Aion Teleos Network

[The feelings and visions that come through the communion, rattled and uncontrolled, are samples of something dark and painful. Scenes from the raid on Achamoth, the towering black walls, blood, the Sanctifier in the sky, pain, more pain— Finally, a voice wrestles control and comes into audible focus, strained and slow. The few who have spoken with her might recognize it as the centaur (jinba) Hayame.]

I have... a prisoner. The shard of the Kenoma called "M".

Someone- Someone ask that Tehri woman... If she knows of a place safe from the Regent's eyes. Or if one of the... "magic" users know a way...

If there is none... I will just move. I will keep moving.

I will need supplies. Food and... bandages, and--

[Suddenly, there is a surge of... something, a combination of panic, genuine shock, disgust, rage, and a weird bleed-through sense of... more than one person? Very briefly, it feels like there's more than one consciousness involved, but Hayame's voice returns.]

A bit.

Blinders.

Earplugs.

That is what I need.

Bring them... and I will tell you where to find me.

[OOC: Content warnings for mention of beheadings/an-animated-severed-head that may crop up in comments. This is the IC kick-off for a player plot, with more details and options for others to get involved coming soon to an OOC comm near you!]

[Despite Claude's best efforts to shut his emotions out of this communion, it's impossible to fully avoid muted feelings of anger and bitterness leaking across the connection. Still, he addresses his thoughts in a calm, measured way, even if he's noticeably more downbeat than usual.]

Hiya. This is Claude, one of the new guys. I know most of us are still licking our wounds after what happened in Achamoth, but I wanted to discuss a few things.

What was the point of invading Achamoth, really? We attacked an enemy's stronghold, took back two of our own like we planned, sure-- but we lost two more in the process, and at least one smaller dragon lost its life trying to save us. And what else did we get out of it? A single prisoner? Some superficial damage to the city, which mostly would've just hurt civilians?

I don't want to act like war is just a game of numbers, when so many of you cared about the prisoners to go to these lengths for them, but strategically, the whole idea was insane. Personally, I was reassured a plan was being worked on, and that I just had to trust it was in hand. Sure, the big dragon that helped us was great, but it had to give its life for us. Both lives, even. And our escape route only came in the nick of time! If the forest dragons hadn't sympathised with our cause, we would have all been screwed.

If we mount any coordinated attacks in future, can we actually think about it at length? You know, plot it out from start to finish, try and account for as many variables as we can, not just talk about what enemies we might face and how they fight. And if we're going to walk into obvious traps, can we actually think about what the trap might be and how to mitigate it?

[He pauses. He's angry, if only because for a sect so supposedly dedicated to defending life, so many of them are too reckless about throwing lives away just to save a handful of others. Some casualties are inevitable in war, but these losses didn't have to be. That's what bothers him about all this more than anything.]

Anyway... I don't want to just gripe, so I also wanted to consider our long-term goals. I spoke to the dragon -- Estinien and the other thing? -- before the fighting started, and they made it sound like a direct assault on the Regent is nigh impossible. The Regent's corruption in that part of Horos is too powerful, the Citadel especially.

So, I think if we want to make them vulnerable at all, we have to figure out a way to purify the land. I don't know how yet, and the dragon wasn't sure either, but I want to believe it's possible. If you have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them.