Sabriel (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bindsthedead) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
ximilia2022-03-21 03:24 pm
bindsthedead) wrote in ximilia2022-03-21 03:24 pm
audio; un: Sabriel.Abhorsen
This is Sabriel. Xichen, Alina, Rhys and I did some investigating, and I'd like to share what we found, along with my own thoughts.
We know that Entr'i has an orb, and wishes to merge Taeum and Sedorum... and frankly, I think that really is the best course of action. My suggestion is that we offer our assistance in that goal, in exchange for the orb. It's a strategy we've employed successfully in the past, and to be honest- I want to help Entr'i anyway. Unlike everyone else in charge, she seems to care about people, regardless of whether they're in Taeum or Sedorum.
[Entr'i has the cause that Sabriel sees as the most just, and is the person most concerned with justice that she's met in this world. The Highest One seems most concerned with their own sanctimony, and as for 'Him', well...]
There is a problem though. Xichen, Alina, Rhys and myself worked together- Xichen and I spoke to Entr'i, and Alina and Rhys tailed V'rizz. We wanted to learn more of Him and the Highest One.
What we found is that the oldest memory of either of them dates back to little over a hundred years ago- there are no souls who have been in either realm longer than that, and any older souls have since moved on. There is no memory or record extending past that, and it's possible that neither realm is as ancient as they seem- orbs are involved, after all.
But what's worse- V'rizz and He are planning to betray Entr'i. From what was overheard... Entr'i and the Highest Ones both have orbs, though they called them 'amulets'. The reason Entr'i was forbidden from killing the Highest One was because He didn't want her to have the entire orb and become too powerful. So they're planning on waiting until Entr'i kills the highest one and collects- and then kill her while she's weakened, so He can have both. Obviously, we warned her about this- Entr'i's the only person in this world who I'd trust to hold an Orb- the Highest One is a hypocrite who doesn't care about people suffering, and 'He' is no better.
Let me repeat- we have warned Entr'i about this and offered our help. Let's trust her to act as she deems best with that information.
[And oocly, see what the mods say in response to the followup search request.]
Of course, that also raises the question of how to collect both orbs and get back to the station. If we side with Entr'i, given her plan seems to involve obtaining both orbs, we could request both in exchange for helping her, taking them back with us after her bargain is concluded.
However, we don't know what Entr'i's bargain is- Entr'i does not seem the sort to use innocents as collateral, and she's not displaying any of the symptoms So'Yeon did in Gyeonje, so I don't think she's using herself as a sacrifice either. I suspect her wish is to merge Taeum and Sedorum, I just don't know how how she's planning to pay for it.
[Sabriel actually has her own theory about Entr'i's bargain- one she'll supply if asked, but it's too optimistic to voice. Besides, there's still another person with an orb- one far less benevolent than Entr'i
There's a long moment of silent hesitation, as Sabriel remembers the previous mission, the way everything had fallen apart, the town dissolving to nothing but ruins and death, pervaded by a cold that stuck to her bones, even in the heat of the day. And she thinks of Gyeonje, of people twisted into monsters, slowly losing their minds because of one man's selfishness.]
I have no evidence either way, so what follows is purely speculation, but if this 'Highest One' made a bargain with the orb to create Taeum's present state, it is possible that there was a condition that souls from Sedorum, or perhaps simply that 'sinners' not be allowed in.
[This could explain the absolute refusal to compromise, in any way. Or they're just a bunch of hypocritical snobs. Really, Sabriel could believe either, given everything she's heard.]
It is also possible that the Highest One is somehow using Taeum's inhabitants as payment- as the ruler of that realm, the orb would consider the denizens theirs to bargain with. The problem with that theory is that there's no clear sign of that happening- no crewmember in Taeum has reported people disappearing, unless Taeum's 'quick return to the Giva' is really a cover for something more sinister.
But regardless of what bargain the Highest One made, we need to get that orb, along with Entr'i's, and there are multiple ways we might do so.
Simply stealing it is off the table, as we learned in Braccia that physical possession of the orb is not enough, unless we want to play keep-away while they chase us until they give up, or hope that the Highest one is actually far more reasonable than we've been led to believe and we can reason with them.
[So not really an option, unless the crew is feeling either wildly optimistic or incredibly masochistic.]
We might also try to understand the bargain made, and use some clause in it to end it- this is what we did during the last mission, albeit unintentionally. Except we don't know for sure what bargain was made with the orb, or what the cost was, so this method is also unlikely to work.
The final possibility is we help Entr'i do what she wants, and kill the Highest One. One problem with this, as seen from the mission in Braccia, is that owners of the orbs can be incredibly powerful- we would need to send our strongest, and it might not be enough. And I know some of you object to killing, but this isn't someone like Welford Branson, an innocent who made a bargain he didn't fully understand out of grief- this is someone even worse than Cheruvia, someone who's been maintaining an unjust system even when given the chance to reform it. We just need to keep Entr'i safe in the aftermath, and make sure V'rizz and his master don't lay their hands on the orb. I think this option has the best chance of success, and is the one I support.
[Mostly because Sabriel likes Entr'i, and has little love for the powers of both Sedorum and Taeum. The fact that it also seems the most likely to result in mission success is a happy bonus.]
So, to summarize all that, I think we should help Entr'i kill the Highest One, collect both orbs and merge Taeum and Sedorum, and make sure the forces on either side don't try to stop or sabotage her.
[ooc: feel free to threadjack, if you want!]
We know that Entr'i has an orb, and wishes to merge Taeum and Sedorum... and frankly, I think that really is the best course of action. My suggestion is that we offer our assistance in that goal, in exchange for the orb. It's a strategy we've employed successfully in the past, and to be honest- I want to help Entr'i anyway. Unlike everyone else in charge, she seems to care about people, regardless of whether they're in Taeum or Sedorum.
[Entr'i has the cause that Sabriel sees as the most just, and is the person most concerned with justice that she's met in this world. The Highest One seems most concerned with their own sanctimony, and as for 'Him', well...]
There is a problem though. Xichen, Alina, Rhys and myself worked together- Xichen and I spoke to Entr'i, and Alina and Rhys tailed V'rizz. We wanted to learn more of Him and the Highest One.
What we found is that the oldest memory of either of them dates back to little over a hundred years ago- there are no souls who have been in either realm longer than that, and any older souls have since moved on. There is no memory or record extending past that, and it's possible that neither realm is as ancient as they seem- orbs are involved, after all.
But what's worse- V'rizz and He are planning to betray Entr'i. From what was overheard... Entr'i and the Highest Ones both have orbs, though they called them 'amulets'. The reason Entr'i was forbidden from killing the Highest One was because He didn't want her to have the entire orb and become too powerful. So they're planning on waiting until Entr'i kills the highest one and collects- and then kill her while she's weakened, so He can have both. Obviously, we warned her about this- Entr'i's the only person in this world who I'd trust to hold an Orb- the Highest One is a hypocrite who doesn't care about people suffering, and 'He' is no better.
Let me repeat- we have warned Entr'i about this and offered our help. Let's trust her to act as she deems best with that information.
[And oocly, see what the mods say in response to the followup search request.]
Of course, that also raises the question of how to collect both orbs and get back to the station. If we side with Entr'i, given her plan seems to involve obtaining both orbs, we could request both in exchange for helping her, taking them back with us after her bargain is concluded.
However, we don't know what Entr'i's bargain is- Entr'i does not seem the sort to use innocents as collateral, and she's not displaying any of the symptoms So'Yeon did in Gyeonje, so I don't think she's using herself as a sacrifice either. I suspect her wish is to merge Taeum and Sedorum, I just don't know how how she's planning to pay for it.
[Sabriel actually has her own theory about Entr'i's bargain- one she'll supply if asked, but it's too optimistic to voice. Besides, there's still another person with an orb- one far less benevolent than Entr'i
There's a long moment of silent hesitation, as Sabriel remembers the previous mission, the way everything had fallen apart, the town dissolving to nothing but ruins and death, pervaded by a cold that stuck to her bones, even in the heat of the day. And she thinks of Gyeonje, of people twisted into monsters, slowly losing their minds because of one man's selfishness.]
I have no evidence either way, so what follows is purely speculation, but if this 'Highest One' made a bargain with the orb to create Taeum's present state, it is possible that there was a condition that souls from Sedorum, or perhaps simply that 'sinners' not be allowed in.
[This could explain the absolute refusal to compromise, in any way. Or they're just a bunch of hypocritical snobs. Really, Sabriel could believe either, given everything she's heard.]
It is also possible that the Highest One is somehow using Taeum's inhabitants as payment- as the ruler of that realm, the orb would consider the denizens theirs to bargain with. The problem with that theory is that there's no clear sign of that happening- no crewmember in Taeum has reported people disappearing, unless Taeum's 'quick return to the Giva' is really a cover for something more sinister.
But regardless of what bargain the Highest One made, we need to get that orb, along with Entr'i's, and there are multiple ways we might do so.
Simply stealing it is off the table, as we learned in Braccia that physical possession of the orb is not enough, unless we want to play keep-away while they chase us until they give up, or hope that the Highest one is actually far more reasonable than we've been led to believe and we can reason with them.
[So not really an option, unless the crew is feeling either wildly optimistic or incredibly masochistic.]
We might also try to understand the bargain made, and use some clause in it to end it- this is what we did during the last mission, albeit unintentionally. Except we don't know for sure what bargain was made with the orb, or what the cost was, so this method is also unlikely to work.
The final possibility is we help Entr'i do what she wants, and kill the Highest One. One problem with this, as seen from the mission in Braccia, is that owners of the orbs can be incredibly powerful- we would need to send our strongest, and it might not be enough. And I know some of you object to killing, but this isn't someone like Welford Branson, an innocent who made a bargain he didn't fully understand out of grief- this is someone even worse than Cheruvia, someone who's been maintaining an unjust system even when given the chance to reform it. We just need to keep Entr'i safe in the aftermath, and make sure V'rizz and his master don't lay their hands on the orb. I think this option has the best chance of success, and is the one I support.
[Mostly because Sabriel likes Entr'i, and has little love for the powers of both Sedorum and Taeum. The fact that it also seems the most likely to result in mission success is a happy bonus.]
So, to summarize all that, I think we should help Entr'i kill the Highest One, collect both orbs and merge Taeum and Sedorum, and make sure the forces on either side don't try to stop or sabotage her.
[ooc: feel free to threadjack, if you want!]
no subject
We are treasure hunters, yes, but also strangers. That means we are not people with enough knowledge of this planet and its culture to go around deciding who deserves to die or not. This is very different from our other missions, I just don't want things to end as badly as the last one.
Why do we have to kill anyone? Maybe we can find a way to restrain the higher ups without starting a war that might lead to innocent casualties. Granted, I don't know Entr'i because I've been avoiding her, but who's to say that she won't be tempted by the orbs once she has two of them?
no subject
I also don't understand why people are talking like we are the ones starting a war, when a war was already on track to start. Entr'i doesn't even really want a war, you know. She's just been led to believe it's necessary.
I admit that as an assassin, taking out the Highest One does make sense to me, but if there are other solutions I am open to them. And I think Entr'i would be, too. She is angry about injustice, but she is not bloodthirsty.
no subject
[ Look at Peter, using big words and all. He sounds exhausted, though, as if he's had this conversation before with other people. ]
Entr'i could be like Cheri and Olexa, showing a pleasant face to hide their real intentions, having secret connections...We can't tell, we do not have enough intel. That's the issue. I want to believe your judgment, that she really is as good as she seems. But fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
Hasty decisions will only result in the deaths of innocent people and the infliction of even more pain on those who survive. People we will leave behind once the orb is in our possession. I really wish there was a way to stop that from happening.
[ Scorpion’s Bend left a mark on Peter, to say the least. ]
Maybe, we can...We all have some skills, power, magic, gadgets. There are other options than war. If only we could restrain or imprison the Higher One until things calmed down and the system could be changed to be more equitable.And yes, I know we're running out of time.
[ Hence, why he sounds so tired about the whole thing. ]
no subject
You believe your own negative assumptions of someone you have never met while ignoring input from people who have been working with her and talking to her for almost a month now. Maybe we have only known her for a few weeks, but you do not know her at all. You are the one making judgements based on limited information right now.
[Look, Peter, she can respect not wanting to murder. Talking shit about Entr'i when he's never met her, though, she will fight him on that.]
You talk about how limited our intel is but we do have intel confirming her probable sincerity and that, as a result of that, she is being used as a pawn in a bigger game.
no subject
I'm neutral about Entr'i, but I want to err on the side of caution, is all. When something seems too good to be true, it usually it, and I learned that the hard way. It's not as if I'm trying to make people change their opinion on her, I'm just asking you all to be careful.
[ He is not talking shit, he is pretty much indifferent about Entr'i. Peter is just wary that it will all come to bite them in the ass if they chose wrong, and that they will have helped to start a war where millions could die. ]
I don't want to see those I care about hurt because someone was charming enough to make them follow her to the end. [ There's silence from his end, as Peter is pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to ward off a headache. He needs to sleep more. ] I do not trust her, but I trust you, Yelena. I'll give Entr'i the benefit of the doubt, but I'd still want to find another viable option to stop things from escalating.