aionchat | PLEROMA - a few days after the raid

[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.

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[Claude doesn't catch on to what he's referring to right away, rubbing the back of his neck as he regards Wrathion.]

Yeah, can you narrow it down a bit? A lot of things happened.

[Wrathion rolls his eyes--a bit difficult to tell, since they're not much more than crimson orbs, and heaves a sigh at Claude, now. You are not this dense, and he knows it. Not that Claude is wrong.]

The vision, Claude. Or am I simply going mad?

[Not a thing he'd like to think about--but considering everything, Wrathion wouldn't really be surprised, either. He does give Anduin a look that can definitely be called 'guilty' at that, however.]

[ A vision? Wrathion had a vision, and he hadn't mentioned it?

Anduin looks between the two of them, wary now. ]

I had no such thing myself.

Oh, that? I saw it.

[Though he'd been reluctant to say anything at first, lest he be the one who sounds crazy, since no one else he'd spoken to had seen it. He casts his mind back.]

I saw a big mountain beyond the forests... and an eye belonging to a creature with red scales. I guess it must have been a dragon, because right after that, those reinforcements showed up and saved us.

I asked a dragon if they knew what the mountain was, though, and they just said they came from the forest and didn't know anything about it. Weird, right?

[He looks at Wrathion expectantly, wondering if perhaps they'd trusted him with more information. Claude's just a human, after all.]

[Wrathion sort of doubts such information can be specialized. Nor is he entirely certain that it's been widely disseminated that he is a dragon--not that Wrathion tries to hide it, either. A bit less so, here--there's no prejudice against him, when there's no infamous Black Dragonflight.

Reassuring to know he's not going mad, though. He shakes his head.]

That's what I saw. And yes, that is strange. [He glances at Anduin, then.]

I had no intention of concealing this from you in the long term, Anduin. If I had, I wouldn't have bothered asking Claude in front of you. This is the first time I've asked anyone about it, and I thought he might know because we share a Legacy.

[He doesn't know any Visionaries personally to ask them, though if Wrathion thought about it, it would make sense that this particular Legacy be granted a vision...]

[ A big mountain, an eye belonging to a creature with red scales, then the dragons flew in to support them.

It does seem related. Anduin looks thoughtful a moment, eyes dropping as he considers that. They flit up again when Wrathion addresses him.

He considers Wrathion in silence. Anduin knows why he's bothering to explain himself like this, but Claude likely doesn't. He doesn't want to drag all that out in front of someone else. Instead, he just gives a slight nod and leaves it alone. ]

You think it related to your Legacy, then.

[ Anduin has no other information with which to prove or disprove that. It seems possible. He turns to Claude, thoughtful. ]

Have you ever experienced such a thing before?

[ Having vision? Prophetic dream of some sort? Wrathion has, once, though not involuntarily. That might, however, mean he is somehow more sensitive to such things. A factor worth considering. ]

Not a bad theory. Our Legacy is the one thing we have in common, aside from our dashing good looks.

[Claude winks at Anduin, although he is at least serious for long enough to consider his question.]

Nah, definitely not. I don't have any fancy powers like a seer or something. [Or any powers, aside from his Crest, but it would be easiest not to get into that for now.] But I definitely think it's worth more investigation. There could be more dragons on that mountain, and we just haven't established contact yet.

You were there the last time I had a vision. [Wrathion shrugs at that, then, tilting his head at Anduin.] It isn't as if I can do it on command.

[Wrathion wouldn't specifically want to have visions often, either. There's no endless supply of mystically empowered hearts that he knows of, anyway, which prevents that, thankfully. Or maybe he's just gotten a tiny bit more cautious in the intervening time. He certainly hasn't been looking.]

If they were some of the ones that helped us out of Achamoth, I'd like to thank them. [At least partially because they'd been likely to help Anduin, if he hadn't come back for the priest, but they did come and help when they hadn't had to. Worse, they'd lost one of their number. Showing gratitude? That's...important to him. It's also important to him because of who and what he is...]

[ Given how Wrathion had boasted about having the knowledge and power of the Titans, Anduin couldn't be entirely sure what he could and couldn't do. Hadn't he, somehow, been ripping tears in reality to go into... visions of N'Zoth's potential futures?

No doubt he'd be upset if Anduin underestimated him. Sometimes its better to keep an open mind. ]

They certainly seemed willing enough to help us, and there were quite a few of them. It's only a shame they hadn't come earlier.

[ They might have had a clearer advantage, then.

Still: ]

We may not have made contact ourselves, but there were riders when they arrived. The locals here are clearly aware of these dragons.

PLEROMA - a few days after the raid

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