An Unlikely Collaboration.

[Tebrin]

Kyra scowled at Ariane's affirmation of her own suspicions - Teron's inability to reason. "It speaks volumes to me that he converses with me peacefully. He has threatened, certainly, but that he has the presence of mind to stay his hand against a foe of whose ability he is not certain. It speaks of some capacity to reason. Something other than uncontrollable fury. And then there is the matter of this supposed second personality..."

Slender left index finger tapped against pursed, pink lips, a displeased frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. "I am aware of the Governor's plans, crafted by the artificer Elspeth, and I am uncertain of their chances. It is not an area of expertise - my knowledge of psionics is much akin to my knowledge of... this subject of which we speak." Again, sick of using the 'n word.' "Elspeth assures me she has confidence in it. I am not so certain - my expertise lies in combat, healing, and diplomacy." War and peace. Somewhat ironic.

"The fiend is similar to a horrifying beast from my homelands called the lazar - the raised corpses of my people. Powerful, insane magic-users all. They would not be harmed by simple steel, either. It is to combat them that I learned those accursed runes - and why I feel I have a chance at doing some harm to the Ashfiend. I have been preparing equipment with runes which will enable them to protect from and cause harm to the Ashfiend's minions - the beast itself is particularly more powerful, and thus far more difficult to wound, as you have noted."

The curl of a small, bitter smile - but the sorceress seemed a bit more relaxed, feeling some common ground with this woman who neither understood nor trusted her craft, yet REQUESTED it. "If it were not so, I would not be needed. Oh, that it were so! But, a tear?" She fell silent, lips forming a small circle, then rolling to the right as she contemplated. "Intriguing... what 'accident' led to the shedding of a tear? I have never seen such a thing from a lazar. And you say it -hurt- him?" This had caught the magister's attention, straightened her back, squared her shoulders.

She nodded at the foreign word, apparently UNDERSTANDING it - for what that might have interested Ariane. "You have piqued my curiosity, Ariane. Were that there were some way to test this theory, but it is worthy of consideration. I do not mean to sound rude, but I hope you can understand what it means that I am even -contemplating- this," she said this solemnly, leaning forward a little. "I will need to consider it. However, there is a catch... I would need her remains. It would be exceedingly difficult for me to accomplish this without a focus - and though an object of great personal value to Elysia would work, I am uncertain such an object exists."

She leaned back within her seat, crossing one slender leg over the other, clasping hands against her thigh. "I do not like your idea, but I cannot deny its potential. And I will not lie and claim I could not accomplish it. I would know anything you do about the Ashfiend and his fallen love, and we will need to find some way to provide me the reagent I would need... and it would be nice if Elspeth succeeded and made this whole discussion moot. Would you care for some wine, Ariane? I think I should like a glass." She was waving for the waitress, then.

[Carnath-Emory]

"With you," she interjects at that first. "And with I myself. No, I will qualify that: he is capable of reasoning. But circumstance turns him from too many of his conclusions. He cannot tolerate them, and there are many that he will not hear, there are words that will provoke him immediately to violence. That, that fury you describe, it is simpler for him. It is kinder to him than these other things. As for this other .. persona, this Penroll trapped within him, mn. I am not so sure of it.

"I want to be, and I am wary of conclusions reached by want."

There is a moment of fleeting difficulty now, for they approach a matter on which the swordswoman must concede that her reasoning is prone to bias. Certainly it is one that she finds distasteful on some very personal level, and so there must be some bite of apple to rid her throat of its taste, some sip of water to follow it. Then, then...

"I have no faith in the Artificer's confidence. I do reckon it prejudiced. But I have a great deal more faith in the Governor's confidence in what she has wrought, and still I would rather any reasonable alternative than what they have planned. What I ask of you ... is not reasonable. It is desperate. I know this very well. Will you tell me of these weapons? But -- " a hand is already shifting the question aside "-- later, if you will."

That is only practical. Here is a thing which is not: the small moue of her lips at mention of this tear, at the question which follows it. The hesitation which is required before she can shape any answer at all, for this is a matter which strikes close to her heart, in a manner that even she can understand is unusual. A breath here, an inhalation of quiet...

"I have said that we spoke ... reasonably, yes? The Ashfiend and I. It was for some time that we spoke, and of many things; terrible things, sorrowful things. They grieved him, certain of these. They grieved him so powerfully that he wept, and where that tear moved upon him, it left flesh that was scarred, scarred like it were furrowed, like it were burned. So -- do you see?

"But do not mistake me, sera. I find this vile, to consume a creature in such grief that it is undone by its own sorrow. I am not easy with magicking at all, and this -- sera, what you speak is not rudeness. It is ..." 'Ethical' is not a word which features in her vocabulary. "Reason, and I am glad of it. But ... ah."

For a girl has arrived to take Kyra's request, and the swordswoman is dormant throughout the moment, is quietened until the pretty thing has moved well away from them.

"I cannot give you what remains of her. But he will be near to us, yes? And he wears those remains at his side, carries them with him always. Would this be sufficient?"

[Tebrin]

Capable of reasoning, but unable to maintain it. This made some sense to her, so that she was nodding, frowning, wishing that the creature were simply NICER. Ah, if only... "Again, the concept of multiple personalities is really not my expertise. I could likely work with it, were I forced to, but it is my understanding that Elspeth has a better grasp on such tactics than I." And Ariane's estimation of Elspeth's confidence brought a wry smile to the woman's soft lips. "Nor I, Ariane, though I have confidence in her -ability-, such that I believe there is some merit in her attempt."

Then, gravely: "I suppose we shall soon see." Lighter, then, relaxed, shoulders rolled to attempt to work some kink from her musculature. "I would be happy to discuss them, to provide you with one for your use, whatever you desire... at some other time, yes." Currently, there were more important matters to discuss.

"Then it is no 'accident' by which he wept. The beast feels emotion, and can, perhaps, be defeated -by- it. Of what did you speak in that precise moment? I should imagine that his lost love would be the thing most likely to achieve our goals, but if you managed to have an impact with other talk..." Well, perhaps -that- would be an avenue worth exploring? And Ariane's estimation of her own request drew silent agreement from the magister. Vile, cruel even... but what choice did they have? She ordered two glasses of wine, since Ariane had not declined, and thanked the girl politely for her time.

This refusal, then, and Kyra frowned. "I was told it was taken from him once... I should not think it impossible to do. You must understand, the task you present me is far more difficult without such a focus nearby. And I am skeptical that I will be allowed to work my enchantment if Teron were nearby himself. ...It WOULD be sufficient, yes, were he present with the remains." Her brow had furrowed, and but for that blindfold, the woman would have been squinting suspiciously at Ariane. "What makes you think he will not interfere with my spellcasting if he were audience to it?"

[Carnath-Emory]

"There is some merit," she concedes; one of very few concessions, regarding Elspeth's role in Myrken's future. "And there is no better choice than hers, no other likely hope at all."

And then there is wine arriving, for which the swordswoman must be grateful, despite all of her intentions. The matter of weapons, mundane and otherwise, is for the moment dismissed silently; instead she turns herself a moment towards the sliding of a glass towards the other woman's fingers. There is a sip taken from her own, and a swift second, before:

"Thank you. As you say, it was ... by no chance that he wept, it was not -- no." A stammering moment in the midst of what has been a very long conversation; at some point this was inevitable. Kyra will not see the flicker of frustration across the swordswoman's small features, will not see the brief and furious scowl. Her company allows a person certain liberties of expression. A breath is required, as she orders difficult thoughts upon a difficult moment. A breath, another sip from that glass.

"I did not intend to cause him grief. He described for me the crux of his intentions: the ending of every threat to his Elysia, which meant the ending of all life entirely. He described for me the scope of his vengeance, and I asked did it bring him any joy at all. He said to me that it did not even give him hope."

Ah. That wine is necessary after all.

"So I asked him this thing, what would come at the end of it all, did he succeed. Did he lay the world itself to waste, did he dispatch every living, feeling thing upon it. He does not die, mn? So I asked him this, how it would be to remain eternal in a world gone empty and quiet, I asked him how he could stand it -- "

And this is piercingly difficult; were the need not so great, she would never have spoken these words, and certainly not to a virtual stranger. Were the threat not absolutely, she would have found another way and spared herself this. Spared him this. But of course, were that the case, they would not sit here now at all, and so she must take this breath and speak this conclusion:

"He answered me. He answered that he cannot. And as he spoke the word he wept this single tear."

A moment's quiet, then. The moment before it had been sufficient to gild her resolve.

"I will not take that urn from him. More, I will warn you now that should you find another more willing than I, you will doom him with your request. More than any other thing -- more than murder, more than his vengeance -- he cares for that urn. At Snowstill, he left his pursuit of chyort Vraal the moment that urn was seized from him; he abandoned his mortal enemy, he ceased to have interest in him. His interest was that urn, in the slaying of she who'd stolen it and in the reclaiming of it. So it is a difficult task that I present to you, sera. I know this.

And I will share in it. For it is as you say, he would surely mean to end your work before it had truly begun, mn? So you will wake me from that sorcerous sleep before you begin, sera, and we shall be glad that the Artificer has dispelled the shadows through which he travels."

With some slight, firm lift of her chin, here; with a clear-eyed gaze set evenly upon hers, for all that she'll never know it.

"I cannot slay him, m'sera. But I can perform very well as an obstacle."

[Tebrin]

"Indeed," She replies to the first... "sometimes, false hope is good hope." Skeptical to no end. Mind wars? It sounded hokey, frankly. She murmurs her thanks and takes up her glass of wine, sipping gently upon the liquid therein.

"He spoke similarly, to me. An interesting beast, truly, that he can acknowledge the despair of his own plans and still stick unyieldingly to them." Lips pursed into a small frown as she listened to Ariane's description, her recountenance of this particular encounter with the Ashfiend. And that Kyra was mildly touched by the story was evident in her faint nod, in the soft, sorrowful sigh that slipped her lips. If it were not for Teron's overbearing cruelty, she might have pitied him.

But Ariane's refusal drew a scowl, a stiffening of the magister's back. "I will tell you, Ariane, that if there is one thing you have indicated to me through this conversation, it is that we must be willing to do what is NECESSARY, even if it is not PLEASANT. You seem to refuse to take the urn out of pity, and I will not lie - your pity should be for those he has murdered, those who are orphans for him, those who are homeless for him... we are discussing his end. Would you truly jeopardize our chance of success in this desperation out of pity?" Her words were quiet, well-measured, but she was clearly displeased.

"I am every bit as capable of casting the spell with Teron present and the urn in his possession than with him absent and the urn in OURS... however, it is a terrible risk to take, to allow him the opportunity to end our attempt, to kill us both, and to wreak his havoc upon the living world because of our failure... because of your -pity-." Gentle rebuke, even a hint of anger, but it subsided with a sudden, thoughtful look.

"Still... I cannot say I do not find your empathy remarkable, if also a liability." This small compliment was admitted to, and then her frown was hidden behind her glass. "I also find it a bit bothersome that you would ask this thing of me, which turns my stomach to consider, and not, yourself, be willing to commit an act you find abhorrent because it is needed in order to be successful. You would really give your life to prevent his heartache? Particularly when we discuss his end -anyways-? You confuse me, Ariane. You confuse me -greatly-."

This glass of wine was set down, then, and she suddenly wished it had been brandy that she had ordered. "If I am not mistaken, then, it is your attention to partake in Elspeth's attack, to awaken after its completion, should it fail, and to immediately set to work upon this? Or is this something we are to attempt before Elspeth's ploy ends? And... what is this, then, of dispelled shadows?"

And what good, really, could a single mensch woman do to prevent Teron Ashfiend from killing Kyra if he truly desired? This question went unspoken.

[Carnath-Emory]

[INDENT]"I do not have an artist's mind. I must see things far more simply, else I would never lift a weapon again. To see the whole of a thing and find every part of it precious; to see it the next day as a thing that must suffer, or a thing that must be slain, or a thing that cannot be had -- ah. I ... I could not do this," she demured, with something like regret. His eyes were for the landscape then, and his mind committed to the movement of ideas. After a time, he replied:

"I think we are equipped with a great many capabilities, though whether we utilize such things depends on the history and the present hour. It depends on hurts which have come before, or inclinations, too... as a mind learns what is cruel and what is gentle..."
[/INDENT]


The woman, the magicker, speaks her words; in the moments which follow, a great many of them are dismissed. She has given new definition to their encounter, or more precisely she has steered it back towards its initial definitions, and discovers almost immediately that a swordswoman is not wholly adverse to this.

Interest is irrelevant. Hope, false or otherwise, has no bearing on this matter. Their business is not philosophy.

"No. Sera, you mistake me - or else I speak so poorly that I cannot be understood. What I indicate is an opportunity. It exists regardless of my sympathies, and sera, I've not told you nearly enough that you may guess at those with any accuracy."

There is a moment's pause in which wine is exchanged for cool water.

"It exists despite every word that we speak here, and it is all that I have communicated to you. You are capable of making good of that opportunity. You are better capable if there is a sword to ensure that you survive the attempt, and I have given you that. You are better capable if that urn is in your hands, and sera, that I will not give you."

This is the sound of Refusal, blunt and quiet. It is spoken with cool eyes and an even gaze, spoken as surely as if she described the colour of the sky, the rise and set of the sun.

"My sole reluctance is nothing that I can capably explain. I know this for fact; I do not belittle myself with another failed attempt. I do not make this request of you in order to challenge your capacity for distaste. I request it because the skill to fill that request is yours. And then I leave the answer to you." She is standing slowly, now.

"Elspeth von Drakken has the means to dispell what shadows there may be; did you know this? Now you do. I have the means to obstruct the Ashfiend until your work is complete or I am dead, and sera, three encounters with the chyort have not slain me yet. If the governor's plan goes awry, you wake me - or have another do it for you. Then you set his woman before him."

Standing, straightening, with an apple for her hand and the rest left behind her.

"That is the whole of it. That is the opportunity. Say yes; say no; it is for you to weigh and decide. It is not for me to persuade."

[Tebrin]

Here, two wills clashed. Ariane's stubborn and illogical refusal met Kyra's desire for reassurance that if she were to sully herself, it would WORK...

And, somewhere, her fear that they would both wind up dead, and Myrken the worse for it. But there was a point to be made, here - an opportunity existed, which Kyra could choose to take advantage of... or which she could let slip away. The worst that could happen was that it did not work - and then they were in the same situation as if she had never tried. The ivory-haired woman pursed her lips tightly together, considered this at length as Ariane spoke, uttering not the slightest of sounds to interrupt.

And here was Ariane, then, claiming to have fought the thing three different times - and living to tell about it. That alone lofted the woman's brows, drew her chin up so that she faced Ariane's voice more fully, smiling a bit lopsidedly. "Elspeth can do a great many things of which I had no idea. It is a comforting fact - that Teron should have to circumnavigate you physically to get to me. I shall have to focus entirely upon the casting, and less upon my defenses -- so I trust that you do not exaggerate your abilities."

If it was a challenge, it did not sound as such. Her cultured tones simply spoke honesty - if Ariane were exaggerating... they would likely both wind up dead. It was a terrible trust to place in a near-stranger... but, then, this was mutual, was it not? Then there was the matter of Niall, the girl who was to stand guard with Kyra over the bodies of those involved in Elspeth's ploy. What, then, to do with her?

"I shall think on it, Ariane. Ironically, you make almost as much sense as you -fail- to make. I apologize if I seem rude, or put off... it is simply... well. As you said. A terrible thing to have to do." Rising to her feet, then, she bowed low at the waist, keeping her balance with one hand clutching her staff. "We shall speak more of it after I have had some time to reflect. Take care of yourself, in the meantime."

[Carnath-Emory]

When her process was logic, men deemed her a monster; when her process is intuitive, they judge her to be without conscience. Here she stands, with her apple and her defiances and her very few hopes, and this may be the moment in which she determines that the cause of this therefore does not lie in herself, but in their circumstances...

In some unusual fashion, on some wholly personal level, this has become a pivotal conversation. In a friend's company it would surely have been continued, she would have insisted upon this, coaxed this from her companion with such things as wine and laughter, fireside seats. Sorcerous Kyra is barely an aquaintance.

"I understand. And I will not accept your apology; there is no need for it, mn?" With some light smile, that last, some quiet deference in her tone, but only that. Kyra has spoken her farewells, and Ariane demures from them; the swordswoman has already turned away.