[PQ] His Dying Wish

"You had the same amount of notice, if not slightly less, between when I posted my notice and you managed to pull together a full mob as there was between Ronin's notice and the attack." she said simply, dismissing the idea that he hadn't had enough time. Factually speaking it was utter nonsense. If he could pull together a mob of over a hundred overnight to stop her, he could have done so to stop their attack. He hadn't. Plain and simple. Time had nothing to do with it. "And we did go out there willingly to risk our lives, but not just for Outlanders like you make it out to be. For you, for other Naturals...and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Without a second thought. If risking myself could somehow better the lives of others it isn't even a question. You call it stupidity but that is the sort of sacrifice I am trained and prepared for. Luck had perhaps a part in our victory but we were prepared. We had fought it before, we knew some of its weaknesses, we had antidotes for its venom prepared, and we followed your advice to wait until Spring to advance." she said said, her brow furrowing a bit, her tone a little exasperated. She didn't understand why it had to escalate this way. She didn't understand why he had gone from offering advice to outright opposing them...and she didn't understand why they had to be opposed simply because she was born elsewhere. She didn't have a choice anymore, this place was as much her home as it was Rory's now. These people were her people now and together they could improve the lives of everyone even if they weren't all willing to put their lives on the line. Roana listened quietly as Rory ranted, everything he said wearing on frayed nerves. Her lips pressed together in a thin line. "Ronin's dying wish to me was to get everyone out of this bubble. Outlanders. Naturals. The Old Gods. Everyone. He died so that you could have the freedom to stand where you are now and berate me as if you know me, and his last wish was that you be able to live in a world without the restrictions of a cage." she said quietly, only a hint of a tremble of emotion in her voice. But the sadness was in her expression; she was grieving his loss even as she acted on his dying wish. The weight of Ronin's words on her shoulders was crushing. But she carried on, that was her way. "I have spoken with Safrin and she could not or would not confirm much about the Spire other than she thinks the source of the barrier is somewhere below the ground under the Spire, and Ludo thinks it at the top. Regardless, somewhere inside the Spire is the means to bringing down the barrier and that is why I am committed to doing this." she said, her voice evening out again as she spoke of less emotionally charged topics. "I've also been told that the reason this barrier was raised was because of a clash between the old gods and...the one who made herself known here before." Roana purposefully spoke around saying the Voice's name, not wishing to summon her to the field as Rory had. This was between them at the moment. "But as far as a military action goes, to speak plainly, it failed. She still exists obviously, and the only ones who have suffered for it are you, for three centuries no less! And now suddenly, people like myself begin to appear here? People with military experience, history with strategy, history with other divine beings and so on...why else were we brought here if not to help you escape from this place?" Roana stopped herself, shaking her head she she began to get worked up. "I don't think I am the only one with good ideas around here and you will not hear me say that I know everything there is to know, especially about this place. But I do think I am one of the few with enough technical active military experience to know how to respond to the potential dangers that may arise. I would cherish your counsel, but how do you anticipate giving counsel on something no one has been able to approach before? If you don't let me try to breach the Spire, you can't know what to do or what to expect. Moreover, you've not given any reason why I shouldn't, you've only yelled at me not to." she said, then gestured to the rest of her gathered group. "Let us risk ourselves for the purpose of understanding what we face, then come together to decide how to proceed. Is that not favorable to you?" She was offering to risk everything in this scenario. Rory Roana 'Cause it makes me that much stronger Makes me work a little bit harder It makes me that much wiser So thanks for making me a fighter