[SE] once more into the breach

It's a strange thing, to hold a meeting like this. It feels the same way it once did in the Hollowed Grounds back when they'd first arrived, first found themselves trapped, and a creature had been wreaking havoc around the Spire, preventing anyone from getting inside. Ronin had died in the resulting fight, so perhaps it's understandable that he feels a bit on edge; nostalgia is not always pleasant, he's discovering. Either way, this might not be the sort of gathering where food and refreshments are required, but the Knight has brought enough to at least slake any thirst or quell any hunger pangs while they talk; the supplies sit in a couple of open crates next to the Dreaming Well, welcome for anyone to take. The Knight himself is leaning against the edge of the wellhouse, and if the set of his jaw and shoulders are anything to go by, he's not here to provide entertainment. But if they're lucky, maybe they'll all walk away from this with more than they had to begin. This thread takes place off the back of the letters exchanged in Starfall and is open to anyone involved in the exchange or anyone who would have reasonably heard about it IC! I'll give it 48 hours for people to arrive before moving things on. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

honey, you're familiar like my mirror years ago

Seated on a nearby boulder, where the White Knight appears chiselled from stone such is his focus, the Bastion is his opposite. Slouched, with one knee drawn up to his chest and his chin resting on it, Remi holds a small blade in one hand and a gnarled bit of wood in the other. Idly whittling away if only so that the current of emotions that passed through the attuned bond between he and his husband would be a comfortable and content one, at least from his side of things.

Gods you're handsome when you're all serious and concerned about the survival of the entire world. Remi thinks towards his husband, his green eyes flicking up toward the Knight over his knee as a sly smile curls the corners of his lips and deepens in the lines around his eyes.

Knowing his (new) place in the grand scheme of things, Remi shifted slightly as he extended his magic around the clearing. If I feel anything, I'll let you know. It likely goes without saying, but with Ronin so intimately tethered in his mind, some thoughts simply passed between them automatically.

---

Remi has his Spread Thin magic active!

Magic: Spread Thin | Can soak the damage cast at all allies within 60ft. Cannot use any other actions.
Type: Light | Rank: Mastered

idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on its sword

DEIMOS

The sound of iron shots is stuck in my head
The thunder of the drums dictates

For once, Deimos didn’t feel that aimless trepidation anchored to his ribs. The apprehension was there, to be certain, but armed with some information on how to strike back, the ominous depths didn’t chisel too deeply into his shoulders. Any remaining dread segmented into the potential for Family members randomly appearing, but maybe they were safer along the threads of King’s End, and had learned from previous lessons.

So he flew over and landed eventually along the thermals and the Dreaming Well, shifting back into human form with his bag of holding over his shoulders, rather than staying clutched in talons. He gave a light wave to both Remi and Ronin and a small smile, but otherwise kept himself occupied by snagging at papers, his notebook, and charcoal; avoiding the snacks for now. “I do have some new things to share,” he hinted at both demigods with half a grin; as if to say he wasn’t entirely empty-handed and here for show.

The rhythm of the falls, the number of dead
The rising of the horns, ahead

your dreams are all full of war
you are from another time

Melita had gotten the notice and flurry of letters, but had told Ronin and Remi her thoughts in person. They hadn’t altered much – not when she was one of the weaker subsets of demigods and was brutally reminded of that frequently. Nonetheless, she was torn between helping or ignoring it entirely – but information was information, and at least being able to snag something was better than being wholly useless.

So the trio of Sila, Fangorn, and the Honeybee collectively set off in the Firecracker for a modest jaunt over to King’s End again – the flight path familiar and distinct, and before long she made a rather decent landing (though complete with a light crash into a nearby mound). Satisfied and brushing her hands together, she unloaded the companions and made her way over. Her greetings extended to light waves to everyone nearby, before rampaging over to the snacks.

salvation doesn't look like light
So what remains?

Melita

Noah

That's the price you pay
Leave behind your heart and cast away

Teleportation made the travel easy. Noah appeared in King’s End in a blink on the day called for, and made his way slowly towards the well cast in mystery by his invisibility cloak. He would rather use all caution than to strut with any arrogance. The evidence of the voidshade ursur attack and fight still lingered in the corners and fringes of his being. Frayed by the despair and cold he felt, Noah approached the group silently — only revealing himself from the shade of the cloak once he was in range of the attuned bond.

He nodded to each gathered, the tingle of anticipation for what was to come and he shared and plans set forth reaching through him starting at the tips of his fingers.

Just another product of today
Rather be the hunter than the prey

Table base by Skylark

Seren

Seated crosslegged on the ground near her fathers, Seren absently ran her fingers along the supple scales of Umbra's belly. The blue dragon had offered his considerable bulk for the starchild to lean against, but she was too wound up to relax much. Despite having helped herself to both food and drink, her hoard sat mostly untouched in front of her, and sky-colored eyes kept flitting from Ronin's stern expression to the well and then to each of the other arrivals in turn.

Deimos drew particular curiosity after his announcement, but Seren didn't quite dare ask him to elaborate. Everyone had yet to arrive, for one, and the silence hovering over their heads kind of made it hard to make noise at all. Even a lazy snort from her companion had her flinching, which elicited an amused rumble that was more felt than herd.

Easy for him to say - he wasn't the one who had fumbled so badly last time.

I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces
Reaching the starlight and silver fields

Sah

Sah felt out of place amongst the Demi-gods and Deimos at meetings such as this. His importance was far beneath theirs when it came to the fate of their world. But Seren had invited him, so the Wild Thunder had come. When it was time, he used his magic to teleport close to the rendezvous point.  Landing with a strike of lightning, the Abandoned got his bearings. Lilly pressed her nose into the bend of his knee and he reached down to rub her ears with a chuckle. "Alright. I'm going." With a final nudge, the wolves disappeared into the trees to roam.

Taking a breath, Sah made the short walk to the meeting point. When he arrived, he nodded at everyone who was already there. Spotting Seren was a relief, and he headed her way. Making sure that he was in Umbra's sight as he moved, the Wild Thunder sat down beside his friend. Seren seemed anxious, but with the meeting about to start, there wasn't much he could do except offer her his silent support.

I think therefore I am,
But what if all I do is bleed?

It was not so easy for the Tidebreaker to teleport during the day, but with the advanced notice of the letters he had traveled to King's End the night before. The rivers did not run to the Dreaming Well but he had traveled there on foot, and he arrived in quiet solemnity. Emerald eyes roamed those already gathered and he inclined his head in greeting to everyone. They were all known to each other by now, all trusted to one extent or another.

Though Melita had found the snacks first, Hadama soon joined her in companionable silence as they raided Ronin's rations. Only once his plate was full did he move to stand beside Noah. His gaze grew sharper and there was concern within for the unusually haggard cast to his friend's rugged features, but he held back his questions until the meeting was over.

Sah wasn't the only one who felt awkwardly out of place, and Tal was thinking hard about turning around before he even reached the place. The appearance of Lily and Pad were reassuring, however, and Boreal was already bounding off to play with her best friends, so it wasn't like he could just turn around and leave at that point.

The Messenger shuffled in uneasily, eyes sweeping the gathered demigods. He gave Remi and Ronin a tentative bob of his head and then ducked when he saw Melita by the food baskets. He scurried over to plop down on the other side of Sah, looking like he half-expected one or more of the demigods to ask him to leave at any moment, scrunched down to make himself as small as possible. Since the Wild Thunder had told him about the meeting in the first place, maybe they'd both get kicked out together, at least?

the harder the rain, honey, the sweeter the sun

As he is wont to do these days, Amhran has also tagged along with Deimos. Unlike the other man, though, he has set off across land to the Dreaming Well, having parted ways since touching down at King's End.

And of course, distraction being what it is, the youth appears quite late to the proceedings, but he does have a very shiny pebble in his hands. Approaching the wellhouse to the opposite side that the Knight is situated, Amhran tosses his pebble into the well, before moving to sit on a patch of soft grass to listen to the proceedings.

He hopes, this time, not to be shoved backwards or potentially murdered. That would be most pleasant.

Get to fuck, Ronin tells his husband affectionally - thankfully before any of the others start to arrive - and though his brooding exterior remains just so, there's a touch of a smile curling at the corners of his lips. He rolls his shoulders ever so slightly as Remi casts his net of magic, the Knight offering him a grateful nod before he's glancing around at the group as they begin to file in. They come in dribs and drabs, Ronin offering each an acknowledgement, and he gives a particular nod to Deimos once they all seem to have gathered together. "I think it's probably prudent for Deimos to speak first, in that case. Any information we have to hand will be an advantage." And he has a feeling that the Sword is the one Vi had referred to, based on the man's comment alone. And so, straightening up from the wellhouse, Ronin gestures to give Deimos the floor. The thread is going to operate in rounds to avoid it going stagnant waiting for replies. There's no post order, but Ronin will move things on every 24hours to ensure things keep flowing! In this instance, please wait for Deimos to post first before adding any reactions (if that's what you want to do, of course). RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.

DEIMOS

The sound of iron shots is stuck in my head
The thunder of the drums dictates

His eyes caught Amhran’s entrance, and then everyone else’s – some surprising, others not at all – before Ronin pinpointed the attention back on him, and he nodded. He loathed the very nature of public speaking, but having done so multitudes now as Warden over the years, he took a giant breath, then got on with it. “I asked Safrin if there was anything to be done about reclaiming the infected regions. There is, with options available.” From that standpoint, he read off the list he’d copied down upon the parchment before him, striving not to miss any pertinent detail.

Glancing back at the crowd, and awaiting reactions and responses, he released the long, slow accord from his lungs. “My thoughts were potentially doing any of these in groups, if there are a large number of people interested.” He could see it becoming a disorganized cluster almost immediately, with constant ramblings through to Frey’s Breath, no one knowing exactly how many flowers had been found, and scores of others trying to go back and forth on any regional pertinence. But, with the information extended out at large now, they could figure out the particulars.

--

Deimos has read out the following critical plot info:

In order to reclaim an infected region, you must complete a number of 'cleansing' tasks related to the size of the region. The number is listed below.

1. Completing a Very Hard level 15 KQ in an infected region counts as 1.
2. Bringing one of Vi's Roses counts as 1.
3. Bringing one of Rae's Lilies counts as 1.
4. Completing an RQ from either Rae/Mort/Vi counts as 1.

Hak Etme / Feverlands / Oerwoud (1)
King's End (2)
Greatwood (2)
Stormbreak (4)
Halo/Climb/Torchline (4)
Hollowed Grounds (4)
Draig Cordilliera (5)

The rhythm of the falls, the number of dead
The rising of the horns, ahead

honey, you're familiar like my mirror years ago

You see? You can't take a compliment, I told you. Remi thinks towards his husband, his mental voice as sassy as it was thickly accented.

Watching everyone arrive, if the Bastion was at all surprised at some of the faces who appeared, he kept his emotions away from the attuned bond that nearly all of them shared. Letting his knife slide against the piece of wood he held in his hands as Deimos spoke, it was only as the Sword finished that Remi lifted his green eyes from the figure he was carving.

"Ronin and I were just at Frey's Breath but unfortunately, we didn't come across any lilies. Certainly it would make sense for those less able to help with the other tasks to scour the area, but I also wonder.." With a glance towards Ronin, Remi's brows furrowed as he let the idea form in his mind under the weight of his husband's blue stare.

"It's far from us all, I know, but if Vi's roses are found in the Greatwood, perhaps it would make sense to try and cleanse that area first, even if it isn't the easiest." He nearly said that with Torchline's borders completely protected that the infection in the Oerwoud or Feverlands wasn't as pressing, but with a quick glance toward Hadama the Bastion fell silent. He was here as a demigod, not a leader, after all.

"Frey's breath isn't terribly big, so if we could spread out our efforts that would probably give us the best chance of finding more flowers, but at the expense of it taking longer given the Greatwood's size."

It came down to whether they wanted more flowers sooner, or whether they wanted to reduce the Family's strength by cleansing smaller areas first.

idealism sits in prison, chivalry fell on its sword

Hadama watched Amhran's appearance with silent curiosity. It was the second time he had seen the man join in with the demigods (and friends), but once again the timing did not seem quite right for lengthy introductions. He simply nodded politely to the stranger before giving his full attention to Deimos and the critically important information that he had brought.

When the Warden had finished the Tidebreaker inclined his head deeply in gratitude for the solutions that were shared. He paused for a long moment to gather his thoughts and then remained silent while Remi spoke. He might not know exactly what was on the Bastion's mind, but their thoughts were not so very far apart and he drew a breath of his own before speaking up.

"In Torchline, Haulani and the Arclight are free of the Void. The protections are from Rae and Vi." He paused again and then tilted his head in acknowledgment to Ronin. "But Vi could not affect Starfall itself. And the Family is still able to cross the barriers." Though most other regional leaders were not present, the information still seemed prudent to share so that it could be passed along as opportunity arose. "We are working to protect our Coast as well now." He nodded at Remi in agreement with his priorities. "The Oerwoud will be less of a threat then. And all regions would benefit from Vi's Roses." If they could be found. Hadama and Noah had spent seasons seeking those particular roses without luck.