[say] “My Lady, if it were only that, I would say let the Outlanders die for their stupidity and stubbornness. But it isn’t.”[/say] She shakes her head.[say] “There are reports of Monsters explicitly stating they want Ascended upgrades. Last year we had a door that only opened to someone with a pulse. They killed someone and used the dying man’s hand to open the door.”[/say] To say that they don’t have minds anymore seems dismissive. They had been able to identify Wessex, they had been able to try and negotiate with Kiada. These are things she'd never heard of before, not for thirty-eight years. And now? Something has changed.
[say] “They’ve grown… smarter, I think, in the past couple of years. What are they doing with the bodies and energies they no longer bring to you? Maybe they’ve been able to use them, somehow. I don’t know. But I am worried they’re going to target your living children in order to try and return.”[/say] Some of her living children aren’t the brightest.
With a needless inhale, Wessex squares herself.[say] “I would end them, if it means keeping the family safe. And if doing so would demonstrate your power again.”[/say] Everything else be damned. A show of power like that - eliminating the bane of LongNight - what could they say against her then? How the Heralds might tremble, to see The Voice so strong.
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03-31-2020, 07:45 PM
(This post was last modified: 03-31-2020, 07:46 PM by the VOICE.)
[say]"They want to be like you."[/say] The Voice said softly, her voice truly sorrowful. To hear of their antics though...that was a surprise. The hoard that encountered Wessex in Rory's farmhouse years ago was near the height of their intelligence. Demanding and petulant, but mostly unreasonable.
[say]'Fascinating.'[/say] She mused, looking wildly pleased even as the demigod mentions that she and the other ascended may be targeted. Pride radiated across her youthful features as she considered; could it be true, that her creatures, centuries-old, had found a way to evolve? To succeed where she had failed? [say]"Then all my ascended shall be protected from them. I won't have you hurt in their quest...whatever it might be."[/say]
The idea of ending them...that too was something she understood. Not for the humans, but for her children. All of them. Perhaps it wasn't fair. [say]"Well, I leave it to you to decide...Allow your predecessors to have their week, or sacrifice them for the good of future relations with those in the grounds.."[/say]
A new PQ+ has been added to the records!v
Keep or eradicate: This is for the ascended only. The Voice has told Wessex that the LongNight monsters are simply ancient iterations of the ascended that have gone horribly wrong. She allows them their one week of 'life' during LongNight that they might have some joy in their lives. However given how reluctant the Grounders are to stay inside, she leaves the choice to the ascended: allow the creations to stay, or kill them all. If deciding to keep them alive, speak with the Voice who will give you a quest to make the ascended invisible to the LongNight monsters thus ensuring their safety. Or kill them: all ascended must participate in a KQ during LongNight to kill the monsters.
Requirements: Learn the information IC from Wessex. Decide COLLECTIVELY what to do.
Difficulty: Difficult
Reward: Potential permanent upgrade if keeping the monsters. Goodwill from the Hollowed Grounds if destroying them.
Wessex nods in agreement - that they wanted to live again, to be like the current Ascended - that she had deduced in the months after Rory’s farmhouse. To see them take it far enough to barter with Grounders was something else entirely. And it is a sad thing - but the compassion that she continues to see in her Goddess is what, along with the options offered, continues to convince the demigoddess of the Voice’s superiority in the pantheon of Caido’s gods.
But we all know how the Wraith feels about the heralds. A diatribe here will change nothing.
A smile flashes across her face at the concession, turning to genuine surprise when the Voice gives her - and the rest of her children - a choice. A massive, game-changing choice, no matter what they do. The enormity of the result of her persistence is not lost on the Wraith. She is humbled in the face of her Lady’s faith in them.[say] “Thank you,”[/say] comes out immediately, but that doesn’tt feel adequate.[say] “- for the freedom to make this choice. For listening. Your love for your children - both past and present continues to amaze me.”[/say]
Loki, feeling something change in her bonded, leaves her playtime with the electric dragon and comes down, landing on Wessex’s shoulder with a questioning trill, until the blonde woman absently careses her tail.
[say] “I'll let the other know and we’ll decide together. As a family.”[/say]
The Voice's smile is small, but the emotion behind it is not. There are few who truly understand her motivations and her adoration, but for those who do—those like the Wraith—there can be no greater satisfaction to a mother.
[say]'As a family.'[/say] She agrees. Before departing, she extends a wrist to Wessex that she might strengthen herself and restore her energy. For Loki there is a sharp snap of electricity that will energize the dragonling. [say]"I believe in you. In all of you, and will abide the choice you make."[/say] There is no wrong answer, just the path that her children will decide for them to walk down.
And unlike the other gods, the Voice will always walk at their sides.
~FIN
