"That so? You remind me of myself somewhat, putting the common folk first above all else. It is the promise I've made to Cinderfall as a whole so seeing people wanting to carry out the same promise warms my heart." He smiled at Barrium before looking over to Liara, chuckling. "I like this man! He has a nice personality to him."

Looking back over to the man, he did noticed that he had no weapon on him. A shield, yeah but nothing to strike down an enemy with. However Liara did mention a weapon and pendant. Was it from the Water Lodestone expedition she recently went on? Sadly he couldn't attend for he had matters to deal with at the time.

"The Alliance are going to have a rude wakeup call when they decide to test Cinderfall's strength. You can count on that for sure. We as an order dedicate our lives and very souls to protecting those here in Cinderfall from the dangers of Azraelism spured on by the Oscuri of New Alteros. We also take precautions into a battle on home turf by the Alliance. They see Necromancy as a 'holy' art but one needs bodies to raise. Hence why we have a mandatory cremation of bodies. Every little step to lower the chances of New Alteros or Nostvale gaining the upper hand."
(Sirus Blackmane)
"Loaning me a weapon..." He lapsed into silence for a moment, contemplating the idea, rolling it around in his mind just a little before a curt shake of his head broke him out of it. "I could not possibly accept such a thing. I am a stranger here, a stranger that has yet to prove himself, I must add. It would be better if you placed that weapon into the hands of someone who had no other means of defence."

"I have such means." His hand pat his bare side where a weapon would sit. "Though I just do not like walking around so heavily armed with so many children about. After all you saw how much they tend to cling to me..." He gave Liara a knowing smile which soon faded back into an expression of rather dire seriousness.

"But yes, you both speak the truth... The east... the west... the whole country it's... It really is falling to pieces. And I agree, we should be mountain within the storm... I have no doubts that this place can bear such a heavy war. As for striking out though... I do not see that going as well. We are outnumbered, heavily as you say. And any sort of frontal assault would certainly leave our rear, this place, open to attack."

"And it is not as though Cinderfall has enough people to spare for a joint offence and defence... It seems we need an opening to strike."
(Barrium Ardate)
Indicated by way of his patting showwing he truly did have a weapon, a blade specifically, the blunette would nod to Barrium understanding. "If you insist friend." The concession was truthful, perhaps one of Cinderfalls water magi would benefit better from the Trident, especially one that is yet still unarmed.

As she'd take a deep breath she nodded to Sirus' comments. "Yes, and all of that said, I want to ask, Sirus, would you like to do the honors, if Barrium is willing to swear to them. Present him his oaths to the Eternal Flame." It wasn't laziness, if it were, she wouldn't have handled the bulk of inducting Marcel and Sitrianna, but this was different from that.

Barrium had a comment, outnumberred. Strategy played the role of looking at numbers, at looking at key weakpoints. An olden warlord once said; knowing yourself and know the enemy to not fear the end result of one hundred battles, otherwise, victory and defeat go hand in hand, or worse, victory would never be ones to call owned. "We may be out numberred, but we'll win this through attrition, the Alliance largely has to come either overseas or through the caves to strike Cinderfall. Both a means of deathtrapping the forces of our enemies, either on the coast with no access to escape or supply, or thin them out at the cave entrances. Those that manage to slip by being swept up by the military of Cinderfall at large." Simply put, Cinderfall itself, was a defensive plan from its establishment on.
(Liara Myr)
"Mn." Barrium muttered in agreement with Liara's assessment. "Yes, as I thought. This place is a fortress designed for defence. The true problems will come once we must attack. And that is when we must act wisely. There are many methods of entry to Cinderfall. While there are few for a whole army to march through, there's nothing stopping a strike force of Magi..."

"We live in a world where one man is worth ten thousand men. Where a team of five can wipe out an entire city. It is all well and good to prepare for war, but what are the preparations for acts of... subterfuge? For the small scale. The powerful magi, the incredible warriors... what happens if they sneak in? What about spies that are already among you?"

"I have heard talk of... depraved creatures living here and I must admit. It does waver my faith a little... I am a man of honour and duty. I am bound to my own code of ethics and, given that, I don't know how many of your oaths I can truly accept. After all I am already oath bound to serve higher powers as it is. I cannot shirk my duty to them..."
(Barrium Ardate)
Barrium spoke up, calling to bare his fears. "That is sadly true, there isn't much of anywhere that is impregnable to magi strike forces, but if they come in with just magi, they must then also contend with the larger portion, the lower end magi, of the Eternal flame, ontop of our own more potent magi. It's not a situation I think even Aamon would stroll upon so blindly." Calling into question the intellegence of his foe, to not recognize when the art of war was being played upon him.

The blue eyes would rest upon Barrium as he spoke of the depraved beings of Cinderfall. "I know what of which you speak, I'm not very much for allowing them to be here, but one of them promised personally to me once all is said and done, they will submit to being purged of what makes them depraved, entirely. An Eyrean fae, named Harkon.  As for two others that I'm sure you are speaking of, the Kaor Vox. . . sadly he's an artifact, grandfatherred in by my predecessor, but his one strike warning still stands, firmly. If he ever tries to double cross Cinderfall, I will put him to the axe myself, where Maria cannot." She said three, perhaps there was not as much of a positive disposition into regards on this third.

The woman took a deep breath and shook her head a slight. "As for the other one, let us just say that I'm not very trusting of her, her only excuse in her own defence being she was born that way, which I find as an excuse and only one such thing alone, if you can have reason, you can strive to better yourself, if you ask me. I have something to ask her about that may well be the last straw on me restraining myself against her, as soon as she is back in Cinderfall and I've ran into her. I hope that's adequate enough an explaination on the dealings with all three of the depraved creatures that I know of here in Cinderfall." A Grandfather rules protected Yokai, an occultic fae made by Erlkonig to be the way he was, and something else, a her nonetheless.

"Higher powers? As in a plural of gods and goddesses?" She thinks now that she has him pinned down for what he is. "The Clergum is welcome here in Cinderfall, you need not speak so vaguely friend."
(Liara Myr)
"I'm afraid I must always speak so vaguely on such matters. Religion is very... It's prone to conflicts. Even though two follow near identical dogma, if the teachings come from different places then out come the inquisitions and heresy brands... Even among allies i would rather keep my faith to myself. I'd rather not cause... problems."

And speaking of problems... "Yokai should never be trusted. No matter what, they will always lie and betray. You should know this. Everyone should know this by now... This Vox, they're an artifact that needs to be exiled. We need strength in this war, yes, but not one that can so firmly drive a dagger into our spines Do not trust such creatures..."

"I would not trust any depraved creature. They are unstable by nature and prone to distrust and sin. The lesser of two evils is still evil after all. And even if they are 'necessary' to win. We may lose too much through trusting them."
(Barrium Ardate)
So he couldn't speak of it, a shame, even as his word cues hinted at what she thought he might be with them, he denied stating it. "Trust me, my eyes are like a hawk on his back, first hint he gives he's thinking it, he will not be given the chance to stab us in the back- letting him go honestly would be more of a liability. Sadly from his pressence the whole while of Cinderfalls growth into what it is, even with his interrim genuine actions, I still just as you advise, do not wholly trust him. I feel harkon's pain as he speaks however, as he spoke mentioning being entirely done with depravity as a whole, after living through centuries of it." There the subject was, Harkon.

Her brow remained firmly in line as she'd speak, not quirked with curiousity. "I feel he's possibly one of the lone acceptions. Being he's a fae, a natural empath. But the other two? Certainly, I'll relent that they're quite frankly unlikely to be worth the weight, and discomfort they cause in the slightest. But if I can successfully help Harkon through rehabilitating himself, and willingly at that? Perhaps it's a hopeful story for all those whom fall to depraved influences." It wasn't like Harkon tried to stab Cinderfall in the back, even if he was annoying at times, it's not like he did anything out of meaning harm.

The blue eyes closed as she'd nod to Barrium. "Even still, I will heed your concern, I'll only trust Harkon so long as I can feel there's any genuine lick of decency in his actions and words, as for something or someone depraved, he's done a good job of containing and restraining himself as far as I'm aware." Meaning to say that, if Harkon lost progress towards decency, there might be even be the most harsh of actions taken for it.
(Liara Myr)
"I never said anything about letting the Yokai go..." Gods no, not those vile creatures he added to himself. "His kind cannot be trusted, especially in the wilds. Even if he had never come here, would you honestly let him live if you came across him in the wilds? Would you not strike down any Yokai you come across? They all seek the same thing, power through death and consumption."

"Oh, some of them might come across as noble. 'He only eats his own kind so he's perfectly safe.' Sentiments like that, yes? People always get it wrong. There is no redemption for them. They are, by design, forced to destroy and corrupt. It is all we can do to prevent them from doing such things. To kill them. To stop them before they go too far and destroy too much.

He seemed to be ranting... "The fairy... he may find redemption and absolution. Though I doubt there is any true way to cure depravity... outside of divine intervention that is. And even then..." Barrium shook his head slowly. "I fear that... in trying to create a sanctuary, things have become... lenient with regards to the dangers."

"We have a duty to the weak and defenceless... and we have a duty to destroy that which is wrong."
(Barrium Ardate)
There was a firm nod. "Honestly I've tried to be firm, but a large amount of my colleagues, now subordinants, are heftily against it. It was hard enough to get people to shut up about the yokai at large being marked to be repelled or killed on sight. Like I said about Vox however, he's grandfatherred. And the way things are, to get actions to be taken I'd have to call a meeting of the champions. Harkon, honestly, is the only of those I think that can earn absolution, and be redeemed. Out of the three." Liara would take a deep breath.

"Beyond that, when I started up the Oscuri covens to try to rehabilitate as many of them as possible away from He who cursed them, I got way more flak than was remotely sensible, their demands which I tried to concede and give compromise on a very small direct and explicit case, one that couldn't possibly be replicated by other Oscuri, their sides representatives just entirely argued in a circle after, in place of that concession, the third; the girl of the three depraveds of Cinderfall demanding it take place, requested it be brought up to a meeting of Champions. Literal circle, calling for the exploitaiton of said Oscuri's ties exploiting their blood and heritage, for personal gain, Cinderfall does not and would not stand for that." Simply put, she didn't even exploit holding the King of Nostvale hostage, he was returned as he was to his home, his people.

"At anyrate, we do have those duties, but I sadly have restrictions to even my own authority to respect. Otherwise, the entirety of the council of Champions has a bad case of wig day. And Cinderfall doesn't need to be at its own throat, just as much as I'd like to deal with all but Harkon of those three definitively." She wanted to see Harkon Succeed in redemption, after all, it would be a shining case to make for those thinking they cannot reach redemption, for something forced by an imperfect into a depraved for as this.
(Liara Myr)
"This council... it sounds... problematic. What is there to argue about? They cannot seriously defend a yokai? Not while still calling themselves fit to lead these people forwards. It's... It's stupid. It makes me wonder why there even is a council at all.Democracy never works in a crisis. While I am not abdicating for a tyrant or anything like that, you cannot listen to the voice of everyone."

"Because, as tough as it is to say, most people are idiots. How could they possibly bring up any arguments against things that would move cinderfall forwards? Who is on this council? Who is it that opposes these changes? Who is it that is trying to hold back Cinderfall? Because these sort of people should not be on any kind of council at all..."

He was, well, Barrium was more than a little annoyed. Justice and duty were important to him. And more importantly they were sacred to his patron. To hear about people who would argue of their duties, who would shirk justice... It was enough to cause him to grind his teeth.
(Barrium Ardate)
"Largely the Champions, I don't know that they would move this way in regards to Vox, however, they did when I'd acted against Oscuri-kind, and so bluntly included one that was formerly our own in the actions." Liara wasn't fond of reflecting on that arguement, and the fact that some still blindly held it against her.

Her gaze lulling a bit. "I'm glad that some one agrees with me, but the council, Sirus included, don't quite see eye to eye with the need for autonomy for the high leader of a nation in times of Crisis and war, although, sure I can see it in domestic issues, matters between citizens proper, but not when it comes to the well being of many a thousand people." It was refreshing to talk to some one with an actual head up their shoulders, rather than rammed someplace else.

A deep breath then, as she'd simply rest her eyes shut for a moment. "Like, many of the Champions are actually reasonable, but a few troubled types, are the ones that leave me fearful for what will be said at a council meeting to discern this, so I'm waiting mostly to hear who will be my parallel to discuss it firmly in a no mudslinging meeting, and honestly, the willingness to respect that constraint, is going to be the back breaker for if a council in this way can even work." Troubled types, perhaps mentally? Either way, her blue eyes still remained closed as she'd spoke to Barrium.

"Honestly, it's been refrehing to speak to you Barrium, some one who I can see eye to eye with, and agree with, far more than many of the rest of Cinderfall." She took a deep breath and a moment to open her eyes and be quite at ease now. "It's going to be a long and beautiful friendship I hope."
(Liara Myr)
"I hope for a long friendship too, one where the people here find better, truer homes in the world. I can already see the happiness that saturates this place. You would not believe how long it has been since I had seen a child happily playing with a smile on their face." His own expression seemed to cast downwards in quiet... pain.

"These Champions, they... worry me. Not everyone should have power, and that is a good thing. There are those that cannot deal with it. Whether it be due to pressure, due to inexperience or just plain lack of ability. Not every man is destined for great things, and if a humble man is brought to a position of power... the power suddenly loses its value."

"That's not to devalue the people themselves of course. It is simply... how things are. Your champions can be fine soldiers, fine men... but that does not make them fit to make decisions for everyone else." The tired looking man let out a weak sigh, one summing up his thoughts on the matter. "Perhaps things can be improved further down the line."
(Barrium Ardate)
A smile came to Liara's face at that last notion. "Yes, indeed, better in the future. And indeed also, not all of them are fit for the authority on their plate, originally with the election of a parallel, the plan would have been to have the bicameral system of leadership take the place of the council entirely, but neither Sirus nor the council at large was going to have that. So yea. . ." Compromise.

Even still, she would nod. "If that's all you'd like to talk about today Barrium, I'd like to thank you for giving me a conversation partner to talk to that could see eye to eye with me, I really appreciate it."

She would await the answer with a warm smile, the new friend. "Indeed, I grew up as one of those children that didn't really smile much, all the way until a foster family took me in back when I was of Nostvale."
(Liara Myr)