eachdraidh | VIDEO | SEELIE + HERMIONE-NET (backdated to the 25th)

[ The video opens to the woodlands surrounding Caer Glaem. Aslan rests not to far away from a shrine to the White Hart, which is visible in the distance.

His expression is grave, indeed, but his address is made with poise. ]

To those of you to whom I have never spoken, greetings. My name is Aslan, and I arrived in the drabwurld approximately a year and a half ago by this world's reckoning.

I speak to you now, to those who may be unaware, of events that may be coming in the near future.

Earlier this month, I dreamed a dream like unto the visions that came to a number of individuals at the turn of last year. In my dream, I saw great beasts made of metal ravaging the lands with fire. They destroyed everything in their path, and the light of their eyes glowed like unto the very Shards we bear.

I cannot say when, but I believe this vision will come to pass.

I give this warning so that you might not fear, but prepare.

The End comes, and we must be ready to meet it.

[ He lets his words sink in a moment, then- ]

Be well, all of you.

[ With that, he ends the feed. ]

---

[ ooc: Please check out Aslan's permissions post if you would like him to know your character, and make a note in your tag so I know to look! c: ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I am here.

What would you ask of me, Dorian Gray?

Will you talk to me about the end of things? I've heard, ah, another argument recently, but frankly the source is dubious. And I've heard some of what the people who know this world and its ways has said.

I want to hear you.

[Because he trusts Aslan as he doesn't trust Kirei Kotomine. Because Aslan has a wisdom as great as Tatharil's but of another world. Because Dorian needs to know more.]

Tell me what you have heard, Dorian Gray, and I will tell you what I believe and what I know.

Of the fate of this world, as well as my own.

I've been told that the Uaine Cridhe and the Void are like two sides of a coin. All creation, and all destruction. That the Uaine Cridhe is all existence, and that losing the Void, destruction, will be the end of creation.

That if we kill the Void, all the worlds will become an unending twilight.

[ A soft rumble sounds on Aslan's end. Though he has not heard it said in such absolute terms, he does know that the Uaine Cridhe is the source of all creation. For there to be life, there must also be death, and in order for there to be balance, the cycle of life, death, and rebirth must be allowed to continue. ]

There can be no creation without destruction, Dorian Gray.

The Void is a powerful force, equal to the fully formed Uaine Cridhe in that they are opposites.

If the Void were destroyed tomorrow, this world and all the rest would remain for a season. However, everything the Void has consumed will be lost for an eternity, and the life that has already gone out of this world will never return again.

That's what I heard as well. An ugly end to an ugly situation.

[Dorian's voice is quiet. Contemplative, soft. Wondering what the best course is.]

If there was another possibility, what would you say to it?

[Dorian doesn't really know of any. He wants one, but he isn't privy to discussions of one.

But he does want to know what Aslan thinks about that.]

[ Aslan is quiet for a long moment, considering the question with all the seriousness it is due. He understands the desire for another way, the place from which it comes, but ultimately, there is only one answer he can give. ]

I have seen Nothingness, Dorian Gray. The darkness of an empty world before light was born and the first living things were made.

As I breathed life into the land last year, so I did on the first day, when Narnia was brought forth.

I have lived, I have died, and I have been reborn to see that all was cared for and in proper balance.

I have also seen the end, when all was brought to ruin, and darkness fell once more.

[ He lets his words sink in before he continues, his words just as soft, but stronger -- brighter somehow in a way that cannot be defined. ]

But I have also seen what came after, a new beginning for those who had been brought to Narnia from another place, whose lives and fortunes were invested in the well-being of that world.

The End of All Things is not meant to be easy. It may bring out the best as well as the worst in many people.

You ask whether I would support another way, and truthfully, I would not. Not because I delight in destruction or the pain and suffering that comes with trying times such as these, but rather because I have known the triumph of resurrection and the magnificence of a brand new day.

[Dorian listens carefully. Closely. Much of him, which is childish and stubborn, wants to pull away. The rest of him has spent too long in this place.

The rest of him really, truly listens.]

You know what you believe. What's the right path that you choose. You're going to go into these fights with certainty.

I am.

[ A low rumble, that is at once an answer as well as a statement of being.

What Aslan has said, his will, his way, his very essence -- this is who he is beyond the fur, tail, and whiskers that so many seem to focus on.

An entity beyond the ken of mortals. ]

Edited 2015-09-10 23:16 (UTC)

[Yes, he is, isn't he? Aslan isn't a mortal of any kind. He's a divinity, a creature made for things like this. Kirei Kotomine is a priest and a true believer. He has that instinct for devotion.

The rest of them, mortals, have to muddle it out. And maybe never be really satisfied with the choice they have to make.]

Thanks, Aslan. I'll . . . think about what you said.

Edited 2015-09-10 23:19 (UTC)

Be well, Dorian Gray.

[ A softer answer this time; despite the circumstances, despite the schism he has felt between himself and many he has come to know over this very issue, the warmth he has always had is still very much there.

There are those who may forsake him for this, he has seen it happen already, but whatever sorrow he might feel is not enough to dissuade him. He is an entity set apart, and thus it shall always be. ]

Whatever happens, I will be here should you wish to call on me again.

I have your number if a gazelle ever needs chasing down.

[It is a joke. It is, perhaps, one meant to mask discomfort with a smile that doesn't quite carry itself fully through his voice.

The end the Unseelie propose is ugly. Dorian is known as an immortal to many, as a boy who gave up his soul to live forever. But that isn't it. Dorian chose to live beautifully. When decay and ugliness came, he swore to end his life.

Dorian doesn't want to die. But Dorian does not want to live a life that is not worth living. That is what the Unseelie are offering. And once, long ago, he sold his soul to escape that. What's an infinity of worlds for that offering?]

You know how to find me the same.

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