eachdraidh | video ✞ seelie locked, june 20th

[What's captured by the locket is the image of an unsmiling, expressionless man, but those who know Kotomine Kirei -- perhaps from around Caer Glaem or one of the chapels surrounding it or Leathann -- might note there's a little bit more energy to him. He's in Leathann now, in fact, riding down a street on horseback, his cleg's wings carefully folded back.

A golden cross hangs from his neck, so even those who don't know him may be able to guess at what he is.]

It's fortunate to see the number of victims suffering from the silver sickness decreasing instead of increasing, finally. Still, if you or someone you know should require healing to halt the disease's progress while you search for your cures, don't hesitate to contact me. I hope you are all well, or become well soon enough.

[He doesn't... well, his deep voice doesn't sound very cheerful or uplifting about anything, but at least he's calm and composed. Maybe he gives the impression of someone who would be a good healer. Apparently Kirei has more he wants to ask, however, and he's not done yet.]

It seems like a good time, though, to ask a few questions. I am new to the Drabwurld and would like to find out all I can. Specifically, I would like to know about the Void.

[That topic is mentioned as emotionlessly as if he were discussing the weather. It is nearby, visible a few miles distant from the coast of Leathann.]

What is known about it, at this point? How quickly does it move? What's been done with regard to it, both on our side and by our enemies? If you're able to provide any information at all, I'll be grateful.

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[Kirei's been thinking the "risks" he mentions are anything but related to the Void. He falters here, and he vows to be more direct.]

Would you... care to clarify?

Be mindful of how close you stray to the Void.

[ His first concern, given the conversation being help elsewhere. ]

In your search for information, you may find others will stand in your way. The Unseelie and powers aligned with them, but also those who claim allegiance to neither court.

If you have not heard of Reynard the Fox and the Cult that continues the work he started, I would learn as much as you are able.

I know this about the Void; I will never venture too close to it.

[Of course something that eats all life would eat him, too. He feels a sense of kinship with the empty black hole, but that doesn't automatically require he sacrifices himself to it. After all, he has a duty to help the Void out.

He can't do that if it murders him first.]

But what's this about a Reynard the Fox, and a cult? Aslan, I'm concerned. Do they surpass even the Unseelie in terms of a threat?

I was not here during his rise to power and eventual defeat, but as I understand it, Reynard the Fox was once an Unseelie shardbearer who lost his own shard to a Seelie.

The year before I arrived he made an attempted to collect shards of his own and attain power similar in range and scope to that of the monarchs. He was killed two months prior to my arrival, and since then, anti-shardbearer sentiment has been on the rise throughout the world.

The Cult of the Fox is the movement that has persisted since his defeat, and all shardbearers, Unseelie and Seelie, should consider it a threat.

So the Cult of the Fox is attempting to steal shards, and amass power rivaling the courts... [Anyone could see how that's a problem.

Still, there's a nagging and almost curious appeal in the story of Reynard. Could a single shardbearer so affect the world? Could he or she challenge a monarch? Change public sentiment?

Could it be that the likes of the High-Queen aren't as powerful as he's been led to believe?]

I don't understand how one shardbearer would accomplish so much. Is it that the natives wish to deprive us of our shards, so that they can manipulate their strength towards their own ends? Or do they simply hate us for being different and infringing upon their world?

Edited (a lot of small edits) 2015-07-10 23:35 (UTC)

Reynard is dead. Their goal may very well have shifted.

[ He cannot know, only guess based on the facts he has been given. ]

This war has been waged for ages, and countless lifetimes have passed since the conflict first began. The world was a larger place, then, many other great Powers besides those which remain.

Shardbearers and their actions have always made a great impact on the lives of the people living here. They have no voice in this conflict, and so they resent shardbearers -- strangers from faraway lands -- for destroying and changing what they believe is rightfully theirs.

[ It's a sentiment Aslan understands, and truly, he cannot fault them overmuch for it. ]

Edited 2015-07-15 00:34 (UTC)

There were other courts once?

[Kirei seems to tune into that part of Aslan's message, the "many other great Powers" which used to exist. He leaves the question of how a single shardbearer accomplished so much unanswered, but perhaps that's because he doesn't know himself.

At the mention of his musing about the natives' opinions -- which Kirei can also not fault them much for -- he just hmms, thinking it over.]

And I suppose the people have that right. I can only continue to support the goodness of the Seelie cause, and hope more of them come to understand that it is the correct path for all of us, regardless of who we are.

It has not been told to me in so many words, but I assume so, yes.

[ Given the powers of the monarchs such as they are, he can only imagine the their kin also ruled courts of their own. Ridire indicated only a few of those original powers remained, and it stands to reason the others were wiped out many years past. ]

Tread carefully, Kirei. Remember it is not always easy to see the larger picture when the world is unraveling at the seams.

Of course. The people hold no fault in this war.

video ✞ seelie locked, june 20th

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