TO: EVERYONE [mid-event #20]

[aquaveiled]

[ This message is sent for all Summoned to see about a week after the dreams and Heralds made their presence known. ]

Hello everyone. I know we're all dealing with a lot right now, but I thought this was worth the surprise eyeball-script.

The Heralds of War likely need no introduction at this point, but some of us still remember when they first arrived a few years ago after a poorly performed ritual in Solvunn. During that time, I'd managed to make contact with Koth and have tried to maintain some communication.

[ Not necessarily advised--Himeka did this of her own accord and curiosity. Those who are aware of her tree-form may have noticed that some of the limbs have been wilting and rotting the more time she's spent reaching out to Koth. But that's neither here nor there. ]

She's not always easy to understand, but when we spoke when they first appeared, one word came through:

"Mission"

For years my friends and I have been wondering what this meant. Now that she's back, I sought clarity. Or...I guess confirmation.

I understand her more easily these days so I reached out to her earlier today and she did confirm that this is that mission. What's happening right now in all of our communities. I'm not sure if war itself is inevitable...but she seems to believe that what she's doing will help there to be peace afterwards.

I know many here have seen war in their own lives and on their own stars before this place. If you'd like to share your stories, I would welcome them. I don't think peace is ever as simple as we want it to be, but as for if this is the only path forward...

I'm rambling a bit. This may not be a grand revelation, but I thought it important to share that what is happening now may have been building for the last few years and mayhaps some time before that as well. Only now, we may have a part to play.

Please take care,

水


[ ooc; This is Himeka's interpretation! So it may not be 100% accurate. Based on the mod response here. ]

Comments

[princeofruin]

It was one of the few moments of that life that were truly enjoyable.

[krakened]

Fuck yeah it was, mate.
Might put on a real life current-day version, actually.

[princeofruin]

I can think of nothing more worthy of defying kingdom lines for.

[krakened]

—I hate to ask, though, but
who are you again?

[ Dion never introduced himself as Dion, alright, this isn't his fault. ]

[princeofruin]

[In a strange moment of clarity, Dion realizes this may be one of the first times in his life someone has asked who he is.

In some way he cannot fully define, it is rather... pleasant. He could leave the man without answered his question, only to continue to wonder. Yet the god he was is still a part of him, now. Rejecting its memory would only serve to distance himself from the responsibility of its creation.]

Ah... at the time, I believe you may have known me as "Bahamut". A dragon.

[krakened]

Ohhh, yeah, the dragon.
You were quite awesome, we loved having you in the audience.

...Do you still turn into a dragon?

[princeofruin]

[In a small way, he doesn't wish to disappoint Ed. Or perhaps it is only a private joke.]

Only for special occasions.

[krakened]

Yeah, me, too, brother. Sometimes when I take a bath, the tentacles just sort of pop on out.

[princeofruin]

I'm sorry? The tentacles... you have them, even now?

Forgive my asking, but... do you not find that disturbing?

[If only he could say he asks Edward for himself, not for the kraken's sake; he should like to think there may be a moment where seeing his scaled, clawed hands does not disturb him.]

[krakened]

Wellll...the first time it happened, it was mildly upsetting.

[ He screamed. ]

But I dunno, they only come out when I'm in the water.

Also, we have a massive shark on legs walking around, so I don't think the locals are super freaked out by a few tentacles or anything.

[princeofruin]

Mildly.

[He thinks of the gouges in the walls of his room left by his claws, his torn sheets. The face Carmy made when he walked into their room to see it changed, but how he did not question it. Nor the gloves Dion now wears.]

So they are not so strange in comparison. I see. I'm... glad for you. That you have acclimated.

[aquaveiled]

It's you!

[princeofruin]

[He may have already made a grave mistake in speaking the name aloud. Fate did not waste its time.]

I suppose if Bahamut is who you seek, then it is me.

[aquaveiled]

[ As a Dragoon he shall, too, know the fear of someone much smaller than him hunting him down across nations. Affectionately. ]

You gave Thancred a run for his money. But that's all under the bridge now, as they say.

When things settle down, I have a new recipe for you.

[princeofruin]

I--

[Forgive him the pause. It is a new thing to feel shame attached to Bahamut's name in such a distinctly personal manner. Actions he still struggles to accept as his own, actually, when they are so separated by time and humanity.]

I should like it if you do not hold those actions against me. They were not mine. Not... as I am now.

I would be honoured to try your cuisine once more, my lady, should you find my company acceptable.

[After he almost killed your friend. Not that Dion blames Thancred for being quite wary of him still.]

[aquaveiled]

It would be very hypocritical of me to think ill of you for what happened then.

[ Himeka made a right mess of things herself, costing the lives of many mortals. She's quick to forgive either way. ]

Besides, I think it's important to keep dragon relations open across all stars. We don't want them getting lonely.

[ Dragon Mental Health is a common denominator in disasters? So. ]

[princeofruin]

You were fine company, but... I am sorry to hear that those years were not entirely kind to you, either.

[Perhaps dragons were not meant to live that long.]

I suppose some have grown used to it. But I do not believe that makes loneliness any easier to bear.

[aquaveiled]

It seems to be the experience for most. Mayhaps that is something we should keep in mind when we talk to the gods now.

[ They may have forgotten themselves, fallen into new ways of existence they can't escape. It doesn't undo what they do, but it does offer some insight--they may not be able to reason. ]

You don't happen to have a Tiamat on your star, do you?

[princeofruin]

You mean to show them sympathy. A worthy cause, but a difficult one.

Not as I believe you mean. Tiamat was believed to be the name of a noble dragon once under the service of my goddess. There are many such similar dragons with similar tales.

[aquaveiled]

Sympathy, yes. An understanding. Though that does not undo their actions now, nor should it stop us from acting if we can.

[ Himeka does have a painful tendency to give the benefit of the doubt even in the worst circumstances. She's getting better. She's trying. There is messiness even in the best of intentions. ]

Oh, I see. Now I have to ask if any of these names occur in your stories:

Midgardsormr
Hraesvelgr
Nidhogg
Ratatoskr
Vrtra
Azdaja

[princeofruin]

Be sure you do not lend too much to sympathy. Even when we were gods, there was intention to every action. It was not animal instinct which drove us.

[And even animal instinct is simply striving to survive. What the gods push onto mortals is not for their own survival. It is selfish in nature. From boredom, or want of power, or from hate.]

These are the names of dragons from your... your star? Several I recognize, though I cannot pinpoint from where; I have indulged in many tomes about the founding of the Empire, and its deep roots in dragon mythology, written with great amounts of reverence, and I imagine that is where they originate. It is even said that the whole of our lands grow on the back of a great wyrm, large enough to contain multiple continents.

I cannot begin to say why such names should bound across worlds... other than that, perhaps, some of our stories have a touch of truth, and there are beings beyond gods capable of such a feat.

[aquaveiled]

I agree. It's not so much as an excuse but more insight.

Yes, they are. Although technically Midgardsormr came from another star and brought his eggs with him. All other dragons came from his children.

On the back of a great wyrm! I cannot say that is out of the realm of possibility.

[ Zenos managed to create a battlefield on his back, after all. So who knows? ]

I believe that some of us exist as pieces of the same original star. Valisthea may have been part of Etheirys once.

[princeofruin]

The two can be too entwined in some moments.

I suppose I have heard stranger than dragons originating from other heavenly bodies. [It is a nicer belief than to think that which he holds most sacred, most holy, was created by beings as cold and cruel as Ultima. Life whose only purpose was to serve.

He does not believe that to be true for humanity, and he shall not accept it for the draconic.]

Or perhaps your Etheirys was a piece of Valisthea.

[aquaveiled]

If there is one thing I have learned over the years is that the world and beyond is much stranger than I could have ever imagined. And more wonderful, too.

From Valisthea?

I hadn't considered that...but I suppose the Ascians wouldn't know of a before their own Sundering...a shard of a shard?