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Post by General Spoon on Sept 21, 2013 13:27:09 GMT -6
"Yes, in general, unintelligent undead are less dangerous than intelligent undead. Hmm...I trust you destroyed those pages I gave you earlier after you understood the magic on them? I will admit that I have also used that magic before a few times."
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Post by Aura Guardian on Sept 21, 2013 13:30:59 GMT -6
"Ah, but it was such a powerful way to renounce that dark magic in favor of a more benign use of power. Yes, they have been destroyed."
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Post by General Spoon on Sept 21, 2013 13:44:19 GMT -6
Rianne laughs and says, "I'm afraid you lost me somewhere Salvatore. But I'm glad to know they are gone."
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Post by Aura Guardian on Sept 21, 2013 13:50:13 GMT -6
"Oh, what I was saying is... actually, you know what? What I was saying doesn't matter. The city is dying - but we're already doing all we can to fix it. Right now, all that matters is this moment."
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Post by General Spoon on Sept 21, 2013 14:03:02 GMT -6
"Mhmm...please be careful with your smooth talk. I'm not thinking very clearly right now, and you have also had...more than a little to drink. If you keep saying the right things, we may be in need of a priest to sanction a union. And it would be a conflict of interests for you to do so," Rianne says, and finishes her glass of wine.
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Post by Aura Guardian on Sept 21, 2013 14:09:11 GMT -6
Salvatore chuckles "Perhaps you should rest and recover a bit from the wine, then."
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Post by General Spoon on Sept 21, 2013 14:15:01 GMT -6
Rianne also chuckles, and says, "And I just asked you to stop doing that...," she stands, and continues, "Alright, you to your room, and me to mine. Goodnight Salvatore," she says, and gives Salvatore a kiss.
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Post by Aura Guardian on Sept 21, 2013 14:16:26 GMT -6
Salvatore says, "Goodnight, Rianne," and returns the kiss, then returns to his room.
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Post by General Spoon on Sept 21, 2013 14:44:25 GMT -6
(The next morning, after regaining her spells, and while Salvatore is preparing his)
"Encindal, you had a question you wanted to ask me yesterday?"
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Post by maxim on Sept 21, 2013 15:11:34 GMT -6
Encindal perked up "Oh, I was just wondering what was up with the surgery the other day. It was rather unannounced, which made me think we were under attack. Of course, we wound up under attack anyway but that's beside the point."
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Post by General Spoon on Sept 21, 2013 15:20:49 GMT -6
"Doesn't it bother you have ioun stones float around you? It bothers me to have them orbit me, even just the one currently floating around me," she gestures to the stone floating around her, "So..." Rianne pulls up one of her sleeves, revealing an implanted ioun stone, "I asked Salvatore to implant this one."
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Post by maxim on Sept 21, 2013 15:30:37 GMT -6
"You can do that with Ioun Stones?! I didn't know that would work...though I never really studied them so I guess I shouldn't be so surprised. Personally, I prefer those things outside of me thank you. That would explain why you were-"
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Post by General Spoon on Sept 21, 2013 15:42:02 GMT -6
"Why I was in pain? Yes, it is why I was in pain. Implanting the stone hurt a lot; I was even swearing. And it hurt the whole time, unlike when the other stone was removed. I had not known just how badly it would hurt, as I was unconscious the last time I had an ioun stone implanted. If possible, I will not be awake during such a procedure again."
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Post by maxim on Sept 21, 2013 15:45:52 GMT -6
Encindal paused, then said "Uh...that must've been quite distressing, yes. Ahem, anyways. I'm curious though...how exactly do you plan to run this city once we take over?"
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Post by General Spoon on Sept 21, 2013 16:49:59 GMT -6
"In the short term, I would like to restore stability to this city. I would like to reform some of the harsher laws that this city has as well. In the long-term, I would like some sort of assistance to be provided to this city's less fortunate, so that they need not live the way they have."
"There is one other thing I would like to do, though I do not know if I would be able to accomplish it in my lifetime. Tieflings are treated as second class citizens at best in our nation. In my time away from my country, I have worked with tieflings on several occasions, and they are as much a product of their environment as anybody else. I would like to bring tieflings out of their inferior position in Westcrown, but as I said I don't know if I could accomplish such a thing in my lifetime."
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Post by Aura Guardian on Sept 21, 2013 17:24:14 GMT -6
"Good morning; I just finished my prayers, and spell preparation. What was that about Tieflings, and other mortals, being the product of their environment? Because that is a highly innacurate statement..."
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Post by maxim on Sept 21, 2013 17:39:56 GMT -6
"Sounds like as good a plan as any. I think you may want to be careful that the less savory tieflings, such as our 'friend' Janiven don't decide to take advantage of your kindness."
(After Salvatore came in and said his piece)
"What do you mean by that?"
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Post by Aura Guardian on Sept 21, 2013 17:44:36 GMT -6
"If people were only products of their environment... well, let's start with the city at large. Yes, there is way too much evil in here. But this dying city still has some good souls in it. The environment here should, under that system, have caused this entire city to be evil, not just most of it. On a more personal level... you know what my past is, don't you? You both saw it in the file the Council had about us. With that environment, if people were only products of it..." Salvatore cuts off his words and grimaces, turning aside slightly.
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Post by General Spoon on Sept 21, 2013 18:06:12 GMT -6
"Those good souls had other influences on them that made them the way they are. Your time...spent...with the Drovenges was not your life; you had a life before it that made you who you were. And that person came through that experience, faith intact, the man he is today. Your early life, everybody's early life, is usually more important to who they are than the later events in their life. Usually, not always, but it is true in your case. This is what I believe to be true."
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Post by Aura Guardian on Sept 21, 2013 18:25:39 GMT -6
"... What about the people who knew only a brutal life? The ones who grew up on some city's streets, not knowing their parents... not even a surname to maybe find who they were? The ones who everyone left, even the only friend they ever thought they had? Like Wesh left did after promising he wouldn't leave, wouldn't die to some petty thief trying to rob him?"
Salvatore starts shaking.
"The Drovenges were... only marginally worse than everything else before I joined the Drovenges. And the point is... I CHOSE to have faith. I CHOSE to reject the evil I saw surrounding me. I CHOOSE to trust, despite everyone leaving me. I CHOOSE to heal, despite my knowledge before fleeing only having been used for destruction. Despite a life surrounded by hate, with no love at all, I try and help, despite my every instinct - until recently - screaming that everyone will leave me, everyone will betray me."
A few tears start sliding down Salvatore's cheek.
"My environment was far worse than that of nearly anyone... and you can see how I turned out. How I turned out despite the isolation of the streets, where I had only my wits to protect me, despite the torments the Drovenges could inflict when they realized I was healing the captured escapees they wanted me to torment ... you know how it is very hard for anything to scar me now, because of the healing powers Iomedae grants me? These..." Salvatore pulls off his shirt and turns around "... Most have faded... especially with the healing energy I've channeled. But look at the mess on my back for just a little longer..." Salvatore puts his shirt back on and turns around. "A life of practically nothing but hardship... If we are the products of our environments, how could anyone turn out as anything but evil with that past... and yet here I am."
"Yes... environment plays a role in everything. But it is not the deciding factor. Do we mortals not have free will, the ability to choose our path? Everyone has it... so few choose to use it, though. I chose, and the Tieflings you purport as products of their environment ... yes, their environment, which we must change, encouraged them to the path of darkness. But it did not force them to it; they chose their paths. But making the environment better is certainly a good idea, and would encourage them to choose against their darker origins."
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