[God Quest] but above ground the stars keep their secrets

Then we mustn't let the barrier fall? If Ludo was around, he would be laughing at the position that the girl's question forced Safrin into. She was not above outright lies, but she much preferred veiled half-truths instead. It was her way. It always had been. And so she shrugged her shoulders with a gentle sigh. "The fall of the barrier is not what Vi would want." She said softly. Though what she wanted was perhaps another matter... As Jigano speculated the deity listened with an everglow of galactic patience. As he looked to her to either confirm or deny his suspicions, she merely splayed her hands with a shrug. "I was not a part of the discussions that led to the creation of the barrier ... but certainly that of crude calculus would be the sort of thing Rae would espouse. Life must progress and often that means sacrifices must be made. Certain branches of life must be cut away for the good of the whole." Glancing towards Amalia, Safrin's lips twist into an unhappy thing line. "She gathered a group of the Acquired. They had grown exceedingly powerful having mastered all the baser magics and had begun to create their own. Soon their experiments begun, the Voice and her companions trying to fuse their magical items into the bodies of others. To try and force magic into the Accepteds and change them, the way that we can change an accepted into an attuned. " Safrin's lovely face grew stony and cold. She looked almost clamy as the memories washed over her. "And they succeeded. For a time Rae was pleased, thinking this some minor conquest of their creations that had gone well. Only the Voice did not stop there. She molded and carved and broke down Rae's designs and made them into something else entirely. It was then they tried to ascend into Caido's home. They defeated the dragons that kept guard, rose to the top of the mountain summit..." Closing her eyes, Safrin sighs. "It was then the war began. " Wearily now, she turns to Jigano. "Because she is clever. She knows that were she to forcefully change those around her she would be rebelled against. I have no doubt that she does exercise some control of those she ascends...but without the appearance of free will her game would be over prematurely. " As he asks about her physical form, Safrin shrugs. "Yes. Bound is a good word for it. She is without form certainly. I do not know for sure., only that she is not in possession of it." Safrin