[Seelie] Attack on Glaem - Who wants to help evacuate? (or evacuate)

[ringbeast]

[Kousuke's set his locket on the head of his bed, and he's back away from it, waving, though a bit unenthusiastically.]

Hey guys, I got this locked away from Unseelie, because I'm gonna assume most Unseelie aren't here, and I don't really want the army marchin' on us to see where we're evacuating people. Which is what I'm talkin' about.

This army ain't strictly fighting for the Unseelie, and ain't strictly fighting against the Seelie. From what I heard, it's a guy who roused an army to try to get somethin' back he thinks is his. So I'm opening up an offer and a discussion on where, how and when to evacuate.

If you're a noncombatant, if you can't promise yourself you can hold a weapon and maybe kill somebody, then your job is to evacuate and help other people leave too. If you wanna make it a nice trip, I recommend Parrais. It's safe and high up in the mountains to the west, and if they close down, they'll still have enough supplies for everybody. You're probably gonna have to pull your weight, but it's gonna be safe.

If you don't mind livin' off the land for a while, you can hide out in Eaglais, where the Unseelie can't go. I don't wanna let anyone who doesn't know how to camp go and do that, though. So you better have a group that knows what they're doin'...

Oh, and there's the Station, which I haven't been to yet, but which seems pretty safe. Neutral territory and all.

Okay, so. Bottom line is... If you're gonna be of better use outta town when the army gets here, then I'm ready to find you a place to go and help you get there.

And if you got any better ideas about places for people to go, let me know. Also, let me know if you got any ideas of how we're gonna deal with this situation... Cos I'm not a bad strategist, but I don't really wanna put any bets on our side right now.

Comments

[ringbeast]

[He jumps a little.] Ah, yeah, I mean. That's what the characters mean and all. I don't think people think that when they hear it, but its how you write it. Wisteria's in a lot of people's names, though. Also Nitoh's a city in Shizuoka, so... Er. That's a prefecture in my country.

[He sighs, feeling lost in his inability not to make a fool of himself in front of all these elves.]

Kousuke's just a... name. Though I guess the first part means "attack." Heh...

[He straightens up a little more at the serious talk.]

Ah. Yeah I mean. I'd think- Well, you guys can live a long time, right? It'd be too sad to know you cut somebody off. Why'd you fight him to start with...? If that's okay for me to ask.

[orcsurfing]

[ That is quite a lot of information that makes little sense to him, yet Legolas takes it all in good humour and good graces. He nods his head again and yet smiling, admits to his lack of knowledge. ]

These names do not tell me overmuch, I am afraid, but I understand what you mean. [ IN A WAY ANYWAY, he can pretend... ahem. Focuses on the part that's easier instead: ] It is much like in my case. My name stands for Green Leaf in the language of my people, and yet it is firstly a name, the meaning underlying beneath.

We live as long as Arda does. [ So basically... forever. Even after they die, they can be given a new physical body if they wish to return. ] Even after death we are bound to it, and the suffering and agony will stay with us for all that time.

[ A small sigh and though they have only now spoken for the first time, it is a story - or at least a part of it - that he is comfortable sharing well enough. The words come quiet, not dispassionate, yet holding no anger, no bitterness, no agony (not anymore). Merely he feels sad that it has come to this, in the light of their more recent meetings and conversations. ]

To defend myself. Two months past the Seelie monarchs sent a sizeable group to retrieve a valuable artefact and I found myself amongst them. We have succeeded, but covering the return of two of my [ He pauses here briefly, lips parted while he decides on a word. ] friends against a pack of orcs, I were lead astray.

Thus how I came to bear the burn of his wrath.

[ Quite literally in the brands that ate into his flesh bone deep. Those are the parts he leaves out. ]

( ooc; forever sorry for the tl;dr.............. cries )

lmao it's usually me sending the novel-length tags.

[ringbeast]

Yeah, I guess not. That's basically how it works in my language. I mean, we write in uh... Yeah this is hard to explain, nevermind. Basically it's like that. That's kind of a cool name. Actually, there's a couple names like that in my language, ha ha. Wakaba or maybe Aoba or whatever. Ah, they're usually girl's names, though. Sorry.

[He chuckles, it's clear he's just basically teasing.]

Oh, I thought maybe it was from like... Er, well, you guys are from the same world, right? You didn't have any trouble with him then, but this time... Actually, hell, maybe you didn't even know each other, sorry.

Was this over the Silmaril too or is he just a dick? Er. A uh... not very nice person, or whatever.

[He hisses through his teeth.]

Aubri was tryin' to hide it, but I think he got pretty messed up, too. If Celegorm was anything like a decent person, he wouldn't be takin' it out on people who aren't even involved.

BROFIST weeps he talks a lot and this is a big thing...

[orcsurfing]

[ Legolas does manage a smile at that too, not minding the teasing in the slightest. ]

You have nothing to apologise for. I would like to hear your explanation one day, and all about your language, perhaps when your thoughts are not set on matters far more important.

[ A little bit of history here, brief, not detailing much of anything but the general gist. Legolas is really the worst person to pass on such things, never having had the patience to sit through whatever anyone tried to teach him. Story time, lots of talking. ]

He has been slain long before I were born. They are the both of them kinslayers, them and their brothers and their father, having fought and slain other elves time and again, driven by the madness of the Oath, for time and again they have been refused the return of the Silmarils. I think they regret, both of them, they grieve their deeds and they would atone had they the chance, yet they would have done it again too, had there been the need to. Such is the power of the Oath.

They are neither of them cruel by nature, no elves are, but what you see now has been shaped by a thousand of years of peace not once blemished by a single shade, peace shattered and bloodied in a single moment. They have not known suffering or war until it swept them away like a great wave on a stormy sea, like the fire blazing high in a forest. Even I can barely imagine it so, for I have been born in a different time, in a different place when shadows were always lurking, when war and bloodshed were already known by all, and what peace there was, was all but watchful.

They are not evil, I find, they are broken with suffering beyond imagining.

With me... I was a threat to what he had already thought of as his home. [ Legolas had thought Celegorm mad at the time, yet time and knowing more... well, some things are slowly changing. He smiles sadly. ] And would not all of us protect our homes claw and tooth? That he had not killed me was a kindness, that he had nearly ruined me... I am stronger now for it, wiser perhaps.

This may all speak against him, but then, months past he had saved me from certain death. I have asked why, having thought us enemies, and all he said was that I needed him as if that was all reason needed. Is that a deed of one cruel to the very bone and marrow?

Morla is manipulating him and he lets her, for the gains for him outweigh the loses.

[ Can you tell Celegorm has a way of getting into his head... ]

Your friend, I do not know the circumstance, but he must have stood between Celegorm and the Silmaril and all those who do will feel the wrath of the sons of Feanor. Aiding the one who holds the gem will be seen as such. It excuses nothing, but you must understand that right now the Oath is everything.

[ All of this said quietly, with certain degrees of agony and grief flickering in his expression. ]

[ringbeast]

[Nitoh listens, increasingly bowled over by the length and complexity of the story. Legolas is, at least, pretty good at telling a story.]

Yeah, I heard from Maglor about the, uh... The kinslaying. Though I guess in the human world we'd just call it murder. I mean, the oath... has it actually driven them crazy? Maglor seems okay, but you're right, he seems... really sad. I mean, considering what Celegorm did to my friend Aubri... Well, I dunno if I'd trust him even a little bit.

[He frowns at Legolas' description of his treatment at Celegorm's hands, even if Celegorm went on to save him... I mean he'd turned his opinion on people around before, but... never like that.]

I dunno, man... Even if he's being manipulated, there's nothing that excuses him hurting people. I mean, sure, this is a war, but he just seems like he's takin' advantage of the situation to do what he wants. I don't even know what Aubri coulda been doin' to get on his bad side. Just 'cos somebody does you a favor doesn't erase all the other things they've done. Anybody, no matter how bad they are, can do somethin' good if it serves their need. I learned that the hard way.

[He shrugs, sighing. It really isn't up to him, either way. And if Celegorm died before Legolas was born, he probably is a kinda romantic part of his history, maybe. Lots of reasons to give him the benefit of the doubt, there.]

I mean, I don't even know if Aubri knows the chick who has the stone. Even if he does that's no reason to be pullin' all his feathers out. I really wish he'da let me heal him.

Ehhh, I guess maybe it's just something I can't get. Not bein' an elf, and all.

[orcsurfing]

[ Legolas is as attentive a listener, as he is a prolific speaker. He's quiet and taking in every word said, giving it careful consideration and thought. As such, for a moment when Kousuke is done, he's silent. ]

Madness is already willingness of an elf to raise their sword against another elf, madness is when you are aware and hateful of all the cruelties you committed and yet admitting you would do them all over again. [ Or at least it is in his eyes. ] Maglor is fading, wasting away... and for him, perhaps, passing on from this world would be most kind, though I wish it was not so.

[ Though little other options does he see, in truth. But can there ever be light brought back to Maglor's life? Will he ever be willing to look at it, even though the memories of the past will never fade, or will he always turn to the soothing comforts of forgetting just for an instant.

He wonders too just what it means to die here for the elves and the thought, in retrospect, frightens him how close he was himself to simply giving up. What would have happened?! Nobody knows.

Legolas shakes off the thought for another time. ]

I would not think sparing me the fate of having my chest carved open for my shard a mere favour, [ Once driven to the very brink of death, then saved from such. It's fright and gratitude mixing together into something entirely confusing. ] but you are right that nothing excuses his deeds. Nothing will ever wash away the blood and suffering he has caused others and nothing should, but he is not beyond hope...

[ He trails off, cuts off the thought before he starts thinking out loud, tangling himself up in his own turmoils. There's a pause here, before finally he finishes simply. ]

I am sorry your friend has suffered at Celegorm's hand as well, I hope he will allow himself to be helped and healed so as to not unnecessarily prolong it. And that it does not break him.

[ringbeast]

Yeah... Yeah that's more than enough to drive somebody crazy. Even just knowin' your dad signed you up for crap like that. I mean, at least, uh... At least usually you got a choice. Ugh, I dunno.

[He runs his fingers through his hair scruffling it up.]

I dunno... Maglor still seems to be kinda happy. I guess all that kinda stuff is up to him. I mean, the last time I met... somebody who maybe shouldn't have been around anymore... Man, all she wanted was to keep goin. All we wanted was for her to stay. Things were way different, but...

[He winces at the idea of condemning someone to death. Thinks about the way everybody used Koyomi... Maybe if Maglor had something better to live for, but... With the Silmaril here, it was a little too late for that.]

I mean, favor or not... You gotta be careful about who you trust and why. It'd be nice if he could turn right around, take his army back home, but I doubt that's gonna happen. I mean, whether you still got the seed of good inside you, even if you... Even if you're something like you, all full of good and light and...

[He stops, gritting his teeth, trying to stop thinking about the memories of the phantoms back home, and how much it hurt to have to figure out that they really weren't human, even the ones who hadn't changed at all.]

Everybody's got the potential for good, y'know. Even monsters and stuff. But... But that doesn't mean that I'm not gonna fight him if I have to, because even good people can do terrible things.

[He sighs, pausing himself to gather things together and calm himself down.]

But yeah. I think Aubri's gonna be okay. Enough people offered to heal him up. I think he's a big-time fighter. I mean, he better be, bein' part lion and part eagle, right?

I can't believe they really would cut you open for your shard...

[It's not a disbelieving statement, it's a statement of quiet shock.]

[orcsurfing]

He can still smile, indeed, and it is a great feat with all that he had seen, lived through and done. Elven memories never fade, though, he will never forget. I wish there was a single thing that could make him turn towards the light once more.

[ Much in the same way Legolas will never forget the pain and agony when the blazing white braiding iron cut through skin and flesh and scorched bone. It still hurts, even now, when he draws his bow, when he moves just so. Or the shame he felt, bared before a company of orcs and humiliated with his hair sheared off short the way it is now.

His eyebrows draw into a frown, eyes closing briefly, before he forces his expression to smooth out again. ]

Think of the wolves, the way mothers will care with great tenderness and gentleness for their young, but will not hesitate to cut open, maul and even kill all those who threaten them. Think of the birds that will do the same, all the wild beasts. Such is the world as Celegorm sees it now, cruelty twining with kindness for all of infinity.

But make no mistake, my trust is not so easily won, what I am saying is that I do not condemn him. Neither him nor his brother, though I loathe what they have done. Of the kinslayings, I have only heard stories from my father who had lived through one of such. Ever have I felt... sorry for them, the lengths they have been forced to go to because the Valar would not help, because nobody would give up the gems once they fell into their hands.

And Clarisse will not give up the gem either, [ And ever does he wonder why. ] so you are right that he will not turn his army around. And if you have to fight him, do so and do not hesitate for he will not.

[ ... though then most puzzled expression comes onto his face. Almost comical maybe coming in after words grave and of great import. Legolas blinks, his lips part and he cocks an eyebrow. ]

Part lion, part eagle? [ Ahem, he nods his head then, chasing away surprise with return of a genuine gladness. ] Though I am glad he will be well.

[ And as a last explanation, a warning of a sort too, he adds with great intent and his tone speaking the words that don't become voiced: be careful of all. ]

'tis the only way in which to retrieve them and... many may yet desire them in this world.

[ringbeast]

That sounds awful. I mean, there's some stuff it's good to remember, but rememberin' every crappy thing. Eugh.

[He runs over a brief litany of embarrassing things he's done that he's never managed to forget. Reliving them all every time he remembered them would be pretty awful.]

I mean, I don't think either of us are gonna be convinced. Basically wolves don't mess with people who don't mess with them, so I don't really buy it. A wolf's not gonna go after somebody and mess them up cos they think it might help someday in advance. But, man. It's all a different culture to me. I'll just defer to you about elves.

If nothin' else, I agree that she shoulda just given it up. Wish I'd found that thing. You couldn't pay me to start a war like this. What's so great about 'em?

[He shrugs.]

Anyhow, I won't hold back. I met Maglor, and I like him all right, but... Not enough to let myself get killed just so I don't have to make him sadder.

Oh, yeah, Aubri's a gryphon. He's strong. He'll be okay.

[The touch of mind-speech makes him freeze up for a moment, but Maglor did it to him too, so he's not that surprised.]

Yeah... Okay. Uh. Glad you got outta the whole thing okay, Legolas. Take care of yourself.