[Game Thread] Chapter six I: Fireside chat.

[Acathala]

"I don't have a way to contact them, and really Sulion and her brother are the main people I've spoken to out of that triad. Snark speaks in verse slightly more tolerable than what the children sprout." Nallaul stops there, realising he just inadvertently and indirectly insulted Coiya. He hadn't meant to, and in the few interactions he had with the god, Coiya had been more decent to Nallaul, than Nallaul deserved. The wizard waited for punishment. When none came, he carried on. It was easy to forget things worked differently up on the surface.
"I would have the orphanage on the surface. At least at first. The long term plan is to get the demiplane up, and expand it into a true realm for my people. I might not be able to survive to see it come to fruition but blazing a trail is enough if I don't survive. I just don't want it to fall into the control of bastards who will corrupt it into the new underdark." Nallaul also has a think about what Morgan said. Unfortunately he's right. Whilst being in the shadow might protect him a little longer, if his enemies old and new wanted to find him, they probably could. "I'm pretty much screwed either way, aren't I? As well being an example. Oh bollocks." Nallaul said in defeat.
He takes the book. "I thank you, and will give it a read. As for the church, I'm probably the foremost expert on Drow history. Actually written an account, mainly for my own amusement. They might also be interested in the poet Mukirr, and his commentaries. Very interesting chap. Disappeared. Possibly on a quest to find Zilira. You should read some of the poetry he wrote about her."

[SpatulaOdoom]

When Nallaul talks about the Children speaking in verse, Morgan seems more puzzled than insulted.
”Other than one Child called Bird, and when speaking of Airis' prophecies, the Children seem pretty plain spoken to me. Have you run into others big on poetical stuff?
Anyway, if you see any of the three, please let them know I'd like to speak with them.”

Originally Posted by Nallaul

"I would have the orphanage on the surface. At least at first. The long term plan is to get the demiplane up, and expand it into a true realm for my people. I might not be able to survive to see it come to fruition but blazing a trail is enough if I don't survive. I just don't want it to fall into the control of bastards who will corrupt it into the new underdark." Nallaul also has a think about what Morgan said. Unfortunately he's right. Whilst being in the shadow might protect him a little longer, if his enemies old and new wanted to find him, they probably could. "I'm pretty much screwed either way, aren't I? As well being an example. Oh bollocks." Nallaul said in defeat.

Morgan rubs his chin, seeming to perk up a bit as he considers the drow's words.
”I don't know how much experience you have raising children, but the Church of Airis runs many orphanages across the surface of Ahkea. I know some people who you could talk to about the logistical side of things. At the very least you'll need land, a structure, and a steady income to cover costs.

But honestly? I don't think you're screwed in the least. You'll have to be careful, smart about it, and should probably try to make some powerful friends, but those are all good regardless of what you choose to do. And... Caution, prudence, consideration. Don't let these things become Timidity. Fear. Timid people live longer yes, but they do not 'do.' They spark no thunder. They create no great works. A timid elf will never change your people. A cautious one, but with the heart to do might."

Morgan smiles softly. If he hadn't gotten past his reflexive distrust of things unknown, his own timidity, he'd never have freed Zilira, or even entered into a relationship with her in the first place. He'd certainly made mistakes since becoming the leaf on the wind, some of them Here he's thinking about accidentally resurrecting L'abariel while also destroying a national treasure and desecrating the corpse of a hero-princespectacular, but so far, it had been well worth it.

"It's not a simple thing you're proposing. It's a complex situation, moreso than most would think. But interesting to consider. One of the problems you have is one of timing. You'll need to move quickly to scoop up all the recently created orphans, before they're... claimed by others, or otherwise become unavailable.

You're also going to need people to help you with the actual raising of children if you're planning on taking them in in any real numbers. A few simulacra might be handy, and I have the spell if you don't, but not in all things. For one they only have your viewpoint, and only the skills and abilities you had quite some time ago. You will have no choice but to involve others if you think to do this in numbers that will have an actual effect on the whole.

You'll have a similar problem with a demi-plane, at least insofar as raising children. Limited viewpoint. In order to properly absorb a culture and integrate with it, you need to interact with, live in, and maybe even grow up in that culture. For example, you seem to be fairly knowledgeable about the surface, but you don't really understand us because you haven't lived up here. You could teach people information about us, but you couldn't really get people to understand us. Same as I might about, say the country of Quall.”
Morgan sighs, tugging on his beard in thought. His eyes slide up and to the side, staring off into nothing as his mind sorts through the conundrum.
”The real problem is... Well, one of culture really. You don't want them to be “corrupted” by the old culture, but do you know what you want to replace that with? Do you intend to create a new culture from whole cloth, fiddle with the current culture and try to improve it? It'd be easier to try to simply integrate them into one of the surface cultures. There are many of them in fact, we don't have a monolithic culture the way I hear you folks did under Lolth. I don't necessarily think you should try to do that, but I think trying to selectively fiddle with an unpleasant culture to improve it might be more complicated than it first seems. You'd need to change the basic drives of that culture. That power at any cost thing for example.”

When Nallaul mentions he's not only an expert on Drow history, but also has written a book on it Morgan nods enthusiastically.
”That is precisely the sort of stuff the Great Library goes nuts for, the more detailed it is, the better. Magical discoveries and lore. If you've brought more tomes with you, I'm sure the Great Library would be happy to buy every single one of them. If you aren't one for crafting via magic, I have the spells to make quite a few copies of the book for you very quickly. It might even be more profitable to sign an exclusivity contract with the Great Libraries rather than going around peddling the book, or books, to every government, academy, and other potential buyer out there.”

[Acathala]

"I think the closest I got to raising a child was a teenage Gul. Closest thing I had to a son, and I didn't really know him, otherwise i would have spotted his hobby sooner. Even though I know rationally he would have turned on me eventually, I still miss the little sociopath. To be fair it would have taken something huge for him to turn on me." Nallaul sighs and takes a sip of wine. He had a lot of good memories of Gul. The wizard tried to focus on those instead of the bad. Like the time he walked in on him and Fairy torturing a random person. Nallaul had stopped it by taking Gul to lessons, and Fairy had lost interest after Gym left. Actually the final fate of Gul was unknown to Nallaul. It was possible Gul had survived the attack but it was unlikely he escaped it. Perhaps straight out death was more merciful. If Gul had survived the attack, then Nallaul knew he'd have to add his name to that execution book.
Nallaul shook his head, as if to clear his mind of Gul. "I think a bigger question is where. People might be kind at first, but from what I understand from your history, foreigners are often scapegoats for nationall problems, and that coupled with what humans are going to find out about us, concerns me. As for culture.... I just don't know. I'd like to keep us as a distinct people, but there again Drow culture helped get us into this mess."

[SpatulaOdoom]

”I have given where some thought already.”
He flips a few pages back in his little notebook.
”Aria, Kaira, Nihl, Quall, Shali, Tyyryk, and Xolar are all definite no's for various reasons.
Elern, Kast, Phare, Rinn, and Tsuun are all poor choices, but might be made to work."

"Caldawn is a maybe. They have a very open culture, and being a magocracy you specifically might be more welcome. On the other hand their society doesn't really have a ready made niche or easy place for your people, and their politics might make settling in a physical location or getting any privacy difficult."

"Ikra has definite promise. Being a young country, very cosmopolitan, and accepting of diverse beliefs and ways of life. I think the Drow in general have a good chance of making a place for themselves in society there. The small problem is it's current rulership. Since The Oracle shut away Rincala and handed the reigns over to goddamn Sheddeth, it's government and rule of law is going to be harsh and restrictive while he and his army of vampires is in charge. If Sheddeth wasn't in charge, I'd call it top tier, but that is not currently the case, and we have no idea when it will be again."

He flips forward a page.

"The remaining two are currently your best choices in my opinion.
Sharak is a very forward thinking place, and socially might be the most accepting of Drow. However it's also in major turmoil and Princess Aldamil, soon Queen Aldamil, is going to be doing some social restructuring of her own. On the other hand, that social restructuring might be the opening you need to make a place for your people. Use your diplomatic chops and make nice with the powers that be and the government's propaganda can be very helpful in keeping the common man from harassing you. This is probably true of all your choices."

"You may think me biased, but I really do think Halva is your best bet. It's not as open a culture as Caldawn or Ikra, but it is still a melting pot and more diverse than most. As it happens there's a drowtouched noble house, the Faeresrils, who are friends of the royal family, and are the ones that started up that underground community that your kin contacted. More importantly, it will likely become known even to the common man that it is the home of Zilira, a drow demigodess, and that the Halvan royal line is descended from her. Were you aware of that?”
Morgan pauses as a thought hits him. How much did Nallaul actually know about all the current events? Sure he definitely knew about these new gods, the existence of the godforge, and the happenings underground, but what about their primary drives? Zera and Vulcar's idea. Best to finish the current line of discussion though.
”There's also another foreign and alien culture already setting up shop in Halva. The Children in the Dark. I expect the Children dislike drow for a number of reasons. But I think they might find what you're trying to do quite admirable. You're rescuing children and trying to break a different sort of chain. A mental and societal one. If you show yourself to be genuine they might be allies more than casually.
One small reminder that should you send anyone off to actually join the children, you are more or less removing the possibility of a peaceful lifestyle. More than two thirds of them are directly involved in their conflict, and most of those who aren't are children or the injured, aged, and lame who physically cannot.
Given the work you've already done for the crown and possible future alliance, I don't see why you couldn't garner citizenship and permission to set up your orphanage fairly easily. I could probably help with that."

"The next step is deciding whether you want your location to be urban or rural. Both have advantages and disadvantages.”

Morgan snaps the notebook closed.

”But I just now realized that you weren't there for my barroom history lesson with the others. Have you been appraised about current, and near current, events? Zera? The Hybrids, Daggers of Defiance, and balance of the fundamental forces? Vulcar's call to action against the fiends? I might have another copy of the briefing notes I gave out to the council, but if not I've given the spiel enough I can probably or at least post a linkrattle it off quickly.”

[Acathala]

"I was probably going to go with Halva because of Zilira. However I know as a goddess she's kind of...hands off. Wants us to find our own path. I hope that if we do make a home here, she is willing to help. We're going to need her help. Especially me." Nallaul looked at Morgan more calculatingly. "I wonder if you realise the attention that will befall you, once your engagement becomes common knowledge? You're going to become a public figure in Drow life for good or ill. Mostly ill I would presume, as and don't be shocked by this, some of my people may not like you."
Nallaul looks at Morgan when he talks about what Nallaul knew about the current situation. "I believe current Halvan thinking about telling me anything, was not to tell me anything, as I'm a big dangerous Drow who can't be trusted. To be fair, I am a big dangerous Drow, so that was sensible thinking. I wouldn't have trusted me had I been in their boots. I gather Zera is bad, but I'm not enlightened as to exactly why."

[SpatulaOdoom]

Morgan smiles softly.
"I won't speak for her, but I think you might find Zilira a little more willing to get involved in your orphanage idea than anything involving worshipers or a church.”"
When Nallaul comments on the drow people's potential viewponts on the subject of a particular messy archmage and his relationship with a drow goddess, he seems momentarily stunned, cocking his head to the side as he looks at his counterpart. After a moment he barks out a short sharp laugh.
"You know, I was so concerned with how Zilira and your people would fit together, and how Zilira was going to interact with surface culture, that I completely forgot to give any thought to my own place in that equation."
Morgan pauses, again deep in thought.
"huh."
He had actually given some consideration to how how the surface world would look at his involvement with a daughter of Asharte, but not the drow. After a moment he sighs and shrugs.
"Well, it's hard to express just how much I don't give a damn how they feel about it or me. Don't get me wrong, I'd rather make friends than enemies, but if a couple of drow get pissy over Zil deciding she wants a human mate, they'll have to get in line behind all the actual enemies we have made recently. Which reminds me, don't try to do anything dimensional movement related, not even a Blink spell, here unless you've got the current password or I wind up keying you to the wards. For now they'll just fail painfully, but if I ever activate the defenses fully, it gets messy."

Between the manse's original wards, those he'd added, those the hired mage had added, Kala's mega symbols, and whatever Zil had probably snuck in when he wasn't looking, Wainraith House's wards ranged from mundane to godly. His physical defenses were lagging behind some, but between the magebred animals, Esiard's suggestions, and his plans for the circle, he should be able to get them somewhat up to snuff soon enough. Well, up to snuff for normal, and even moderately extraordinary problems, but against the godlings and the other things Morgan suspects are coming? Probably not.

"Anyway, it looks like I'll have to give you part of the barroom history lesson as well. It's necessary to understand Zera and the trouble he's causing. Fair warning, I'll be truncating severely, just enough to give you context."
He refills his wine glass, topping off Nallaul's as well.
After wetting his lips, Morgan begins.
"In the way way way back there was nothing here. Five beings, which have been alternately called the Old Ones, or Elder Demons arrived in the middle of the nothing and decided there should be stuff. So they created stuff. They spun the planes into being, spat out the seas, planted the mountains, and hung out the sun and moon. They created life too, the Fiends were their favored creations. Apparently some of the mortal races, humans, elves, and dragons for example were imported from the same elsewhere that the Elders came from. Then they ruled over everything and did things like experimenting on the mortal races to create vampires, lycanthropes, trolls, and merging fiends with mortals. For a very long time existence sucked massive dong for the mortal races."
Morgan takes a deeper drink and sighs. It's hard to think about just how terrible things must have been.
"An insulting nick-name for AsharteA-Shart, being the greedy duplicious little hell tart that she was, decided she'd rather be in charge, thank you very much. The problem is, she couldn't just kill the Old Ones, even if that were her way, because the Old Ones are..."
Morgan pauses, considering how to put the next part. Every new piece of information he got on the subject seemed to change his understanding of the Elder's place in... reality.
"The Old Ones aren't really living beings. There is a thinking being involved in that whole situation, but you can't kill an Old One any more than you can stab time to death or murder the number three. You can think of them as the anthropomorphised forces of the universe.
Anyway. Asharte figures out, somehow, how to entrap the portion of them that constitutes thinking beings inside specially prepared prisons... Daggers specifically. In doing so Asharte releases and syphons off enough power to become Ahkea's first god. Congratulations Asharte, you are now the boss. For the rest of us it's business as usual, with daily flayings and spiked demon dong for everyone. At least for a while."
He glances at Nallaul.
"Hopefully I don't have to explain to you about the Demongate Wars? Zodiacs and Alistar Teel and so forth? Well there are a few important bits about that time that aren't common knowledge. For one, the Zodiac came from this other place where the Elders got the mortal races, and came from originally themselves. It's not currently relevant to our story though. Also important are two of Alistar's creations, The godforge, which you are familiar with of course, and Sanctuary. Sanctuary was the demiplane, uh sanctuary, of those who fought against the fiendish overlords. An impenetrable fortress that allowed them to open portals to anywhere on the Prime Material plane, even through many wards that normally restrict such things.
At the end of the war Fisali does her mega spell, killing all mortals, and even a few semi-divine beings, rising to her own ridiculous level of power, creating the Caveat, ending the Demongate Wars, and driving herself mostly insane in the process.
Alistar Teel, now a body jumping creature known as Shade, sunders the Godforge, kicks everyone out of Sanctuary, and... Well, does a bunch of stuff not really relevant to our story.

Shortly after the end of the Demongate Wars, Vulcar Halva the First, the One King," Morgan can't keep a big helping of loathing from creeping into his voice when saying that name. ",captured and enslaved Minlolth Zilira in chains of True Magic. In time Zilira became mother to Vulcar's children, and, at the king's orders, unlocked the divine potential in their eldest child, Coiya Halva, in hopes of molding him into the perfect ageless ruler to finish his conquest of the entire world, and rule over it forever and blah blah blah. It doesn't quite work out. Gaining semi-divine insight and abilities Coiya starts to figure out just what a bastard his father is and rebels somewhat. He does take over after daddy dearest dies, but does his best to let Zilira her freedoms within those allowed by her bonds and rule his empire for a time. Unfortunately Coiya doesn't take well to immortality, and after seeing a few generations of his friends and children age and die falls into a depression and runs away from home.

So, the takeaway from all that is that the ruling line of Halva is related to Zilira. They are her blood, albeit distantly by this many generations down the line.

Roll forward to a little less than a hundred years ago, and you have the appearance of Zera. He's an orphan that was left to an orphanage in Halvanna by persons unknown. He befriends a man named Nykal, a fellow orphan. He and Nykal get adopted and then sent back to the orphanage a couple of times as they grow up. Eventually Zera joins the Halvan military, quickly rising to prominence, and Nykal goes off to be a really good person and eventually be chosen as Archgate of Kirin.

During this period a number of conflicts spring up around Ahkea as wounds old and new have countries, groups, and peoples wind up at each other's throats. Turns out none of this is random. It's Zera's meddling and manipulating. He's enthralled his childhood friend Nykal and wants to take over Halva, and is using these conflicts to advance his own position and put things in place. One of these things is convincing the country of Phare that Halva is guilty of some stuff, doesn't matter what, and gets them to retaliate by wiping out the Halvan royal line. They almost do it too. All of the men are killed, and the women are either killed or rendered sterile. As luck would have it, one of the female royals happens to be pregnant at the time. Though she was rendered sterile, it wasn't fully effective on her unborn child, Karli, who will be queen and eventually the mother of the current king, Vulcar the Second.

Along the way Jester of the Demon Moon, Archgate of Fenrir and a minor deity in his own right, had had his suspicions and been investigating. He figures out that it's Zera behind things, and as is Jester's way goes to kill him. Zera, who is actually quite powerful himself in addition to being a world class mind bender, and Nykal the archgate, versus Jester of the Demon Moon is a fight that turns the entire city of Vlan into a smoking crater, and kills Zera and Nykal. Or so it seems.

Some time before this fight Zera apparently found his way into Sanctuary, and built into Sanctuary is one of the shards of the Godforge. Zera had used this shard of the Godforge to capture the Paragons Airis and Malvain. Unlike your people Zera has no need to turn the Paragon's divine energies to hiding himself. Sanctuary does that for him. Now, Zera cannot be killed permanently. Jester has also tried trapping his soul and raising his corpse as an undead.

He has..."

Morgan sighs and looks at his wine glass. His stomach churns with the rest of what he has to tell the Drow.
I'm going to need something stronger than this.
"Have you ever had Sledgehammer before?"
He gets up again, moving to a small hutch near a scarred old oak desk that looks like it weighs about a thousand pounds. From the hutch he extracts a blocky thick walled crystal decanter and a small metal jigger.
"Remember what I said about “Mortal poisons?” Well this stuff will get even the gods drunk. It's also known as Gulan's Brew."
Moving with the care and precision that is endemic of the arcanist's spellcasting Morgan measures out three drops into the jigger, which he then transfers to his half full wine glass.
"It's actually really good if you'd like to try some. Since you're apparently very resistant to poison to begin with, you can probably get away with three drops. No more though, since I want your brain still working at full capacity."

[Acathala]

"If the extent of her religious involvement is just granting me my spider spells, then I can live with that. Always hated praying for them off Lolth. If she helps with the orphanage, then I will be eternally grateful." Morgan's expressed disdain for what the Drow society thinks of his relationship with Zilira, pleases him. "I see. Good for you! I think the only problems will come from the remnant of Lolth's clergy, who want her to be the next Lolth, or those idiots obsessed with blood purity. Myr'delith was getting worse about that towards the end. She's the person I am not conflicted about her being dead. She had it coming, and I don't doubt if she could have replaced me, she would have. If by replaced you meant brutally murdered." Nallaul sighed. His relationship with her was distinctly uncomplicated.
Nallaul listens carefully to Morgan as he recounts the history of Zera. He doesn't interrupt merely making mental notes of a couple of things to ask about later. When Morgan brings up booze, then it's alternative name. "Ah Gula, he was the nicest of the fiends that murdered almost everyone I knew. I think Tel'shar brought me a few bottles of that from the surface. It made Xufaer tipsy. A glorious sight that was sadly never repeated. Also I don't think any of us have our brains working at anywhere near full capacity." Nallaul accepts the offer of the drink.

[SpatulaOdoom]

So he mixes divine AND arcane magic hmm?
This Arachomancy thing was definitely piquing Morgan's interest. Sadly he couldn't let himself get pulled on too many tangents.
"Well if Telshar managed to find two whole bottles you should guard them well. They are very hard to come by and depending on what happens with his church, I'm not sure how much more will be brewed in the near future."
Morgan considers Nallaul's last comment for a long moment, trying to decide if it was a subtle insult. In the end though it doesn't matter.
"The truth is, I know I'm flirting with burn out. The last few months have been a constant sprint of searching out ancient lore and secrets, political and social intrigue, wheeling and dealing with creatures that could crush me with a glance, personal and emotional traumas, a greater number of more intense seer visions than I've ever had in so short a period, fighting for my life, oh and dying six days ago only to be manipulated by a maybe dead god into resurrecting a definitely dead godess." He glances at Nallaul before taking a sip of his Brew enhanced drink, savoring the taste. "Fortunately I got better.

I'm doing the best I can, but sadly I haven't found the right sort of people to share my particular workload with."
He'd share some of it with Syltar, but the damnable Dragonblaze kept running off to deal with his family affairs, and Nevh would likely be gone soon too. He really should talk to Di about picking up some of the social manipulation he was working on. Come to think of it, she might be very helpful with the drow.

He sighs and rubs his eyes.
So much to do, so little time.

"So Zera.
He's captured Malvain and Airis, and is raping children onto Airis in order to produce godlings that he can raise to be his agents. Possibly also to feed their divine spark into the Godforge as additional power sources. I'm not sure if you know much about the rules of godhood, but the children of gods and mortals are generally superior to mere mortals, even if they aren't gods themselves.

If that weren't stupid enough this all loops back around to Asharte and the Dagger imprisoned Old Ones. Some time in the last... Who knows how long, It's been nearly a thousand years since the end of the Demongate Wars, but Asharte's imprisonment of the Old Ones was a non-specified long time before the Demongate wars startedthousands of years maybe, Asharte lost control of at least four of these daggers. In the time since being imprisoned the Old One's prisons have been warped to some degree.
The are no longer inescapable. "
Morgan waggles his hand side to side.
"Sort of.
At this point when a sentient mortal being is killed with one of these daggers the soul of the being and the chunk of Old One in the dagger are merged. This creates a new being that is neither the Old One, nor the host it's merged with. On the whole the being is slanted more towards the host's way of thinking and personality, but it has the memories of both. The host's soul is utterly consumed by this."
Morgan locks eyes with Nallaul, face serious and sober.
"No afterlife, no just deserts, no reincarnation on The Wheel, or whatever beliefs you have about what happens to the “immortal” soul after death. Just true, final, oblivion."
He takes another drink, giving Nallaul a moment to consider this.
Ahkea didn't really know much about the afterlife. Not even the most powerful of magics had pierced that barrier, and if the gods knew, even Sarlorne, they were keeping quiet. There were a few people that had peeks past the veil, but Nallaul didn't need to know about that.

"Anyway. Fifteen years ago another hell tart, this one a simple lowly succubus, crammed one of those daggers into the heart of a human paladin of The Trinity. She released Khehkanon, or at least a chunk of the force that was bound, and created a new type of creature that someone has started calling the Hybrids. This new creature only has a portion of the power of the original Old One, but it has power that puts it above most gods, can warp reality in certain ways, and cannot be killed, even by gods.

For example disintegrating it would be nothing more than a momentary inconvenience, Khehkanon's hybrid can change the fundamental nature of fiends, and one of them casually slew three Archgates at full release while also being assaulted by multiple other godly foes.

One of them, yes, there are more. Some time around Not entirely sure about the timinga year ago Zera created another Hybrid. He put this one into a vessel that he thoroughly prepared to be loyal and obedient to him. Even with his careful ground-work it is apparently taking a lot of time and effort to maintain and renew those mental controls, but as of right now Zera has a leashed Hybrid. Yostrah, the Blue Lady with the Eyes of a Void. Worse, Yostrah was the creator of Trolls, and has a high level of control over them. Control that has allowed Zera to amass a literal army of trolls.

Oh and you met the third Hybrid briefly. He's the one that was slapping down the Paragon Sarlorne when he was trying to kill Xu for the crime of existing.

So that's Zera. He's the most powerful psionic mind bender known to exist, and has a chunk of the Godforge powered by two of the Paragons, Sanctuary, an Archgate of Kirin, Godling agents, an army of trolls, and a leashed Old One hybrid.

Potentially the biggest problem has more to do with the nature of the Old Ones. They are the fundamental forces of creation, and as of right now the fact that the forces of some are still partially bound away while others are free has created an imbalance in reality. Apparently Fisali is working to keep the plate spinning, but eventually that imbalance will cause it to fall, and nobody really knows what will happen to reality when it does."

Morgan chuckles.

"So don't take this personally, but the drow are a... significantly lower concern than some of the other things going on. At least relatively speaking. You probably haven't been briefed yet less because nobody trusts you and more because nobody thought to. Or maybe they all assumed someone else, like me, would. We don't really have a system in place for this, as the greater world only became aware of pretty much any of this ohhh five days ago."

Morgan again gives Nallaul a moment to absorb the information. Maybe seek clarification. It was certainly a lot to take in. If Morgan were to look at it as an outsider, he might be tempted to think the messy red eyed wizard sitting here spouting these things about reality unraveling and Old Ones and such were a raving loon.

[Acathala]

Nallaul sits quietly. The only time he speaks, is at the start, before Morgan spoke of Zera, to reassure the wizard. "I think you're doing well. Zilira would not be with someone weak."
The rest of the time he listens. Occasionally sips his wine, but concentrates his mind on what Morgan is saying. The hybrids interest him, and he wonders if the trade off. Immortality but he would not truly be Nallaul, but a mix. Then there was Zera. Fascinating. He doubts the other wizard hasn't already considered what occurred to Nallaul. "I can only offer my own experience as a Drow. However. We tend not to trust sudden meteoric rises to power. There is always a reason for them. The way you describe hybrids seems to also describe Zera. It would explain his sudden rise to power, how he has knowledge that he absolutely shouldn't have. Even the best mortal shouldn't have been able to achieve all that he has."

[SpatulaOdoom]

Morgan throws his head back and laughs, tired eyes glittering with amusement.
"YES. Finally someone else who is not just interested in what is, but why it is and how it got to be. Go team wizard."
I think I'm going to have to talk to Vulcar about actually getting him on the team.
"Those are definitely questions that have been asked, and we've answered a few of those origins. Many of them wh-" Morgan's words are cut short as he gags slightly.
Morgan pauses, swallowing repeatedly and glaring at nothing in particular.
"Really? Even with the Covenant broken?"
He grunts. Time to go about it crabwise.
"Nykal's situation doesn't really stretch credulity. He was bound in the mind in the way anyone can be, and had the disadvantage of being Zera's childhood friend. It's more difficult to do it to an Archgate than a normal person, but Zera is both one of the most capable and experienced psionic mind benders, capable of magic Epic Magicbeyond the ninth circle. Hell, if I don't get killed in the next little bit, I might make it there before forty, and I spent a good chunk of my life not intentionally grasping for that sort of power.

The id-" Morgan again gags, but seems less annoyed this time, merely clearing his throat and immediately shifting around whatever he was going to say. "When searching out how to free Zilira, I had to keep in mind that she had a standing order from Vulcar the first to kill those who tried to free her, and likely suppress any information or effort that might lead to her freedom. In order to acquire the information and live long enough to find the opportunity to use it I had Ghost, one of the three survivors of the Demongate Wars, bind the information within me, rendering me incapable of telling others, and even preventing others from forcibly removing the information from me via means magical or psionic. It had actually prevented Zera from extracting information from some of Ghost's agents. I had that vault unlocked in order to utilize the information properly, but was not capable of doing so myself. I don't know if it was True Magic, but I'm pretty sure True Magic can do similar things."
Hopefully the intelligent drow steeped in subterfuge could tell what Morgan was trying to explain with that seeming non sequitur. After a moment's consideration another idea comes to him.
"Did you know that Zilira ensured that all her progeny via Vulcar the First would have grey eyes? Even going down the line generations down. Did you know that Zera has grey eyes?"
That hint had been pretty easy to get across once he'd thought of it.

"Anyways, how he thought to use the Godforge to bind the Paragons is not a concern, and it wasn't the Drow he got the idea from." Morgan pauses, as though he might want to say more, but instead goes on to say. "Him finding out about Sanctuary and having the idea of using it also isn't a concern, but we have no idea how he found Sanctuary. According to Shade, Zera managed to get in when it was unattended, and once you do that it's pretty easy to keep others out."

Morgan rubs the bristles of his beard, eliciting a dry rasp.

"Many questions regarding Zera's sources of information and rise to power are still unanswered though. The biggest one in my mind his how he A: Found out about the daggers and how they actually work, and B: How he got his hands on one.
Currently my chief suspect is Ciin.
While it might be closer to the portfolio of A-shart to manipulate and shape Zera into the disgusting lump he is today, I very much doubt she'd be willing to free the Old Ones in any way shape or form considering she was the one that imprisoned them."

[Acathala]

Nallaul considers. "I think we'll set aside the hybrids for now. We may return to it later." Nallaul strokes his hair as he thinks on the subject. For a moment he is unsure how to get around Morgan's problem. He thinks he had a solution. "Zilira. Does she acknowledge a certain some one as her progeny?"
The wizard doubts very much the goddess would have willingly abandoned a child. From what he's seen of her she's very impressive in that regard. Most Drow mother's were not maternal. He remembers his own mother came close to abandoning him to die.

[SpatulaOdoom]

"OK, so you don't have to come at things sideways. It's only..." Morgan's eyes slide up and to the side as he tries to recall how the Tomb's binding had been changed by Shosanna. "It's only where and how I learned certain specific information that I can't go into. Which actually means I didn't need to talk sidelong about Zera being part of the Halvan royal line.

We aren't one hundred percent sure about that for several reasons, but fairly sure. It's not just the eye color thing. He's also gained access to places alone that should only be accessible to people “of the blood” so to speak. Also he was aware of some of the... Problems with an outsider attempting to stage a coup and take over the country. Vulcar the first was a paranoid and thorough bastard, and one of the most potent true magic users history has recorded. The palace for example is literally blanketed in true magic wards in layers and layers, and most of them are tied to the blood of the royal line.

There are factors muddying the waters though.

Zera himself has worked hard to wipe out his own history. The orphanage he grew up in burnt down long ago, and every single person who was there at the same time he was has disappeared or turned up dead for example.

Zilira has the ability to tell if someone is of her bloodline, but it's something that she has to consciously and actively use. She used to keep track of them for funsies, but apparently before the Phaerean assassinations there were a lot of people with the blood of the royal line out there, including royal bastards a few steps removed as well as distant cousins and such. To muddy things further, for a period of about sixty years, from roughly a few years after Zera would have been born to when Vulcar the first was crowned king as a babe, Zilira was locked away in her little dungeon under the palace. She missed out on the rise of Zera and the Betrayer Wars, and the only time since then that we're aware Zera was seen in public, she never got an eye on him. He's been hiding away in Sanctuary.

Worse Vulcar's bindings on Zilira meant that she could not act against members of the royal line. The only one she was compelled to protect and serve was the king," That last bit wasn't entirely true, but for the purposes of this discussion was close enough. And Halva hadn't had a king for a period of about thirty years. ", but if she was aware of Zera's status as a royal bastard, she wouldn't be able to act against him. Fortunately, this is no longer the case.

If you're trying to suggest that Zera is actually Zilira's birth son rather than great-fourty-or-so-times grandson, it's possible, but highly improbable for a number of reasons.

Zilira wasn't even allowed to conceive children without express permission of a king, and if she had conceived Zera with anyone outside of the royal family, he would still not be part of the royal line or keyed to any of the wards or part of Zilira's compulsions.

Even the eye color thing was something specific to the children of her and Vulcar, something that she added to the mix. When her and I have children, unless she does something similar, they might very well have hazel eyes like mine."
Morgan pauses for a moment, smiling softly to himself.
I'm really going to have children of my own. I'm going to be a father.
Those were the sorts of thoughts that kept Morgan pushing himself forward, willing to risk and suffer anything to make this broken tired universe just that little bit better. Not for himself. If he was only worried about himself, he'd be hiding away in Rincala with the other seers. And not just for HIS children, though that moment five nights ago had been an epiphany of sorts. But for them AND all those that would come next. Those before him had done the same. The Demongate Wars had been nothing BUT struggle and sacrifice for a better future. Figuring out how to live after war. Clawing up from barbarism to the first wobbling steps of civilization. It hadn't been clean, and not every step had been forward, but humanity, and all the other mortal and immortal races, had been moving forward as best they could despite the selfish and terrible creatures clawing at their heels, trying to drag them down.
The smile fades.
So f#$k you with a rusty cheese grater Zera, I'm not letting you drag us down.
"I actually haven't spoken to her about it since her bindings have been broken, so maybe I'll check and see if anything got shook loose. Not right now though. Zil is up to something and needs to concentrate.

So short version is, if Zilira had been aware of Zera AND the sort of stuff he was up to, she'd have been forced by her bonds to kill him to protect the king and royal family." Or more accurately compelled to arrange for the Covenant to kill him.

[Acathala]

"That wasn't why I was asking. A lot of his life seems coincidental. As the poet Mukirr once wrote, "coincidences happen all the time. I believe in them, but I never trust them." Wise words. Have you considered the possibility Zera was created, rather than born?" Nallaul asked calmly. "I think for example the conflicts he started. I'm willing to concede that his powers gave him most of the information he wanted to to start them. However there was bound to be outside factors he or his agents couldn't possibly have known about, unless someone more powerful was helping them out. It's also possible the orphanage wasn't chosen at random either. What are the chances that someone like Zera would have a childhood friend who would grow up into an Archgate?"

[SpatulaOdoom]

"I do understand, and you hinted that it was Zilira guiding him to his knowledge and power. I was explaining why that was improbable due to her bindings and nature. As I said before, I like Ciin for the job. Possibly FisalythThe Eighth on the outside. It's also possible that his Halva parent was grooming him to attempt a coup, and Zera decided he didn't want second fiddle."
Morgan slugs back the last of his wine and then deliberately sets the glass aside. Too bad Morgan couldn't tell the drow about the Tomb. It would simplify some things. He leans forward, staring into the fireplace and it's wavering embers.
"Looking into Zera's origins and how he came to be the way he is, is important, and I am more leery of coincidence than most, but be careful about ascribing some divine will and guidance to every single step of his path. The universe is... messy. Stuff happens and it's all about how you stitch that mess of stuff together to guide events onto the path that you want, and everyone, even the gods, are all madly weaving at that mess in an attempt to do that."
At this point Morgan wants to explain to explain to Nallaul about his many threads theory, and what he'd seen to confirm it. He might even be smart enough to get it, but then again, having come from a monotheistic(esque) culture might make it difficult to understand.
"In the end gods are just people. They make mistakes, overlook things, change their minds, bicker with each other, and all that other people stuff. I've spoken to a being, known as Ghost, who is as close to omniscient as you'll find, even among the gods according to Shade, and there was plenty of things he didn't know.
Personally I'd actually say that Nykal's own story being mere chance is the most believable part of Zera's development. An opportunity that arose and was exploited. It's some of the stuff that came later I find difficult to believe as being chance."

[Acathala]

Nallaul puts his hand up. "I know gods aren't infallible. I saw one hell bitch get ambushed in her own temple." Nallaul lowered his hand and took another sip of wine. "I wish I had sent some magic her. Probably wouldn't have hurt her much, but I would have felt much better." Nallaul is quiet for a moment, wondering if that last comment changed Morgan's opinion of him. The Drow wizard could be vicious about people he hated. Lolth was actually number 2 on that list, given Xul'olin was a more imminent threat to Nallaul.
"I think it doesn't to be a god, though that would be the easiest solution. A high level fiend or wizard could do it. I sense a lack of interest in that idea, so we'll leave it there." Nallaul looks directly at Morgan. This was likely not going to be a pleasant conversation. [SAY]Zera wants control of Zilira. Why? As you've said to me, he's on a power level higher than her. Also doesn't strike me a s sentimental. /SAY]