COLOR=rgb(65, 168, 95)](Again, this is SO much like the conferences I know. Don't know if that was the intention, but you made academic me felt totally at home with the Obscon ;) )[/COLOR] Nicodemus claims that now that we all had a chance to see the various proposals, we may just make a straw vote on our favorite factions. He says that this won't decide anything yet and is simply meant to make us acquainted with the process and to give the higher ups broad image on what to expect from such a voting process. So we may feel free to vote on whatever we'd like. Nic then takes the box of magnet and pulls out the one with Ramos Zoltan's name before using his own magnet to openly vote for Miller's Pyre. He then calls for Vicemi Terio who proclaims that the Ghost Council will vote for “other” until the very final vote where they'd follow whoever holds the majority by then. He explains that the Council is independent even though it was Amielle Latimer who presented the Watchmaker's faction before. We then come forth one by one to cast our votes. The dwarves Kiov Hetman and Erskine Haffkrüger both vote on Arboretum while Livia, Ken Don and lastly Luc Jierre and Ottavia Sacredotte vote for Miller's Pyre. [COLOR=rgb(65, 168, 95)](As this was a straw vote, we mentally agreed to vote for whatever faction seemed most logical for our alter egos to not draw attention too soon)[/COLOR] At the end of this round, it seems as if Miller's Pyre has a rather small lead before the Colossus faction which seems to surprise both our group and Nicodemus. What's even more surprising though is the fact that even the nutjob Watchmakers got a whopping five votes. [COLOR=rgb(65, 168, 95)](we already guessed that there would be some selfish people among the Obs, but we thought that MP was obviously meant to be the reasonable choice, so yes, we were truly surprised to see that there was only a small lead for the Pyre)[/COLOR] As we don't know how many rounds of election are still before us, we decide to return to our murder mystery and find out more about Macbannin's true nature. After all, he is our main suspect at the moment. But before we confront him, Auryn takes Carlyle aside to show him the Humble Hook. She tells him all about how she came to this artifact and also that she feels like this pendant could be the real deal. Carlyle is a bit skeptical at first as this could easily be yet another trick of Nicodemus, but Auryn convinces him that Nic had no idea that she was anyone else but Livia Hatsfield. On top of that, despite the fact that she was still estranged by Nic abusing Andrei's body, she got no sign of aggression or malevolence from the man. “He seemed sympathetic and a bit lonely. In fact, he encouraged me to be critical and showed nothing but kindness towards scared Livia. So much that I feel like I'd even feel like I'd betrayed him and his trust.” She then shakes her head and returns the subject back to the Humble Hook. Auryn states that she got the feeling that the Hook wants to stay with her, even though she doesn't know why it left Nicodemus. “Then it will be fine. Just promise that you'll keep an eye on the Hook. I don't want you to proclaim Crisillyiri propaganda in the near future” Carlyle jokes and then brings on the subject of Macbannin again. We agree that it would be best to find the ghost and get to know the current version of him better. We meet the ghost in one of the common rooms and talk to him but get the feeling that we won't get any clear idea of him by just talking to him via our Ob doubles as he is just too used to play his role of sly security officer. So we decide to split up: Auryn continues talking to Macbannin in her role of Livia who appears to be fearful for her security and wants to be sure that she's going to be safe that night. Meanwhile, Kiov leaves the scene and retreats to a private place where he performs a sending spell to Macbannin in his real persona as agent Carlyle. Carlyle tells Macbannin that he know he's still alive and asks him if everything is alright as his seal is slowly fading. He also asks whether Macbannin would be in need of help and where and how he could find him. It doesn't take much time and Macbannin returns the message by asking Carlyle two question: First, he wants to know his agent ID. Secondly, he wants to know who watches the Darkness in his stead. Carlyle is positively surprised by this clever response and answers truthfully with his badge's ID. Regarding the second question, he answers with “Risur and the Guardians of the Border”, which seems appropriate enough for Macbannin. The ghost asks him to send an RHC team as quickly to the island of Mutravir as there is currently an Obscurati convocation happening on the Bleak Gate side of this island and he isn't too sure whether he'd be able to disturb their plans for too long. “And here I thought you'd know us. We got four agents and allies present at the convocation. Tell me why did you kill Ramos Zoltan?” “To cause a distraction. To gain more time for us. To erase them one by one. Also, he deserved it” Carlyle then ceases the sendings, moves closer to Macbannin and continues via telepathy. Macbannin is a bit surprised by this sudden change, but appreciates the clever planning of the RHC as soon as he tells the ghost about his deception. He then asks Macbannin to meet him and Livia in a common room where he'd connect them all via telepathy. Macbannin seems glad to be reunited with those who stopped him from blindly following the Obs' conspiracy in the first place and then tells us more about the problems he's facing with his plan to eradicate the conspiracy right now: That even if he'd be able to kill all of them, the ghost council would still be able to reform itself and so might be the spirit Nicodemus. He guesses that the ghosts might be tied to their elder, an especially malevolent spirit by the name of Vicemi Terio. So if he'd find a method of erasing this ghost from existence, he might be able to dissolve the council as well. Even if that would mean his own end. Carlyle looks at Auryn/Livia and says that maybe the eldest among us might find a way for one solitary ghost to find his way out of the ghost council before he'd take such drastic measures as he surely doesn't want to lose him again. Auryn gets Carlyle's hint and asks Macbannin to touch the Hook around her neck so she might find out more about his nature. But when the ghost does so, all she feels is a mix of sadness and the bitter determination of a man who would be ready to sacrifice himself in order to protect what he loves. She bites her mental tongue and says that she didn't sense anything useful in this regard. Carlyle nods and then lets his mind run free before his gaze falls upon the giant lighthouse. “What if... what if the Lighthouse is nothing but one giant lantern?” he suddenly suggests. He explains this idea by the fact that something must be the cause of this giant Bleak Gate bubble and that might very well be a lantern fueled with Witchoil or something like that. Auryn adds that this might be very likely as she saw Obs security use Lanterns to make her and Nicodemus cross dimensions earlier. If that was the case, Carlyle states, then bringing the whole palace and all of its inhabitants back to the real world via planar oil might weaken the ghost council enough that Macbannin might be able to get free. Still, he doesn't know how to operate the Lighthouse properly and he isn't sure whether Kiov would be given the proper tour by Nicodemus, so contacting Luc Jierre might be a good bet. Even if we don't really know more about his true loyalties. “Oh, but there's more... what if we had more of this blue burning oil we found in Knütpara? We could make each and every Ob in here lethargic. This would make them an easy prey...” Carlyle muses. Macbannin smiles from ghostly ear to ear the moment he hears more about another means to eradicate the Obs. This is where Auryn intervenes. She unconsciously grabs the Hook hanging around her neck and looks at the two men with previously unknown determination. “I'm sorry, but I will not stand idly by and let you two commit mass murder. This is not how we deal with opposing factions. If we went down that road, then what would separate us from these very Obscurati who don't shy away from erasing everyone who stands in their way?” She waits a moment and then adds that just a day ago, we both condemned the Obs officers who bragged about their murders, and she really doesn't wish to become what they are. So she suggests that instead we'd use the blue oil, should we find it, to arrest the Obs to bring them home and gather more information from them. To get them all, she suggests we'd call the Impossible and bring all of our prisoners aboard. This way, she muses, they might be able to stage the biggest coup of all and catch Han Jierre himself. Which might be a means of forcing him to officially tell King Aodhan about the Obscurati. Still, getting their hands on Nicodemus might be a bit harder since he seems to be a very powerful spirit of both magic and personality. But even he might be vulnerable should his host be subjected to see the figure of a beloved person... [COLOR=rgb(65, 168, 95)](Aaand this is where the paths begin to split. For those who are not acquainted with Zeitgeist I don't want to spoiler too much on what happens next, but we had a good surprise and laugh to see that Nic's plans and Carlyle's/Macbannin's were so much alike. But Auryn wouldn't have it as she had kind of chosen her path the moment she picked up the Humble Hook. Also, there was so much more going on behind the scenes that she wouldn't have shown to anyone, not even Carlyle. Reading through her personal notes, she wasn't really sure about her role in the whole conflict. She knew that Kasvarina helped forming and enabling the Obs. Also, she really believed that Miller's Pyre was a good plan at its core and she feared that no one else from her allies would really feel the same. In this regard she saw herself as Kas' progeny, as someone who could be destined to continue her path, even if that meant to walk it alone. And yes, she was well aware that MP and the so important empathy aspect would make her world an easy target for the Gidim which is why the planar barrier would be so important. Bit by bit, she unravelled the order of the Ancients but also gave herself to her own delusion that it was Kasvarina who was the one who designed the plans for the Obs, that it was Nicodemus who was her ancestor's first disciple. And that maybe, just maybe she could convince Nicodemus to work with her. To eradicate the last flaws in the plan. And she was just about to see one final flaw of her own world's design besides obviously damaged Avilona: Reida. Which will be featured in the next episode, so this is a bit spoilery... in her eyes, the world they are living in right now is not without external influence at all as Reida binds them all to a certain fate which ceases all true independence. So to achievce true freedom, she'd have to cut the threads of fate once and for all. Which will be more important in later adventures, especially in #10 and #12. There is also the matter of her complicated feelings regarding Carlyle. I guess it is no big secret that she does love him (even if she doesn't state it openly), but that puts her in conflict with her growing pride. She felt like she was being taught humility in front of "Fordren" which is a big no-no for her. Also, Carlyle's seeming rejection of empathy and her way of seeing the world hurt her growing ego very much. Which is maybe the point why she resonated so much with Nic in this episode. "If only everyone else was able to see the world through my eyes" was her mantra to make the world a better place, which is what Carlyle called out rightfully as being presumptuous. But which is also exactly Nicodemus' way of thought. Still she has a clear moral threshold which is likely why the Hook chose her above everyone else. Which is yet another reason why she was/is very close to continue her way on her own. This and the fact that she wasn't quite sure if Carlyle undestood exactly how many sacrifices she would have to make in order for "them" to be a thing) [/COLOR] [/QUOTE]
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