[Game Thread] Chapter six I: Fireside chat.

[SpatulaOdoom]

Morgan sits in a tall backed armchair by the fireplace in his study. A low burning fire, mostly hot coals at this point, chases the winter chill from the room. A second armchair sits next to it, with a small table with a bottle of wine and two glasses separating the two. A few candles and the low fire are the only illumination, keeping the room mostly in shadows.

Morgan knew Nallaul's eyes were adapted to the light better than most of his kin, but thought the drow might appreciate a bit of a respite from what might be from his perspective the unending glare of the surface world.

”Welcome Nallaul. Thank you for coming. I was hoping I would get a chance to speak with you properly when there wasn't some terrible catastrophe in progress."

Morgan breaks the seal on the wine and pours himself a glass, offering with a gesture to do the same for the arachnomancer as well.

"During the events of the last few days you have... Well, to be frank, you've impressed me.
I don't mean in the fighting.”
Morgan pauses.
”Well sort of in the fighting, but not in the oh my wand is so big and I blow things up so very well sense. But here.” Morgan taps the side of his head. ”And yes, even here.” Morgan taps his breast, over his heart.
”You've been clear thinking in some very stressful, dangerous, and, no doubt especially for you, bizarre situations. And you care for more than just yourself.”
The lanky takes a sip of his wine.
”So I was hoping to discuss not just your future, but the future of your friends, family, and people.”

To the arachnomancer the Archmage looks pretty well exhausted, but far less stressed than the last time they'd been together. Granted the last time he'd seen Morgan they'd just gone through a fiendish invasion.

ooc I guess we can say that this happens the night after his brain was examined by Zilira, or the night after that.

[Acathala]

Nallaul walks into the room. He appreciates the fact the human wizard kept the room dark, though it really wasn't necessary. He had adapted to the light out of necessity. One could not be a wizard and do the required reading in the dark. Most of the other wizards he had known had to adapt to the light. Whilst there had been workarounds, those were expensive and weren't appropriate for some works. Especially those procured from the surface.
Just before Morgan poured himself a drink, Nallaul presented him with a bottle of wine made from the mushrooms. "I give you "spider's kiss". Not a favourite of mine, but I was uncertain how strong you liked your wine. I didn't want Zilira complaining I poisoned you. It was however my unmourned matron mother's favourite. Plus it isn't as pungent as some of the other wines."
Nallaul isn't too certain what to make of Morgan's kind words. Years of living in the hell that was the underdark had taught him to not take words at face value. Still they seemed genuine. He does playfully add. "I hope you're not casting aspersions on the size of my....wand. That's bad form for a wizard."
More serious. "I always preferred battlefield control, in in coordination with either allies, or my spider form. Reversing gravity is never not fun."
Nallaul considers the last question carefully. "How much did Zilira tell you of our conversation post mind whammy?"

[SpatulaOdoom]

Morgan accepts the wine with a smile and a nod.
”Ah thank you. I'll save this for a special occasion unless I can find more. You needn't worry about poisons however. I'm literally immune to mortal poisons. Sadly this means I also can't get drunk without special circumstances, so this-” He gestures at the bottle between them. ”-is mostly just habit. And good taste mind you. Riven wineries is the largest and most prestigious in Halva. Based out of Mayasoris.”

He smiles also at the wand comment, but goes no further. He'd figured the drow would get the joke.

”I only know that you had a brief chat with Zil after she rooted around in your skull. She did mention your demi-plane idea, and I do have thoughts about that, but we'll get to that later. Genesis is actually one of the spells I'm interested in once I reach the ninth circle. Beyond being sure that you weren't suborned, I'm more than happy to let your private conversations remain private. Truth be told, the whole seer thing has made me very aware of privacy and... Personal hurts, over the years.”
Morgan's shoulders sag slightly as storm clouds momentarily threaten his brow.
”May seem odd for someone who's essentially working as an investigator and spy, but there you are.”
He refocuses on Nallaul.
”You once said that the Drow needed a new society. How do you feel about taking steps in shaping one? I believe you are in a unique situation that you might not have considered. The way you arrived, who you interacted with, and the impression you made with them.”
Through no fault of his own Nallaul had been exposed to important people representing nearly every major power on the surface. They would all be... aware of him if nothing else.
”Oh, and I should mention that a big part of why I asked you here was to make myself available answer questions you might have about the surface world, it's society, and politics. I'm not the most knowledgeable about any individual subject, but I'm well rounded and pretty worldly.”

[Acathala]

"I see. That explains why you do not check for poisons. You do not know how strange it is to see important people eat and drink freely. I myself am highly resistant to poison. I would still caution you if you visit the underdark. I'm pretty sure we have magical poison that circumvent immunity. " Nallaul said in reply to Morgan. About the wizard's ethics he sighs. "I wish T'rissafay shared your values. Whilst I understand morally why you saved her, I wish you had not. That probably seems heartless to you, but I know her. Even if she isn't in league with Zera, and I wouldn't be surprised if she was, she's still dangerous."
Nallaul considers Morgan's last question carefully."I honestly haven't got a plan. The only way I see it working, is if we can get the young out of the underdark, before they learn and be corrupted by our old ways. I'm convinced the world of perpetual darkness was not good for our psyche as a race. Made us a little crazier, easier to do evil in the dark. Don't misunderstand. It's a factor, not an excuse." Nallaul sighed. "I think you noticed I said young and not all. The young have the best chance of adapting, and if we include older Drow, it's likely they would try to takeover the process for power, and history would repeat. I'm not saying we should just abandon the old Drow who want to leave their old lives behind, but maybe we can find a place for them with Coiya. Or perhaps as agents to free our young from the clutches of the old houses. Whatever happens, I'm not sure I'd see it through to fruition, I'm older than I'm going to admit to, but perhaps lighting the way is enough."

[SpatulaOdoom]

Morgan raises a bushy eyebrow. ”Who told you I don't check for poisons?” He shrugs and sets the bottle of mushroom wine aside. ”It's just usually considered rude to do so in front of the person giving you the gift. It's acceptable for royals and upper level nobles and government people to do so as a matter of course, but it's usually their bodyguards and such that do the checking. In your case I'm not too worried since Zil vetted you, and gave no particular warnings.
I'm not sure how much you know about the surface world, but poisonings do happen here. Assassinations. Mind control. Blackmail. Good old fashioned murder. They're not unique to the Drow.”
Morgan sighs, remembering what he'd done in a hidden temple less than a month ago.
”They're just less so the default way of doing things.”
He waves it aside.

”But enough of that. T'rissfay. It's not...” How to put it. ”It's not for her benefit she was saved. Mostly. Not even really a moral component to the choice to save her. She was a guest under diplomatic flag. She was under our protection until she did something in our realm to warrant the revocation of those protections. If we'd let her die, especially when we had the power to save her, then it would hurt our reputation. In a strictly mercenary, non moralistic viewpoint, it is to our benefit to save her and thereby uphold our own reputation. Without that reputation, other potential diplomats or guests, those we actually did care about, might second guess coming to our realm and engaging in talks. Other realms might see how we act and fail to provide our people the same considerations, or worse, falsely offer those things and then abuse them. That loss of reputation, of trust, might have everyone acting in a way that seems rather drow-ish to you?”

”Which brings us back to the drow as a whole. Do you honestly feel there is no point in trying to rehabilitate the adults? They are all beyond the ability to adapt into the surface culture? Even Felynnfn, Xufaer, and Felynda? I'm not saying every single one of them. There are plenty of people up here I wouldn't bother expending the effort or resources to try and bring back into the fold, but all of them?”
Morgan rubs his bearded chin, eliciting a dry rasp from the bristles.
Hmmm
"Let's go at this from a different angle. What things does an individual drow value in general?"

[Acathala]

"I'm fairly certain I didn't say abandon them. I'm certain that there might more like me. However for every one of me, there might be 10 priestesses, or those that serve. It could only take one skilled manipulator to undo years of work. And yes there are Drow incapable of goodness."
Nallaul slumps into his chair. "I want to help them. I can understand why they did the horrible things they had to do, but it's going to be impossible to save everyone."
At Morgan's last question, Nallaul replies starkly. "I can answer that. Power at any cost. Revenge for slights real or imagined for the nastiest of us. Did you know betrayal is a neutral word in our language?"

[SpatulaOdoom]

Morgan nods, apparently expecting more or less that answer.

”I have a general understanding of drow society, but far from complete.” Between Xu, what he was learning from other drow, and a few bits of preliminary reports that had come in from those that had been rescued or been there, like Isoude, he had a broad overview. ”One that I'm hoping you will help fill out. My understanding is that the three benchmark's for an individual's measure of success and power was their favor with Lolth, or the church. Their position in society and politics, whether that was their position within their house, the position of their house compared to others, or their position in whatever organization they were also part of, ala the mage society/school/whatever that Xufaer headed. And finally their material wealth. Basically a big game of king of the hill by any means necessary. Correct?”

”And I don't doubt there will be plenty of drow that will be trouble.”
The lanky mage leans back into the well padded chair with a sigh, momentarily closing his eyes.
”We're working on a list of the worst ones, and would certainly like your help making sure it's complete, so that we can hunt them down.”
In all that spare time I have.
”With Lolth gone, a large portion of the most pure blooded taken by the fiends, so many of the slaves recovered by the Children, and the loss of anonymity. I think drow society as a whole is likely to collapse, or at least undergo a period of major chaos and reorganization. Six of one half dozen of the other I supppose.”
The mage's words start to come slower as sleep starts to threaten the edges of his consciousness.
”That period of collapse, or at least reorganization, is the best chance we have to make major changes to the whole. Once it's over and things settle down again, it will be much harder to effect change. People will be set in their new ways.”
Morgan's mind is drawn momentarily to the advise he'd given the king on his new relationship with Celes.
”We kill the worst, or as many of them as we can, and take the best into the surface society if we can. But what about those in the middle ground?”
Morgan brings himself upright with a shake of his head. He rubs his eyes and slugs back the rest of his wine. Maybe he should have had them bring up some Arian coffee. He wonders if Nallaul had ever had that.
”I have an idea. One for a sort of passive manipulation, and I was hoping you'd tell me if it has any chance of success.”

[Acathala]

Nallaul nods along to most of what Morgan was saying. He adds when asked about people to be put down. "Tor'viir. The house. I don't know what Xu told you about them, but it's much worse. I hated going there in the few times there was official business. Every time afterwards I needed drink, if by drink you meant entire distillery." Nallaul visibly shuddered.
He shakes his head when Morgan mentions the Drow society would collapse. "I'm not so sure about that. Yes there will be a big collapse, but probably not as complete as we could hope for. Remember that Hali'ara, head of the exchange, has had advance warning of what was going to happen. Whilst I know she was moving some of the operation to the surface, I wouldn't be surprised if she had plans for the underdark. She's a very remarkable woman." Nallaul said with a great deal of respect and admiration.

[SpatulaOdoom]

”Yes, the vampire bitch and her family are on the list already, although I suspect the Children might already be hunting them.” Being the largest and most active slavers among a race that relied on slavery meant they'd likely be the most targeted. ”In fact, if you feel like pitching in when it comes to marking some names off that list, let me know. I plan to take a poke at some of those names soon. Probably starting with Xu'olin. For now though-” Morgan gets up momentarily to take two slender books off a nearby bookshelf. He sets them on the side table. One is bound in blue lizardskin of some kind, and the other oxblood hued leather. A quick inspection shows them to be blank.
”I'd very much appreciate it if you'd take these, and when you can fill in information on those you think are worth working with, and most likely to fit in with the surface society.” He taps the blue book. ”Especially the Exchange. I don't remember if it was you, or Xu'delin who said it, but apparently they were the one place where people that didn't worship Lolth could turn.”
”And this one for those most needing of death, and why.” He taps the blood colored book.
”In return I'll happily loan you my research spellbook so you can copy whatever spells appeal to you from it.”

“Now.”
He flops back down onto the chair.
”Back to my idea.
When I was mulling it over, I kept coming back to that whole “by any means necessary” thing.
What if we did our best to give those middle ground people, the non-monsters, the impression that the best way to succeed up here, and when dealing with the surface, was to be a basically decent person? Not some paragon of light and virtue, I seriously doubt that would fly, but someone who could be trusted to their word, and was willing and able to work with others without trying to shove a poisoned dagger up the urethra for ***** and giggles at least to the level of people up here.
Give them the idea that maybe it's for the best that Lolth is dead and that maybe she and her crazy murder game was the thing holding the drow back more than anything.
See, I personally wouldn't care if a person detected as evil with the spell if they didn't actually ever do anything evil, and someone completely self serving can be trusted if you can engineer it so that what serves them best is also good for society as a whole, or at least what they perceives as serving them best.”
Morgan pauses. Nallaul can tell that Morgan has more to say on the matter, but is giving him a moment to consider the basic premise.

[SpatulaOdoom]

Morgan pours himself another glass of wine. With no arguments forthcoming from Nallaul, the lanky mage continues.
'Obviously that isn't a solution that will 'fix everything' all on it's own, but it's a step towards swaying your people away from the path of murderboner ***holes. One of many hopefully.
So... How do we give people that impression eh?
Well, your people will need success stories. To see and hear about drow gaining those valued things, wealth and sociopolitical position, by the better means. Success means emulation.”
Morgan snorts.
”And they'll have to see the failure of those the murderboning tradition."
He taps the oxblood book again.
"Failure and death means avoiding that path.
And you Nallaul, are in position to be one of those success stories. Possibly the biggest. You're male, not part of the clergy, not the leader of a house, not a drow noble technically correct? All these things would hold you back in traditional drow society. You've already come to the notice of those in power, and shown a willingness to help people. Hells, you helped save Mirik Orn and were part of the group that brought the assassinated leaders of Phaere back to life.”
Morgan grins.
”I think my friend, you may have found someone who wants you to be wildly successful.”
Morgan claps his fellow mage on the shoulder.

ooc I probably should have done that as all one shot, but it's the middle of a heat wave where I am and I'm feeling pretty drained.

[Acathala]

"Xul'olin. I'm there in the hunt. No negotiation, and hopefully someone whom can cast Barghast's feast is present." Nallaul almost snarls. "Hali'ara and the exchange are mercenaries at best, and criminals at worst."
Nallaul strokes his hair as he considers Morgan's proposal. Apparently Morgan didn't have the patience to let Nallaul consider it for very long. The Drow wizard listens in alarm as Morgan makes him the centrepiece of his plan. He also visibly flinches when touched. "Morgan. First of all I was adopted into the house. That makes me nobility. Second of all, I'm an Arachnomancer. The only way I could be more of a symbol of Lolth, is if I was also a female priestess. Thirdly I did murder my predecessor to be Xufaer's number one, even if it was a nasfiya murder." Nallaul paused as he realised Morgan might not know that word. "Oh. Nasfiya. No direct translation in your language. Basically it's the concept of getting someone before they get you."
Nallaul takes a big sip of wine. "I don't know where you got the idea from that I'm heroic. Really not. The reason I did those things, was for my brother. And maybe hopefully alone fun time with Sulion."

[SpatulaOdoom]

The lanky mage Nods along with most of what Nallaul says, pulling a thin notebook from his vest pocket along with some sort of brass stick with a tiny clockwork device on the end. He opens the notebook and flips forward through several pages.
”Hmm. We have a number of groups that sound similar to the Exchange on the surface, such as the Chathema and the Walking dead. “
He fiddles with the clockwork bit, producing a clicking noise, then begins to write with the thing. Apparently it was some sort of inkpen with an internal ink reservoir.
”I was aware of the Arachnomancer thing, and it'll come in useful on the initial stage. The noble bit was about blood not status, but I thought being adopted along with Tel'shar meant you'd be a lesser status than those born into the ruling family of a house... Mmm.:
He swipes the pen across, drawing a line through something and then flips forward another page before writing again.
”So that takes you out of group A, and puts you into group B with Felynda. Less ideal, but you're still best placed for the initial stage.”
Morgan closes the notebook and wipes the nib of the pen on his handkerchief before putting it all away.

”Nallaul.” He says, turning to meet the Drow's eyes. ”I never called you heroic. The world is a myriad of shades of morality that falls between the poles of extreme, and only the naive think otherwise. I myself committed three premeditated murders about a month ago. It doesn't matter to me whether you're good or not. I think you might be a little better than you think you are, but that doesn't matter either. What matters is that that you're better than the majority of your people, and that you have an interest in dragging your people out of the morass of destructive stupidity that Lolth dragged them down into.
Or am I wrong?
If that's the case, then I'm offering to support your interests. Why try to talk me out of it?”

[Acathala]

"I am a man. That means I have lesser status to most women in the nobility of the house. Being an Arachnomancer does give me some status and protection. Which is why when I escaped Xul'olin, I was protected from her, and healed up. If I had been female, Xul'olin would have been executed, rather than merely confined. It's why Xufaer gave me the staff as a way to protect me, and as a sorry my insane bitch of a niece filleted you for no damn reason."
Nallaul seemed a bit relieved Morgan doesn't consider him heroic. Now he got to explaining. "I was hoping to be more behind the scenes. If I do it your way, I become a target. Just got away from one target on my back, not eager to add a new one. Before you say anything, do you know what it's like to be afraid every single day of your life that you could be punished or even murdered for even trivial things? Tel'shar once called me the great survivor. Perhaps it should have been the great coward." Nallaul looked away then.

[SpatulaOdoom]

Morgan looks curiously at Nallaul's staff. He doesn't recognize it's type off the top of his head, but he'd been more of a construct and miscellaneous guy.
”Well hopefully at least it's something special. Staffs are nice in concept, but I always felt they're too expensive for what you get. I might start feeling different once the war with Zera starts for real and I feel the mana pinch.”

Originally Posted by Acathala

"I was hoping to be more behind the scenes."

Morgan snorts, finding something Nallaul had said funny.
"Well then you're kind of going to have difficulty with that at this point. You appeared in front of representatives of all the major powers, including several royals and archgates, accompanying none other than Shade. You then proceeded to indicate a level of familiarity with these mysterious new gods, helped the Halvan leadership with matters, and stood up to Sarlorne. And then you went to Feid as part of the group that met with Phaere's top spy, saved Archgate Mirik Orn, resurrected the assassinated Queen of Phaere and her family, and were witness to the conflict between the archgates and the new gods. I think the prospect of lying low has already flown the cave even if you weren't wanting to make time with The Lady."
Morgan pauses and he too looks away. Nallaul can clearly hear pain in the mage's voice.
"If you know where to find her, Snark, or Tinker, I would dearly like to know, or if you see them again, please let them know I'd like to speak with them.
I f@#ked something up very badly, but they saved the day, and I want to thank them."
When Nallaul talks of living in fear, Morgan remains passive, offering neither support or judgement. Guilt pretty clearly weighs heavily on the drow
”No. I can't say as I've had that experience. I've had trials of my own, and a few of them were pretty horrific.” Morgan momentarily wipes a fingertip across his left eyelid, remembering. ”But I doubt they can really compare, and that's not a common way to have to live up here. That's kind of what I'm trying to demonstrate to your people. It's a mindset that is not necessary up here.”

Morgan again gets up and moves towards the bookshelf, selecting another book.

”OK, so you don't want to try to guide your kin by example. What do you want to do? I seem to remember mention of an orphanage? Do you wish to locate it on the surface? Your talk of the underdark's “madness” seems to suggest this. Are you interested in socializing these children into surfacer culture, or something else?”

[SpatulaOdoom]

Since it was taking Nallaul a moment to frame his reply Morgan takes the new book that had been set aside and sets it on the table between them.
”This is Voldo's Crime and Punishment. It's a traveler's guide to the important laws that people should know when traveling to various countries, the stuff everyone should know. It's a little bit dated, but nothing important has changed. Assuming you lot intend to stay in Halva for the time being, it would probably be best if you knew how we did things so that you don't wind up in trouble by accident.
I've added my own notes to some of the pages in the margins to help clarify some, and make sure you understand which ones are held in high importance in society and which ones are more like...” Morgan smirks. ”guidelines.”

He again takes his seat.

”So money. One thing that you, or Xuafer, or both of you, should consider is going to the Church of Tiaan. Since I'm reasonably sure you're both well educated, I suggest you offer your expertise on Drow history, culture, and magic, in return for a hefty sum of money. The Arachnomancer thing might interest them a lot. If you wait, they might find other sources of information and the price will go down. It honestly might be a good way of Xuafer and yourself to find a place in society. The Lord of Lore's church is really more of a collection of scholars and research mages than a church, have little interest in morality as a whole, and a strong tendency to stay clear of politics.”
It might appeal to either or both of them.