Same as It Ever Was (Part 14)

When the party is ready to depart for a 'private breakfast repast', perhaps they're not expecting to be led by servants (all of which are those strange egalrin-like corvid people) through winding hallways (decorated with many, many portraits of various people who bear a resemblance to Alud'rigan in some capacity). In fact, it's odd that Nala doesn't have the violet eyes and black hair that her counterpart in the main world does, because it makes her look out-of-place with all of these people. But if anyone's thinking it in the Unseelie Court, no one is certainly daring to voice it. The servants are nothing but polite and all-too-willing-to-act at Nala's words, and Nala herself has been nothing but smiles since accepting Zeke's offered present of a bracelet. Even though it was meant for a child, Nala's wrist is thin enough that it fits her.

If one was expecting the dining halls again, they would be disappointed. If one is also expecting merely a cozy room for taking tea in, they would also be disappointed. Nala's golden eyes are wide as she walks into the room on Telanmo's arm, because it's a chamber with sprawling indoor greenery like what is typically found in Quelynos, with faerie lights perched on trees or floating and wandering mid-air as they please. Only two large stained glass windows provide any natural light into the place, and they depict a scene of Alud'rigan stealing a black-winged angel from the heavens, and then Alud'rigan clutching the man again in his embrace by a crib with the indistinct form of a babe within. It seems a bold choice to depict this rumored 'theft' of a celestial from the heavens in such a manner, but Alud'rigan himself seems quite pleased--if one is to guess by his bright and warm smile as he sits at a table a small distance away from the stained glass, where Aragos is seated next to him.

Those with keen ears hear Aragos muttering something about "don't want your gross leaf water" as a servant comes by with a teapot, and Alud'rigan gestures for the party to sit down. "Please! Have a seat. The servants will be arriving shortly to take your drink orders. We have plenty of tea for the moment, should you wish for it." It smells of lavender-mint, and for Telamon, the scent is especially nostalgic.

Telamon spent his time prior to the breakfast constructively. In this case, making sure everyone was properly attired (as best they could manage), clean, and neat. The sorcerer was, after all, a diplomat before and still is to some degree. Zeke's gift makes his eyebrows rise, but he says nothing... only giving Zeke a quizzical look. He hadn't realized his friend still had that souvenir.

Gliding through the halls of the palace behind the couple, Tel's eyes move back and forth with interest. Comparing it, perhaps, to the places he's been in Quelynos -- after all, it might be useful. When they arrive in the chamber, Telamon actually nods a bit, as if expecting this. His lips actually curl up when he overhears Aragos turning down 'leaf water', and he wisely stifles a grin. The cheerful expression fades at the scent of the tea, though, and a flicker of something ripples across the half-elf's face -- an ache he cannot soothe here. Then his smile is back, as if nothing was wrong.

The scent of tea is a (familiar) temptation to Zeke. He watches the tea go around and considers for a moment actually taking some of the offered drink, but he is as yet still uncertain how much they can trust Alud'rigan or rather... it's faerie itself he doesn't trust. He doesn't *know* Alud'rigan. Which only serves to make it difficult to trust him outright like some of the others seem to so easily.

Zeke takes one of the sith-friendly seats with a sigh of pleasure and nods to their host a bit of unspoken gratitude. This at least he can get away with. "The tea sssmellsss lovely." He murmurs to the others, feeling a touch lamentful. (He misses Cuemoni and their tea-time in the mornings.)

By the time that the group is ready to go, Rune seems to have collected herself, at least somewhat. Her previously unruley hair has been tamed and she is dressed in her usual attire, complete with weapons strapped along her back, despite the polite nature of the social gathering. She seems averse to ever leaving them behind, perhaps for sentimental reasons. The one accent is a shawl from her world's version of Alud'rigan, perhaps as a nod to the man she knows.

"Hey look, they have chairs your tail will fit through." Is the first words out of Rune's lips as she pulls Harkashan forward by one hand. Apparently, Makari-friendly chairs are a rarity.

However, she is soon distracted by the artistry of the windows, her gaze sweeping up over them as she lets out a low whistle of appreciation.

Aryia is dressed a bit differently this time around. Actually, quite a lot differently, mainly to satisfy Telamon's suggestions. Her rugged buckle jacket and black pants swapped out for a sleek green dress -no sleeves, of course- with a white fur scarf and matching white flats. Gold lipstick and gold earrings accent, though it only seems to exemplify twisted lips in confusion of the scene. She shakes her head before taking a seat. She makes a gesture for some tea as well, resisting the urge to prop her legs up on the table.

Ahh, breakfast. Harkashan is okay with breakfast. But whenever one is invited to any kind of official 'shindig' at a Fey's court, it is always good to be rather wary of basically everything spoken and unspoken. Seen and unseen.

He's tugged forward, the tug itself silencing any comments on 'stools also being made to deal with Sith'makari tails', and jingles with the usual loudness of his heavy armor and the jewelry between his horns. And as Rune starts getting distracted by the windows, Harkashan is soon the one pulling her forward instead to one of the seats so he can settle in. Getting comfortable across from his Kin - Zeke.

With Telamon's help, Simony looks prim and proper. Her expression is still tired, haggard almost, and a little haunted. Her eyebrows rise up a little at the sheer size of the room, and the amount of greenery shoved into such a space.

She follows along behind Telamon, and settles into a seat beside him. The mention of tea brings the barest hint of a smile to her face, though she looks to the sorcerer, and her expression grows sad. A pale hand reaches out to pat at the back of Telamon's hand. "Soon, Tel, soon. It will be alright."

Yiara stares at Aryia, because she's wearing a dress, accessories, and makeup that's nearly identical in style, save that the colors are somewhat swapped. Her dress is a loud gold, and her lips and earrings are green, and the white scarf and flats are black instead. But she takes a seat as well, silently, although she's clearly judging Aryia's fashion the entire time.

"I'd be an incredibly poor host indeed if I didn't have chairs for _all_ of our guests," Alud'rigan says with a grin to Rune's remark. "Lovely shawl, by the way, who knitted it?"

Aragos rolls his eyes at Alud'rigan's question, and he says, "They didn't come all the way here for you to chat leisurely about the knitting, Alud'rigan." Though there's a slight pinkening of the cheeks as Rune whistles at the windows, but he stays quiet, instead eyeing a servant who brings him a cup of something black and fragrant: coffee, like how it's traditionally brewed in Veyshan. He takes the cup and drinks it, and the servants quietly come forward to take drink orders from the crowd.

"So, it was actually Aragos who wanted to bring all of you here for breakfast this morning," Alud'rigan explains. "Beyond my merely wishing to continue our hospitality. It is dreadfully important that Nala not be married off to the Summer Court, and... I would invite you all here to stay as long as you'd like, but Aragos--"

"I know why you're here," Aragos says bluntly, cutting off his husband. His purple eyes are glowing softly.

GAME: Zeke rolls Knowledge/Religion: (9)+27: 36
GAME: Simony rolls knowledge/religion: (17)+16: 33

Telamon takes a cup of the lavender mint tea, though he gives Simony a smile in return. Calmly, he sips it, his gaze sweeping across the others. Zeke... the half-sil furrows his brow, and tries to figure out a way to gently 'nudge' the makari into eating. As Alud'rigan speaks, though, Tel's eyes go to the Unseelie King and his consort.

The sight of which is still mildly funny to Tel, so it's with a lighter heart he listens. But when Aragos comes in with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, Telamon opts for the verbal fencing approach. "Oh, you do, my lord Aragos?" He sits back a bit, a cheeky grin starting to emerge. "This should be good. I mean, I have -all sorts- of questions, so maybe we can trade a few?"

GAME: Telamon rolls knowledge/religion: (19)+13: 32
GAME: Rune rolls knowledge/religion+1: (2)+25+1: 28
GAME: Aryia rolls knowledge/religion: (18)+10: 28
GAME: Harkashan rolls Knowledge/Religion: (9)+19: 28

Aryia stares back at Yiara, squinting slightly. Mostly thinking, 'where the hell did you pull all that out of?' But hey, there was still enough difference in them. She's judging too. Stare.

Wait, knitting? Okay, she's paying attention now. Damn, too slow. After getting her tea- wait no, that coffee looks good,- Veyshan coffee sorted, she turns to cock a brow at Aragos.

Zeke nods politely to Harkashan and Rune as they sit down across from him, his mood warming slightly as the pair join nearby him. He quickly turns his attention to the monarch of this area though as he addresses Rune and Aragos rudely interjects. This makes Zeke blink a little bit since he hadn't really expected anyone to talk to Alud'rigan in such a manner. It seems that the winged man has some leeway indeed here that others are unaware of. "If you know why we are here, then why did you want thisss meeting?"

Zeke feels his query is a fair one. Particularly given that Aragos's eyes are glowing now in such an unsettling way. He's never seen a mortal's eyes glow in such a way. Which brings him back to the man's wings and the stories about him being a celestial. Truth? Or fiction? Zeke hadn't really had much time to consider it before, but it might be relevant now. "A trade of quessstionsss would be fair." He nods to Telamon. He'd like his question answered sooner or later though he's not so sure how 'fair' it is if Aragos knows the answers already. He narrows his green eyes at Aragos.

"You'd be surprised how many places forget that not everyone has human proportions. So, it's appreciated." Even if Harkashan is not going to say as much. Rune tugs at one of the ends of the shawl, and inclines her head slightly. "In every effort to be forthright, sire, you did. At least... a version of you." Which may be curious in itself. Thankfully, much of the rogue's tattoo pact marking is covered, otherwise there may very well be more questions that are difficult to answer.

When Aragos claims so boldly that he knows why they are here, Rune just leans her head onto one hand, brows raised slightly as if she were not bothered at all by this revelation. "Oh? Good. That means we don't have to spend too much time explaining everything we've been dealing with this past few weeks. Saves so much time." She may have been raised to be a diplomat, but Rune has clearly shoved that part of herself into a box and kicked it down the stairs.

Harkashan slowly leans back, enjoying the actual back support the seat allows for him to have with his tail through -- okay, so maybe this IS better than a stool -- and relaxes. Even as Aragos makes his announcement of knowing why they are here. He closes his eyes and just waits for a moment. It's quite clear that he is in full agreement with Rune on the matter at hand. He in fact moves a hand onto her leg and offers to entwine their fingers.

Simony manages a smile for Telamon, and when inquired to as to her beverage of choice, she opts for the coffee. She takes in the 'casual' conversation while waiting for her coffee.

When it arrives, she takes a lengthy sip of it. Her eyes widen, and she quickly downs the rest of it, politely asking the servant for a refill.

When that is done, she sits back in the chair, finally beginning to look comfortable, holding the mug in both hands to warm them.

The Goblin looks to Zeke, and then Rune, and then the others, before she clears her throat. "One would suggest treading carefully.", she offers to no one in particular. "Our reason for being here isn't the only motive that could be exposed here, this day."

Alud'rigan actually does not seem that surprised by Rune's answer at first blush, although he does blink once. "That explains the quality of the stitching, then," he says in a slightly amused manner that earns him a glowing side-eye from his consort.

"He thinks he's funny. He always thinks he's funny." Aragos says this in an oddly soft tone of voice, then he blinks twice. "So. Let's get to the chase. You got pulled from your timeline to go chasing after a teenage girl and her pet bird. You had a pretty disastrous start when Nala had a fit seeing her mother being attacked. Not that I can blame you, none of you knew what she'd do. Then there was that whole dream thing, you called upon the little silver guy, and, well, things got weirder from there."

Drinks are poured, and the servants begin putting out platters of food for people to share. Varieties of sandwiches, egg dishes, cut fruits, and sauteed veggies abound. Aragos continues talking. "And now you've got Nala her boyfriend and you made a stuck-up Taaran eat her words. All so you can convince a certain deity with a stick up his ass--sorry, Simony, I'm not much fond of the guy--to learn to have a heart again."

Alud'rigan pauses to look at Aragos. "You should at least pause to explain how. You must be scaring them, dear."

"I can See," Aragos explains dryly. "It's a gift unique to me, one of a couple of fun benefits I got with, you know, existing. Which means I've seen every timeline in which all of you have bitten it."

And then he looks meaningfully at Rune. "And holy shit, do I mean _every_ timeline."

Well, that was almost disappointing. Telamon blinks twice, though he doesn't lose his smile. "So I guess the 'very popular extraplanar hero from another dimension' tale isn't going to fly here." He snorts, and takes a sip of tea before picking up a slice of fruit. "This is very interesting, since the Aragos I know has -none- of these tricks. Which makes me wonder if he's hiding something. That'll be fun to deal with when I get home."

Tel pauses to collect his thoughts. "The whole 'varied timeline' thing doesn't bother me. I believe the Watcher had a similar view, with an eye for nudging events in a preferred direction. But... as much as I respect Navos, I'm worried this isn't going to be enough to get him to pick up his compassion again. And he has to make the change, ultimately -- we can't force it on him."

Zeke is glad now that he has not taken any tea to drink. If he had, it might be in his mouth dribbling out the sides in shock as he listens to Aragos lay out their trials and the fact that apparently he can 'See' them as easily as Zeke can see the celestial sitting in front of him. He swallows. "Oh." The exhalation of sound is a mere breath. "We would like to avoid biting."

"I don't know, I've always found him entertaining." Rune replies with a small half-shrug, seeming glad enough not to have to worry about pretending their presence is anything other than what it is. In fact, she doesn't seem all that confused about how Aragos knows things. Spend enough time in a fantastical world, you start taking the unusual as common-place.

That is, until the meaningful look is cast in her direction. Once, Rune might have paled at the idea that death was something lurking for her no matter what timeline she was in, but time has given her some measure of peace with that. "I guess I take after my mother that way." Then, she starts to load a plate with food. Though she is keeping one pointed ear listening, allowing those more... diplomatic people to ask their questions.

Aryia blinks as Aragos finishes up his explanation of how-it-all-is. "Well at least in this one you don't get to see my lampry-looking ass self and my mirror looks half put together." She glances to Yiara. "... except the gold is too loud."

She sips on her coffee, after watching others imbibe before rubbing her temple. Damn, how many times does each person get offed? And why is he looking at Rune that way? Wait- "If you know what is not to do, then in inverse, we could know what to do by what has not been tried." <Handspeech/Tongues>

"Don't forget the matter of dying timelines." Harkashan then answers Aragos, leaning forward finally and placing his elbows to the table, while staring at the man bearing celestial power. He's being remarkably un-diplomatic about the matter.

The Goblin bangs her fist on the table, causing nearby cups to rattle. "You best be careful about how you speak about Navos. I'll not have Him spoken poorly of, no more than you would have us speak poorly about his Majesty here."

She takes on a haughty expression. "Stop fucking around. We've faced death many a time, and have reconciled with it. Saying we've died in other timelines is gauche at best." Simony looks to Rune a moment, and then back to Aragos. "Seems like you're an arrogant jerk in more than one timeline. Shall I ask you if you're actually a stolen angel, or did you let yourself get stolen?"

"That guy?" Aragos snorts a little in response to Telamon's remarks about the other Aragos. "Nope, he's just a human. Gotta be a time and a world where I'm just an ordinary person, and actually, there's several. Some of them are completely boring. Like watching paint dry..."

Then Simony asks her question. Alud'rigan pauses mid-chew, violet eyes staring at Simony. The servants stop completely in place.

Someone sneezes several halls away from the chamber. That's how quiet it is.

"Yes, I'm an angel. Was I stolen? In the views of my superiors, who can go fuck themselves, yes," Aragos says nonchalantly. "In my view? There was a very handsome man who saw me in my cell, where I was being punished because I refused to destroy an entire city at the orders of my superiors, who got _their_ orders from your guy, Simony. Anyway, we made eye contact. Alud'rigan came up to the bars, and that handsome man asked me if I would like to be stolen. To which I said..."

He finally picks up a sandwich. The way he's holding it would have made Telperius likely wrench it out of Telamon's hands and ask Telamon what barn he just crawled from to have forgotten all of his manners. "'You can't steal what's already yours.' So off we went. And I've been a 'hostage' ever since." Aragos smirks. "They can't have me back."

Alud'rigan clears his throat. "Aragos, let's try and keep the peace here. Don't insult the Temperance's god."

"Yeah, yeah. Sorry." Aragos grumbles. "I liked him better before his descent. Which... Aryia's got the right of why I'm talking to you all here. I'm here to help you win, or to try. I can't do the work for you, because you gotta do all the walking in the boots and talking all the talking--plus, I'm supposed to be a damsel in distress, eternally imprisoned by my dark husband the Unseelie King." He flashes a toothy grin at Alud'rigan, who smiles back, albeit with a half-lidded gaze that suggests they'd be up to other things if there wasn't an audience here. "The only reason they've not declared war to get me back is because they've got their hands tied up in eternal warfare in the Abyss. That's an awful lot of soldiers to lose for one angel who was never good at following rules anyway."

Telamon reaches over to firmly put a hand on Simony's shoulder. "Easy," he says quietly, though his eyes aren't unkind. Once he's sure Simony has settled a bit, Tel's gaze turns back to Alud'rigan and Aragos, and he privately thanks -all- the gods Lana's not here because she'd be squirming in embarrassment at that unstated display, let alone the tale of how Aragos got here.

"Alright. So, the question is, are we on the right track? We've... gotten my counterpart together with Nala," and here he grins at the couple. "And taught Aryia's counterpart a lesson. How do we find the others? Do we need to? We were drawn here for a reason, after all."

Zeke shifts uncomfortably in his seat, which is very comfortable but feels a little uncomfortable now with the tension in the air between Simony and Aragos. He wonders if she understands that Aragos seems to be a celestial of the deity that she serves. Knowing what he knows of Aragos, he wonders a great deal of things, but now is not the time to ask them. Instead he nods to Telamon's question. "Thisss one isss not certain anymore what to do, but thissss one isss certain of one thing. Thisss one wissshesss to sssave thisss oness other sself."

He glances toward Nala and her beloved. "You may need all of your alliesss to do it without killing him, and thisss one doess not wisssh him dead."

It's a rare time that Rune has seen Simony truly angry about something, and it is enough to draw her attention as she looks over, chewing briefly before drowning the food with tea. "It seems to me, that if lives are on the line, then telling us whatever it is you know would be helpful."

Then, as if a thought had struck her, she reaches into the bag at her side and pulls out a notebook, jotting down a few things. Someone just told her a quite interesting story, one that may very well be of interest to her Patron. With a few embellishments, of course. Artistic license.

GAME: Simony takes ten on Sense motive: (10)+30: 40

Aryia leans back in her chair as Simony gives her hefty piece, hiding half her face behind her cup as her own glowing gaze flicks between the gobber and the celestial. Quietly she sips as at the drink as the dead silence is broken.

Her eyebrows crawl up her head as people go back and forth. Only for her to close her eyes and silently exhale. "But we can't change them /too/ much from their own timeline's self. But I agree with Zeke- going to take quite a bit to save them. Whatever that means." <Handspeech/Tongues>

Simony is pissed, and it is written all over her expression, and how she sits, poised in the chair. She looks to Telamon, and there's a bit of hardness there when she replies, "I will not."

The Goblin leans forward, lowering the cup onto the saucer with a muted clink. She meets Aragos' eyes. "Your superiors might be working for Navos, but you are not. You were not then, and are not now. You may have offered lip service, much like any mortal might to Rada for safe travels, or Caracoroth for relief of nightmares of scary monsters under the bed, but you were not serving Navos. You say you can See. Well I can see, too. You belong to Vardama. You smell of it. Even your makeup screams it."

Her hand goes to the table, much more gently this time, her finger splayed wide. "So I say again... stop fucking around. Cut the bull, and get to the point. What are you going to do to assist us? And why are you doing this?"

Alud'rigan looks like he's going to massage his temples out of stress as Simony speaks so to Aragos, but Aragos is all smiles, even if that smile isn't all nice. "Ding ding ding! You won the chicken dinner. And you know, I _was_ getting to it, but I was hoping Alud'rigan would let me have a fight for once..."

"You know that you are not allowed to fight guests, Aragos," Alud'rigan replies, which makes Aragos look incredibly put out. "I know, it's the one pleasure in life I cannot give you."

"Spoilsport." Aragos bites into his sandwich angrily, like it might serve as substitute for a good duel. But he eats it politely after. "So. Yes, I'm one of Vardama's. I was created to make sure people die at their appointed time. A grim reaper, if you will. That's my interest in all of this. Because all of _you_ are supposed to go back to your timeline, alive, safe and sound. You're supposed to live through this. As for Nala and the others..."

He pauses. "I've Seen a future where Nala and Telanmo grew old together. Where they have kids. And they come to visit. A timeline allowed to live. And that's what I want. Because Nala's my descendant, too." Here, Aragos smiles warmly. "Now, back to the point. You're almost halfway there. Living on a..."

He smirks to himself as he bites his lip, and then Aragos shakes his head as Alud'rigan eyes him in confusion. "You wouldn't get it. Great song, though. So, you've got Nala, Telanmo, and Yiara. You've shown Yiara the error of her ways and made her want to be a better person for the first time in her life." This earns a sour look from Yiara, which Aragos laughs at. "Aww muffin! You gotta admit that was one hell of a fight. Anyway, you've also gotten together Nala and Telanmo, and now they're making kissy-faces. See?"

This makes Nala and Telanmo pause. Telanmo was in the middle of feeding Nala a bite of a quiche off of his fork. Nala blushes. Telanmo blushes. "We were paying attention," Nala says. No, no they weren't.

Aragos just shakes his head. "So, you've got the alternates of Zeke, Harkashan and Rune, and Simony left to weave into this story of unlikely friends. Now, we can send you directly to one of them, or in the case of nega-Rune and Harkashan, both. If I had to make a recommendation... I'd save Simony's alternate for last."

Sometimes, you just have to let your friends have their way. Telamon doesn't try to shush Simony -- he's rather interested in what's being shaken loose by her prodding. At Aragos's remark about Nala and Telanmo, Telamon's eyes flick to the couple and he cannot help but smirk a tiny bit -- mostly because it's very reminiscent of his own courtship.

Still, there's business to tend to. He muses over the options, before rubbing his chin. Looking at Zeke. "I... think we should tackle your alternate next. I think that one's going to be one of the roughest -- not physically, but mentally -- for us, and you in particular. Best to get it out of the way now, while we're fresh in both body and soul."

Zeke looks at Telamon and shakes his head. "You may be rested and well ready for sssuch a meeting but thisss one..." He is ill suited to the task at the moment. Which is one of the reasons he suggested that they approach some of the others first. "Perhapssss Harkassshan and Rune next? If they are together then having them both for the next ssstep could be very good."

Aragos isn't the only one ready to throw down, with Aryia half leaning forward, ready to pop up at a moment's notice. You don't think that dress was made without fighting in mind? But Simony was right: he was far more than he let on.

She rests, listening and glancing back to their counterparts. Half snorting at Yiara getting riffed on. "So those that are of this timeline can perish as it would be there time. No pressure then." Sip.

Shaking her head at the lovebirds, she glances between her friends. Once about to agree with going for the other Zeke, but concedes to Zeke prime. He'd have the roughest go of it, best for when he was ready. "We can do those two," she agrees. <Handspeech/Tongues>

As Simony makes her demands, Rune's glasses slip down her nose and she is forced to look up again and push them up once more, pausing in the quick scribble of notes. There is a flick of her blue gaze from Harkashan to Aragos, uncertain exactly what their mutual connectual to Vardama might mean in this situation. Though the angel is quick to explain some of it.

As the red-colored version of herself is mentioned, her brows furrow a little bit. "I have a fair idea of some of the differences between me and my other self, but I'm not sure it's quite as straight-forward as simply going to fisticuffs about it." She seems a bit uncertain, but looks towards Nala. "In my world, Telamon and Cor'lana were my first friends when I came to Alexandria. They helped guide my path time and again and gave me the courage to make other connections... ones with each of you."

She sighs softly to hehrself, "I'm not sure if it has anything to do with that, or to do with her missing father. She hasn't found the key yet to saving him, like I found mine to save my mother." There seems to be multiple paths, or maybe the paths converge? It's hard to tell from a distance.

Harkashan is holding his tongue on the matter of being a reaper to dying timelines. There's a reason that he's been grumpy and quiet this entire time about this whole deal. Things are 'complicated'.

"Our alternatives seemed fine. A bit grumpy, but I'm uncertain why they need interference." Harkashan rumbles as Aragos points out the existence of 'nega-Rune' and 'nega-Harkashan'. "Certainly seem to be traveling together -- So they managed to find each other on their own already." He adds to that. The Sith-makar looks at Rune. "I mean, unless being grumpy is a problem we are looking to solve here. But I'm not sure that is much a change from the usual. I can be quite the grump sometimes."

Simony's eyes narrow. "Why?" Her arms cross.

"Why did you refuse to do what you were tasked to do? You've reaped before, why was this different?" She gestures with a hand. "People all go where they are supposed to go after they die. Why did you decide to not reap a whole city? Which I assume was being obliterated by some disaster? We mortals would do what we could to save a city... but you celestials aren't supposed to interfere. So, again. Why?"

She inhales and exhales. "And why is my alternate being saved for last? Is she to be the easiest to convince, or the hardest?"

The Goblin looks to Rune, something in what the Half-Sil says causes her eyebrows to raise. "Oh. I understand now." She looks to Telamon, "Whom did you meet next after Cor'Lana, Tel? Aryia? And then after her, Zeke? Or Rune and Harkashan? I assume I was the last of the group. Perhaps the suggestion is to attempt the meetings in the same order for the most optimal chances of the group solidifying as a team." She lets out a sigh. "It still feels like we're trying to recreate our timeline in this one..."

Aragos looks angry and pained as Simony asks why he chose not to reap a whole city. "My wife and son," he says. "Before I met Alud'rigan... I did what I wasn't supposed to do. I had a wife. A mortal woman. And we had a son."

He looks away for a long and painful moment, and Alud'rigan gently takes Aragos's hand in his own, gently squeezing it. "They lived in that city," Alud'rigan explains for Simony's sake. "But... Something happened. Some sort of anomaly in time manifested there, thanks to something that should not have been there... Well, it was there. It affected the entire city. Everyone was in their grasp. And... The order came down to eliminate the entire city."

Aragos's tears run down from his eyes as Alud'rigan recounts it for him. "Aragos refused. He wouldn't tell them why. Couldn't tell them why. They did it for him, and they put him into a holding cell... where I eventually found him."

"Now are you happy?" Aragos asks angrily. He gets up from his chair. "Excuse me. You can have this conversation with Alud'rigan. I need to go crack open a bottle."

Alud'rigan remains as Aragos leaves. One pump of his wings and the sound of metal screaming as it smashes into more metal later, Aragos is gone, and Alud'rigan sighs softly. "He will be back," he says soberly. "Now. I don't have my husband's gift of Sight, but I can tell you that, if you choose to go after Runelei and Shankahar... Their paths are intertwined. But they also fight a terrible danger that they cannot overcome alone."

He frowns deeply. "The Corpse-Eater is upon them."

-TBC