Meeting With The Legate (10/16)

He turns back over to Dura and gives a thumbs-up in reply, his metal hand clinking as the fingers move into place. "Sure thing. Let's make it quick."
(Anreed)
[04:03:12]
The Regent slinks into the cliff-side office, creaking down into a seat.

"So. I did read what you had to say."

"And I'll tell you now, it already matches most of the demands we're going to make of Deliverance as it stands. We were finally able to get a meeting with them."
(Dura Levante)
[04:04:09]
Anreed gives a thumbs-up in reply. "Shit, I shoulda came right to you and asked, then, because from what I'd heard it didn't seem Providence was all that interested in pursuing. What're the other demands you asked for?"
(Anreed)
[04:05:22]
The Regent folds her arms and arches a brow.

"No. We have a list of demands and if they don't meet it, hostilities are likely to resume. They're not in any position to bargain."

"Don't know what the rumor mill spins up. But I don't like to talk politics too openly given who and what likes to spread bullshit around the island, yeah?"
(Dura Levante)
[04:07:26] OOC - SueTwo: $10000 dollars to anyone who kills dezhinn irl
[04:07:49] OOC - imbabey: what ore did he pick before you
[04:09:34]
He'd think on it for a sec, then momentarily pucker his lips and give an exaggerated shrug. "Yeah, well... Fair enough. I mean, I don't even have to say anything at all for someone to start accusing me of wanting all Nephilim dead." He'd laugh at that.

"You thinkin' Providence can win the war against Deliverance without allied participation?" His weapon forges itself into reality in front of Dura- then, he shifts it into a little stool, which he promptly sits his ass down upon as he leans forward hunched. "And, uh... What're the demands?"
(Anreed)
[04:15:29]
"Exactly. People have big ears and bigger mouths. It's the last thing I need."

The Regent wobbles her hand back and forth.

"...We took a big hit with the last war. That much is uncertain. But from the sounds of it, you, Boundary, and probably Urosil would all be on the table to leverage against them."

"Urosil at least has promised as much."

"The first and most important? Stopping the Pillar from disrupting the Cycle. No more pulling in of Souls. No more Risen. No nothing.

Our people go in to study it to make sure that dismantling it isn't going to cause issue. There's a rumor that outright destroying it will either open a leak of Naim, or make the situation in Kal Azul with the undead worse. I'm not going to believe it until I can bring my people in to see it for myself.

Thirdly, they return any and all bodies of the dead they've taken from anywhere so long as they've been functioning. That all stops now."

"Part of it is also ensuring that, with the Pillar no longer being tended, the current Risen will not only stop continuing to spread corruption by their nature, but the prevailing theory is they will actively begin to decay. Another thing I want my own people to study. The less they know of that part the better."
(Dura Levante)
[04:15:48] Dura Levante says, "And of course, they must absolutely never set foot in Kal Azul with their magic."
[04:24:11]
And he's just chillin' and sittin' as Dura talks. Didn't seem like he disagreed or that he was all too worried. "Yeah, heard 'bout that one." He'd nod in agreement with what was said about the Pillar's leak of Naim. "Boundary wanted me to do somethin' about that too, to uh, be careful not to f*** over Samsara or whatever. Haven't been there myself to see it but that's what I was told."

He nods about how with the Pillar being unattended, the Risen will stop spreading corruption. "They need to be pumped full of Void magic every so often, else they just give up and fall over dead. Many of them are being sustained by the Pillar."

There's something of a devious look in his eye as he thrums his fingers on his thigh. "Hey, Dura. What're you most interested in, anyway? What drove you to come to Sarea, to take up Demetri's mantle, to..." He'd wave his hand around, gesturing into the air vaguely. "Everything, really. All of that. There any way I can help?"
(Anreed)
[04:32:08]
"Yeah. We'll see what's propaganda and reality. Everyone likes to wag their tongue about stuff," she snorts, folding her arms over her chest.

"...But I can believe my own eyes and expertise. So that's how I'm going to do it."

"All the better if they can just...rot away and be done with it." Her jaw works back and forth and she exhales.

"Everything I have done has meant to, directly or indirectly, help my people and my Home. In Kal Azul. Taking up Demetri's mantle was...unexpected. But important for that too." The fold of her arms lowers. She idly reaches out and fiddles with a glass paperweight.

"I took up the mantle because it was his dying wish - and I knew I had the will to see what needed to be done through. What drives me though, Anreed?"

"...I believe my people, my Home, and all of us on Rhyst, can be better. And we can't do that if we're undead thralls and puppets, now can we?"

"What would help best? Is if they deny negotiations, having someone swing the first blow. Providence is still recovering, but we'll be ready to do our part if we have to."
(Dura Levante)
[04:49:38]
"Man, I wish everyone was just like me. F***in' moronic and knowing they're not smart at all." He'd raise his left hand up to stroke his beard as he said it, the Mark of Intellect very clearly seared on the back of his one remaining human hand. He'd laugh boisterously, grinning wildly.
"If people just shut the f**k up on things they didn't know anything about, it'd make life a loooot easier."

The stool of Volition forms a backrest as Anreed decides to lean back, his head tilted up with that same grin on his face as he listened silently and patiently to Dura. Her dreams, her goals, her desires. And as she speaks he keeps that smile on his face, but it shifts. It's not a grin as if someone told a good joke, it's a confident, proud smile, just small enough that it's a closed-lip smile but just wide enough that it's straining and wrinkling the sides of his face.

"Now-- I'm... not a lofty man. In fact, really, I'm just a guy. I killed people and things when I was a boy, and I continue killing shit now that I'm a grown ass, old man." As if to prove his point, when he rolls his head around on his shoulders, grey and black hairs fall over his face. "But I do value Rhyst. I'm an insignificant speck of dust."

"So I'll put everything I have to keeping this world going. So others get the chance I had, and so that the ones who came before- who gave me the opportunity to live and breathe- can rest peacefully, knowing this world won't be menaced. I think there's a global lineage we all need to work towards and uphold. It's a massive burden on all of our shoulders but it should be done.

Otherwise, well... What was it all for?" He'd chuckle softly, his head craning up and off to the side as he spoke. "Their lives. Their hopes. Their dreams. If we didn't protect this world from... Chiriel's dream to reforge the Shimmer, or the conquest of the Demons, or the Unseelie's rebirth..." his gaze directs itself towards Dura once more. He leans back in, speaking in a soft voice.

"...Or, like you said. Being made into undead thralls and puppets. Frankly, that's among the worst fates I could imagine. Alive just enough that we can be seen, our legacies and our heraldry can be witnessed, but... Too dead to remember any of it anymore. A mockery of what we once were."

He'd raise his human left fist to his chest. Then, he thumps his armor twice, 'THUMP-THUMP', rattling the plates like they were the very drums of war itself. "There's things far more important than myself and my own life that deserve to be fought for and protected. I'll come with you on your diplomatic meeting, and if things don't go well? I'll march my Legion right on their doorstep and kick their ass."

He extends his metallic right hand for a handshake. "That a deal?"
(Anreed)
[04:57:43]
"I think my brother said it to me best once." There is a slight smile, but it is the most sardonic thing she can muster. "I am just smart enough to be a problem."

"...Neither of us came from lofty beginnings then. And I don't suspect I'm going to have a lofty end either. That's just how it's going to be."

"We both value Rhyst, it's safe to say. And seeing it continue to exist? I want that. Though there are parts of it I want broken down and changed for the better."

"A lot of work to do on that end," she mumbles pensively.

"We don't need any of those forces. Not the Demons, the Unseelie, the curse of undeath or any of it. We can forge our own way."

She's seen so many of her own people fall to its grip.

The Regent regards the hand, the offer, and there is a frown and a slight shake of her head.

"The diplomatic meeting is soon. And unfortunately a delegate from Urosil that very much wants to kill you will be in attendance."

"But having someone from Urosil there is necessary to show a unified front against Deliverance - that we're not going to bend, and if they don't the whole island will be at them all over again."
(Dura Levante)
[05:17:18]
Smart enough to be a problem. Yeah, he can get behind that.

She shakes her head, and his eyebrows raise.
"Yeah, Chiriel? Trust me-- the little shit won't make a move. Too cowardly for that. I've stared him in the face at the Fire Apheiron and he simply looked back and let me leave."

"He's all talk. Always has been. Cries and screams that he does care, but he doesn't give a shit about anyone other than himself."

"Pascha sacrificed himself up on that Moon so Chiriel could, maybe realize what he's doing was bad. That he should turn away from the Shimmer. And still... all that Chiriel's focused on is making sure he can meet with the rest of that deranged lunatic he worships. Demetri was captured right in front of him, and he didn't step in. Chiriel watched, and then he turned away."
Anreed shakes his head. "He's known those two for decades and still, he's only thinking about himself and that desire of his. You think he's your friend?"

There's a loud snort from Anreed as he thought about it. "F***in' Shimmerbeasts. There's no loyalty there at all. You know- I personally watched him sit down with Deliverance and make an alliance? Right smack dab in the middle of ol' Rivercrest, back when it was still just a backwater little place with almost nobody living in it."

He'd lean back once more, tilting his head off to the right side. "Tizetch, the Wealdwalker that got killed, corroborated that, too. Talked about how he jumped out to attack Xi without orders, and Xi's only response was that she thought Urosil and Deliverance were still allies. When Shepherd and I went over to Deliverance to declare war, Xi warned us right to our face that we'd see pressure from all sides. Sure enough, Urosil was breathing down our necks."

"In other words... I'm telling you to cut them loose as quickly as you can. They don't value your life. They don't respect you or your purpose. In his eyes, you're beneath him. He's the Shimmer to a damn T."

"If I were you? I'd do your damn best to avoid him. Most of 'em are fine enough, especially the newer people. Fiadh, Lilac, Cerise... But as long as the Shimmer's there to f**k things up, you can't fully trust 'em."

Anreed sticks his hand back out again.

"I'll come to the meet. Chiriel will look at me, and he won't do a damn thing. I'll simply ignore him. We keep it nice and easy. We focus on Deliverance, and Deliverance only, then we all part our ways."

"That a plan?"
(Anreed)
[05:26:37]
The Regent listens. She watches him. There is a moment where she gets a thousand yard stare.

"...No. I have no illusions about that. My life has no meaning to Chiriel. I would bet it has little meaning to most of Providence or the world. My life only has meaning to me."

"We all die alone, Anreed."

A pause. That's neither here nor there. She shoves down the memory somewhere deep.

"Once this is done? I'll hopefully have no more to deal with him.  But if I bring you in there, he will never let me hear the end of it. Neither will my Court."

Dura looks to the hand for a long time. A moment hesitation. Another shake of her head.

"The Shimmer might be a selfish thing. But I'm a woman of my word, Anreed. I'm not going to haul you in there with Chiriel on some surprise meeting. I understand where you're coming from."

"Only hope you can understand where I am coming from. Our talks will end, and I can inform you on how they go. Chiriel will be there mostly as a threat by his presence. I'll be running the actual meeting."

"I've already made that very clear with him."
(Dura Levante)
[05:44:26]
Anreed lowers his hand, his eyebrows raising in surprise at the spoken conviction of her words, contorting into a seething rage that only expresses itself with a slight bite in his words, and the passion of his speech.

"Shut up."

The man is quiet for a moment, as if mulling over his own words, surprised it came out that way. Then he continues, ranting, the usual monotone of his voice entirely overthrown by the seriousness in his speech as he stares directly into Dura's eyes.
"Don't say that shit. Just because we die alone doesn't mean that we live on in others. Your life has the meaning you make of it and the meaning others make of it, too. And through you, Demetri's will lives on."

He's sitting straight up. Anreed raises his hand to point at Dura.
"It's you that inherited his purpose and his life, in every sense of the word. He gave his title to you, and he gave his mission to you." Every time he says the word 'you', he moves his pointed finger closer to her then pulls it back for dramatic effect. "It's f***ing you."

"You are meaningful. You have purpose. You matter. So shut the f**k up. If you die, I'm going to shout your f**kin' virtues at the top of my lungs, as I try for every other Rhystian on this f**king world, and the people close to you will do the exact same thing. Even if I weren't there to remind people you existed- that doesn't mean you didn't, or that you didn't have meaning. Even if you wasted your life and did absolutely f**king nothing, the hopes that your previous generations had for you is the meaning you carry within you."

"We share this world, we love each other, and when we die we die knowing others will live on for us. And that matters. It means something."

Finally finished with his ranting, he lets out a loud exhale. The angry look on his face is settled, as he looks upon Dura with worry on it rather than hatred.
...

"...F**k, where were we...?" Despite the fact he was just denied the opportunity to attend the meeting, he doesn't seem anywhere nearly as miffed at that. Definitely not as pissed as he was at what she'd said about herself.

"Oh, yeah, right. If you won't let me attend, then let some of my Legionnaires come along to pass on news if I can't. EXCEL and Shepherd."
(Anreed)
[05:50:17]
The Regent blinks. Several times in rapid succession. She doesn't shrink or wither away from the anger - a younger Dura surely would have, one less seasoned by time and trial and tribulation.

Her expression shifts through a few different stages. It scrunches, brow furrowing, jaw tightening. Then relaxes, save for the brow.

Then finally it all relaxes into something strangely solemn as she regards Anreed again once his furor fades to that worry.

Man there's a lot to unpack in that tirade. When was the last time she got earnestly yelled at?

"That. I think I can do. I'll see about bringing one of them along."

She rises up from where she sits and, finally, extends a hand.
(Dura Levante)
[06:00:28] Chat command attempt: /who
[06:01:27]
The calloused, asshole merc rises up to his feet, too, and the ethereal Volition he carries with him, the stool he was seated on, dissipates into the wind as he stands.

"It's as good as done."

Anreed's hand reaches out to Dura. What once was a hand of flesh and bone has since been cut off in the defense of others, now metal and magic. It thrums softly with a soothing geomantic presence, clicking softly as the joints and the fingers shift to grip her hand in it.

With the other hand, he raises it to point at her once more. "And don't f**king forget what I said."
Then it falls back down to his side. "I meant it. Don't let the stresses of your job and your past blind you to it. It's hard, I know- it's so, so hard. Endure, and... believe that others will dutifully uphold your life, as you are upholding all of Kal Azul on your shoulders."
Paldurexian and Melusine ideals, in a way. But they were his long before he ever really knew of them.

"Anyway... That everything you'd like to talk to me about? I have just one question to ask, afterwards, if that's all."
(Anreed)
[06:03:22]
A hand of crystal meets that of metal. She grips it tightly and she bounces it once, twice, thrice. The deal is sealed.

"I don't think I've been shouted like that in a long time," she says with a snort of laughter. "I don't think I could forget."

"I think. That covered everything. Shoot, and we can wrap up here."
(Dura Levante)
[06:06:03]
He'd let out a simple 'ha', his hunchback and caved-in shoulders bouncing as he laughed breathlessly. "Good. If you need someone to shout at you like that again, I'm open for business twenty four seven."

"What's Providence's stance on my Urosil warrant anyways? I've walked in and out of the city, looked DeLisle, yourself, Celius, Asphodel, and just... a bunch of other people, right in the eye. Yet nobody's said a word to me about it. Not a peep."
(Anreed)
[06:06:40] Dura Levante says, "Personally? Until Chiriel himself mentions something about it..."
[06:06:46] Dura Levante says, "I don't care."
[06:06:55] Dura Levante says, "I think technically we are legally obligated to uphold their warrants."
[06:06:59] Anreed says, "Heh. Funny how many people think the same way."