Reunion - Fallout

[§~Samwise~§]

The War Council disbanded and almost everyone seemed to leave the communal area. Sae and Ve'ra had specifically left the Glade. Alastair and Konane had left to speak with Alain. The Gunslingers that had been invited left in order to finish tending to their own responsibilities.

Taliesin had stayed, wishing just to speak with Mirrai. There was a reaction on his face to what Sae had said last, but he had managed to maintain an overall expression that hid more.(Deception Rolled 18+3 )

As the numbers in the communal room had diminished he spoke softly. "I-I'm sorry, Mirrai. I had not intended ..." He trailed off half expecting her to leave with the others. He hadn't spoken with her about this before, had deliberately not pushed, and yet his actions had a way of forcing her hand anyway.

[Ancelas]

Mirrai sighed and rubbed at her eyes. She did not appear angry, just... weary. "I know. It's not your fault... one way or another, I would have had to say something. And it seemed like there was a lot of... secrets and obfuscation today that needed to be cleared."

She dropped her hand and rested both hands on the table edge before her so she had something to lean against. "I'm sure you can understand why I haven't been as... forthright... as I could have been, though. How do you broach the subject of maybe being related to an evil god without causing an uproar, particularly when you can't be sure yourself?"

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin stayed where he was for the moment in order to give her space to move and process. He refrained from giving an initial response and instead took the time to really consider her words.

"I can understand." He offered slowly. "It's difficult. Similar to trying to explain to a group that though a god may be helping them, the god only cares that their champion lives to complete their duty - even if it means the end of the group."

He pulled out a chair and sat down. "Some conversations will always be uncomfortable and cause contention."

[Ancelas]

Mirrai sighed before drawing out a seat for herself. "I wish Sae hadn't jumped to her conclusions so quickly... I feel like she is prone to think the worst of me, but I'm not sure what I've done to make her think so. I never asked for plans to be changed, and I certainly had no desire to use that thing you acquired from the enemy - particularly after seeing what it had done to her. And yet somehow I feel as though keeping my doubts to myself is tantamount to betrayal in her eyes."

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin couldn't help but to smirk sadly and shake his head some as she spoke. Part of the answer meant a small history lesson.

"She is a recovering follower of Talos and was brought up in a noble family. She was meant to be a Priestess, but didn't have the temperament to hold the position, in spite of that temperament being kind of perfect for a Talosian Priestess to have. Upon returning home she was arranged to be married, but found out that her fiance and his family were cult members following one of Ruin's pantheon. She executed him as would be expected of a follower of Talos and had the remaining family turned in. She was then relatively quickly passed off to the Gunslinger life as a means to give her freedom and a life outside of her home."

He let out a heavy sigh and continued, his eyes looking far off and through a bottle on the table. "Sae is like an abused pet. She's got all her self worth wrapped up in how useful she is to others and sees any hindrance to plans as a failure on her part and therefor diminishing her value. All her life experiences have only reinforced those feelings."

He looked back up to Mirrai. "She despises cowardice and manipulations and wants her plans not to be ruined in order to save as many people as possible to make up for what she believes are her failures. And she doesn't often ask clarifying questions to understand the whys of a motive in an emotional situation. So, as you saw moments ago, instead of waiting by for a full explanation on why Kilamo was different to Zychni or others she simply stabbed at me with something she knew would hurt me and left with her own interpretation cemented. Whether Ve'ra will talk her into seeing more to it, or convince her to talk to you directly ... who knows."

[Ancelas]

"Be that as it may, she is not the only one to endure hardships," Mirrai said, looking over at Taliesin. "You did not even argue against the plan - you asked if an alternative was possible, and it was as though someone stabbed her. I gave her honesty - which she asked for - and was met with hostility. Valor Company is embroiled in a war - if plans can't be discussed with cool heads, or if someone throws a fit because someone raises an objection, do you really think any of your allies will be inclined to follow you?"

Mirrai sat back and threw up her hands. "Gods above, now I'm angry. I never asked to be here. I never wanted to return to Mobius without my father. Now I'm stuck here, stuck in a war with divinities I don't even recognize, with no home, no family, and no friends. Pardon, I mean outside of you and Valor company."

She leaned forward, her eyes watering despite the anger and frustration in her voice. "I have nowhere to go, so I am trying to be as helpful as possible until I can figure things out. I don't deserve this."

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin listened without interjection. Halfway through his neutral expression turned into a frown. There were raw emotions and framing of the words to follow was paramount.

His eyes fell to the bottle again. "All of our allies have seen that we produce results that they want, even if we do not appear in a manner that they want. And there are those that would rather take the path of least resistance and focus on ending the threat rather than to sympathize and offer redemption."

"You're right, you don't deserve this, and you have every right to be angry. Knowing Sae as I do she has probably attributed my sneaky attempt at changing the plan as something you coerced. And to a Mareki that kind of behavior is the act of a coward and that is something Sae does not handle well." He looked up again into Mirrai's eyes.

"I'm not condoning, just trying to offer explanation that will aid in a future discussion that might correct this." He reached out and laid his arm on the table, hand open.

"If the goddess Kilamo really is your aunt Lyssa ... then I expect that my story mirrors hers. Those touched by Change were actively vilified during and following the Days of Fury. It's no stretch of imagination to believe that she had lost her family and turned to vengeance to quell the pain. And then her Goddess recognized her potential and gave her a further gift to end those responsible for all of the pain." He could've been very wrong, but having been in a similar situation it made as much sense as anything. Something had to trigger a wild change if she had been a kind and gentle being prior.

He let silence fall while waiting for a reply. His mind wandered and wondered. Mirrai didn't have to be the one to communicate. Sae had mentioned seeing the Man in Black and his surroundings. Someone else could initiate the communication and simply have Kilamo see Mirrai nearby. That could be himself. Mirrai could simply be beside him. Kilamo should know that the Palontir was cursed. He had gone out of his way to help Mirrai and protect her. Even knowing that he could lift the curse, why would he knowingly let her be cursed just to coax Kilamo out? Maybe reaching out on her behalf to keep her curse free would be appreciated?

[Ancelas]

Mirrai waved a hand negligently. "I was there when you killed Velkyn - I'm fully aware of what Valor Company is capable of. And even know, you've gathered the forces of three nations to your cause. Those are accomplishments that entire kingdoms are built on, and yet they are treated so... dismissively. Like they are somehow not good enough in the face of lacking complete authority over everything and everyone."

Mirrai huffed and leaned back, turning her gaze on Taliesin. The anger on her face subsided slightly. "I'm venting. I'm sorry. I already feel useless, and being made to feel like a further problem does not sit well with me. Maybe it would be better for everyone if I were to strike out on my own. But no doubt I would be looked down upon for that, too."

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin marked that she had not taken his hand and slowly pulled it back. He tried to quell his inner panic from showing, but he was not as good at hiding that as he hoped. ((Deception 9 Rolled6+3)) The expression on his face betrayed a sense of fear, perhaps loss as well.

He opted to understand her words as a witness overall and after the fact and not a suggestion that she was there to witness his death, which she wasn't. That was something that had caused him great concern when she had initially fought alongside them, and then suddenly wasn't there on The Queen's Gambit with everyone else.

"I don't believe it would be better for everyone if you left." He quickly continued. "Though I can understand if circumstances proved that Kilamo was your Aunt Lyssa that you might take an opportunity to leave with her if she offered." He kept his reply short and instead worked on fixing his face to show calm and control.

[Ancelas]

Mirrai shot Taliesin an incredulous glance. "By all accounts, IF my aunt is indeed Kilamo, she's a murderous demigod who tried to end the world once already, and is now responsible for the suffering of an entire city, let alone the twisted religion Ve'ra told me the drow follow. Do you truly think that I would leave to be with a person like that over you? Over Valor Company?"

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin found himself in a weird position that he had not anticipated. He looked on at Mirrai who was clearly riled. In for a penny ... "I expect that family ties can sway decisions in ways we don't expect. And the context you have for Kilamo is shaped on incomplete information."

"History is written by the victor. And the victor is not always altruistic enough to include their own shortcomings. Outside of Valor Company most of the world believes that Change struck Preservation during their disagreement which started the Days of Fury. But we know that it was Preservation who struck first. The world was nearly destroyed because Preservation started a fight and forced the other dragons and their pantheons to take sides. At some point Change became referred to as Ruin and that stuck."

He reached out and took the bottle from the table in hand. "We don't know the specifics of the disagreement that started the fight, but it's safe to say that Change wasn't advocating to end the world and by extension that suggests Kilamo was not aiming for that either. And sure, she's currently roosted in occupation over a town, but if there are still natives of Kyr alive in that town after all this time, then she is not as blood-thirsty as depicted."

He opened the bottle and laid the cork on the table. He tipped it back and took a sip of mead and set it back down gently as to only lightly make a sound. "I was raised by someone who took part in awful things against my people, my family, who realized what they were doing was wrong after being a party to them. They got a second chance, through raising me, to change and atone. Years later my experiences combined with Silvanis' limited view had me walking the path of a zealot. I was doing things from a point of vengeance that some would deem unforgivable. But Valor Company gave me a second chance."

He twisted the bottle on the table. "You're asking the wrong person if you expected me to say no."

[Ancelas]

Mirrai's brow furrowed, then eased, as Taliesin explained his thinking. With a sigh, she leaned forward and folded her arms on the table, sinking low until she could rest her chin on them. "I suppose you have a point," she conceded. "And if I'm being honest... I'm not sure how I would feel if she offered me a chance to join her."

Mirrai stared across the table for a long moment before closing her eyes. "...My mother is a goddess. Was a goddess. Her name was Marrin, and as far as I can tell, the world's forgotten that she ever existed."

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin continued to slowly twist the bottle in hand. At the statement that her mother was a Goddess the twisting stopped. Now things made a little more sense. That was why she wasn't as downbeat about the time passage and returning to her mother. He furrowed his brows marking the similarity between her mothers name and another Illyrian tribe. That was easily shrugged off though.

He pulled out his little notebook and the charcoal he had. He flipped to the area he had been taking down notes on the gods and their relics. He scrawled the name and underlined it. "You may have missed asking the people most likely to know. So I'm just going to ask several questions and I will take down some notes."

He didn't wait for her to open her eyes, or lift her head, or get a chance to respond even. "Whose pantheon was Marrin part of? What was her domain? Did she have a special moniker like Breaker of Chains, Forest Guardian, Lorekeeper, and if so what was it? Do you know where her most important shrine was located?"

His hand hovered over the book waiting for Mirrai to start answering.

[Ancelas]

Mirrai opened her eyes but continued staring ahead. "I didn't, Taliesin. She served in Adonai's pantheon, and I questioned the priests down in the city. The temple to Adonai had statues of the gods in her pantheon, and those I spoke to were very knowledgeable - and they all insisted that there were no other gods under Preservation's wings. Minor guardian spirits in the like... but no other gods.

"She was a goddess of light and life... happiness and good fortune. Joy. You don't just... forget... a god like that exists. Not unless..." She trailed off, her eyes going downcast. The Days of Fury - that war had only just begun when she sent my father and I away. From what I gathered, there are very few records of that time, and most of what's known come from oral traditions."

[§~Samwise~§]

Taliesin scrawled down the answers Mirrai gave, but then stopped as her answers sank in and consequence reared its head. He looked up to her. "Kurnoth, a deity of hunters and those protecting the natural cycle. All, but unknown outside of a place that venerates nature and the cycle. Unknown to those same people whom only had a handful of statues and spirits to show. None of whom have spoken directly to a god to ask about those they don't know to ask after."

He sighed. "I can't promise anything - but the more that I know the more likely I can get an answer." He shifted his book on the table, moved his hands into position and readied again. "Did she have a moniker? What continent was her most important holy site located? Was there another deity with whom she was close with?"