Dawn of the Third Age/IC Logs/Brazen Nomoe Plans

dakkareth: (anyway, I figure this would be after we've made sure all demons and such are eradicated from Mt. Metagalapa)

Brazen_Sand: (Sure. Then we just...I dunno, fly back. I'll need to pick up Chiyara after all.)

dakkareth: In the background pillars of smoke show where the people of Mt. Metagalapa resisted the invading forces. But high up on the observation deck of Nomoe's airship the smell of smoke does not reach the Exalts gathered there ...

dakkareth: "It's time to return to Sanken," Nomoe nods as the silhouette of the mountain begins to grow smaller behind them. "I expect you will want to make sure that your daughter is safe."

Brazen_Sand: Brazen stared out at the decreasing silhouette of the mountain, now crawling with activity both upon and inside it. "Yes. I'm sure Launjilla kept her safe though. It's always been able to." He said. He sounded oddly thoughtful.

Brazen_Sand: "It'll come when I call it. It shouldn't be too far from Sanken though."

dakkareth: "Tell it to come to White Oak Redoubt. There is no safer place within a thousand miles."

dakkareth: "And since that's where we are headed ..."

Brazen_Sand: "Right. Of course. A safe house for your family, then?" Brazen asked.

dakkareth: "Our greatest keep, the origin and the capital of the realm."

dakkareth: "The First Balorian Crusade could not break it even when nearly all the Threshold was theirs, nor could the Second Crusade ever come close."

Brazen_Sand: Brazen whistled, which made a sound like a teakettle coming from his massive muzzle.

Brazen_Sand: "It's done. It'll meet us there." He said, after blinking in quick succession a couple times.

dakkareth: nods. "I'll send word ahead so they are expected."

Brazen_Sand: "I don't know about that First Balorian Crusade stuff. I pretty much just torched every Raksha that came for the secnd."

Nomoe_Hideaki: A hint of grin touches Nomoe's face. "Yes, quite so. Our armies saw to that in the more recent past. And soon we will go further than that still."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "With the Scattered Petals we will be able to save all those millions of people still trapped and tortured out there among the currents of chaos."

Brazen_Sand: "But the Crusade has been over for almost 5 years now. There are puddles of Wyld here and there, but the Raksha are like ants." He responded while leaning over the rail."

Brazen_Sand: Which creaked under his weight.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Has that been your experience?" Nomoe laughs unhappily. "You must have been extraordinarily lucky."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Sanken has been fighting non-stop until I managed to initiate the Pillar of Stability program 24 months ago."

Brazen_Sand: Brazen stared down at him piercingly. "What was left of my family died there. I accidentally blew up half of Gem trying to save it."

Brazen_Sand: "Yeah. I was lucky." He said flatly.

Brazen_Sand: The swirling infinite depths within him flared here and there in contradition to his words

Brazen_Sand: "I'm just glad my daughter doesn't have to deal with it."

Nomoe_Hideaki: sighs with a complex gesture denoting an apologetic connotation. "I do not mean to belittle your losses. Believe me, I know how it is to lose family." He looks to the East, past the dwindling shape of Mt. Metagalapa to the iridescent horizon, hatred in his eyes.

Brazen_Sand: "Is that so?" Brazen asked curiously

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Every day for nine years I was in charge of tending to the logistics of hour armies, all the lists of the fallen and the wounded of my House and my country passed through my hands." He looks back to Brazen, eyes bright with common understanding. "We have both of us taken wounds and suffered losses in this war. What I mean to say, this war is far from over."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "There are, out there among the ocean of the Wyld beyond the arbitrary line drawn by the Sword of Creation thousands and thousands, if not millions of people just like us. People who even now suffer the depredation of the Raksha like we did."

Brazen_Sand: Brazen finally put it all together. "Ah hell Hideaki-san, no one holds a grudge like you do."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Sanken has received so many refugees ... but even now they still come. Fewer than before, because all those who could reach us on their own have already come, but people come to the safe shores of Sanken still."

Brazen_Sand: Brazen looked downwards. Sure enough, the land was Wyld-tainted below them.

Brazen_Sand: "Come on Nomoe. Let's go take a look."

Brazen_Sand: (Oh wait, we are in Sanken, aren't we?)

Nomoe_Hideaki: (between Metagalapa and Sanken, but not there yet. Yes, the lands here are Bordermarches at the least, Middle-marches sometimes)

Brazen_Sand: (let's go fight some Raksha)

Nomoe_Hideaki: nods, gravely. "Do you know the statistics the Deliberative has calculated? The numbers of people living in each direction - and how many of them have made it to the safe limits described by the Sword?"

Brazen_Sand: Brazen stared at him blankly. "You can do that?"

Brazen_Sand: He said before hopping over the edge and descending down ot the ground hundreds of meters below him

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Just ask Deliberator Starcc about it sometime ... you'll hear more about it than you want."

Nomoe_Hideaki: briefly looks aside, gesturing for one of his aides to notify Deliberator Wandering that the security of the Empress rests in her hands now, then steps over the edge to follow Brazen Sand.

Brazen_Sand: "Soooo...what did they find?" Brazen asked, the Malfean accent of his Old Realm still audible despite not having been there in years.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "There!" Nomoe points straight ahead to where a small trek of refugees in rags, many of them badly mutated, are carrying their children and what few other things they have towards Sanken. "That's what they found."

Brazen_Sand: "Speaking of refugees," Brazen noted. "Looks like there's a few dozen of them getting attacked by some pissant Noble right now. See what I mean? Just like ants." Brazen said, pointing to one

Brazen_Sand: Brazen landed on the ground like a meteorite that had fallen from the dome of the sky, flattening trees and leaving a crater. Although far enough away to ensure no one was harmed.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "The most conservative estimates state that as many two hundred million people of Creation were within the territories now claimed by the Wyld and ruled by the voracious Raksha. Two hundred *million*, Brazen."

Brazen_Sand: He, of course, was fine, and flapped his wings to get the dirt off of him.

Brazen_Sand: "Holy shit." Brazen said, while his eyes widened. He'd spent most of his human life in Gem, which numbered around 30 000 at most...or at least that's what Launjilla had found.

Nomoe_Hideaki: Hobgoblins all around chitter and cry out as the great shape of Brazen falls down near them, just as they are about to enclose the small group of refugees.

Brazen_Sand: "So why hasn't anyone done anything? I mean, there ARE other Deliberators then us, and no one likes the Raksha. Not even the Yozis had anything good to say about them." Brazen said, while he snapped a claw and a dozen hobgoblins simply exploded into neon light around him.

Nomoe_Hideaki: They beat their malformed hands against their breasts and weep in terror as one of the Great makers seems to come among them. But then, like a whiplash of the mind, their confidence returns to them and with glassy eyes they move forward. A Raksha noble commands them!

Brazen_Sand: Brazen rolled all 3 of his eyes. "Okay. What do you want? You know you aren't going to win. So just leave. I'm trying to talk to my friend here." he said to the Noble.

Nomoe_Hideaki: descends upon a hunting troop of hobgoblins, his clothes flaring up behind him into wings of coruscating violet light. "Burn all Creation to ash ..." he begins the now familiar words introducing his powerful attack.

Brazen_Sand: Brazen put a claw up. "They aren't worth it, Hideaki-San."

Brazen_Sand: "We did just get into a big fight and there are people around."

Brazen_Sand: Brazen stomped over to stand in front of the refugees. "You alright?" he asked (Norm-Ignoring Stance is active)

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Perhaps not, but it makes me feel better. Shatterer of Worlds!" A spherical hole simply appears where once was half the hobgoblin troop. "You take the other half?"

Brazen_Sand: There was a pile of smoking ashes behind Brazen. "Huh? Oh, I guess that was it." He said, amused in spite of himself.

Brazen_Sand: "So anyway. Yeah, why isn't anyone doing more about it? It seems like we're the only ones who DO anything at all, you know?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Oh great Luna, oh all you gods, we are saved!" The refugees come to a halt, stumbling with exhaustion, fear and relief in their eyes in equal measure. "Oh great ... lord, thank you!"

Brazen_Sand: "Well, us and our Mates, of course." He added, in case Wandering was listening.

Brazen_Sand: "It was nothing." Brazen said, although he relished the attention from the refugees nonetheless.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Don't I know it," Nomoe mutters. "Yes, I have asked that a number of times and have gotten hundred of different answers. One year ago I decided that enough was enough and began doing something about it myself. Apparently that really is the only way this Deliberative ever gets anything done."

Brazen_Sand: "Makes sense to me. It's messed up that the Thing seems to work so well together. We had to fight 4 damned Green Sun Princes today, and that's WITH the Ebon Dragon as one of their bosses." Brazen complained.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Sanken's armies are well-trained, but many of them are needed to protect the land. So I've begun hiring mercenary forces. I'm having Reality Engines built, as well as all manner of other war materiél. I am lobbying for support in the Deliberative, for ships and armies and fellow Deliberators to support this cause."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "In short, I am preparing for a crusade of my own. A crusade that will tak back what the Raksha have taken from us, a crusade that will save all our brothers and sisters still suffering under the soul-less abominations."

Brazen_Sand: "So what would you even do, Hideaki-San? Even I know that it's not just one big blob of Raksha working together. There are little puddles here and there." He noted as he shot swarms of flying bat-creatures out of the sky with cutting beams from his eyes.

Nomoe_Hideaki: Nomoe lands close to Brazen, still with wings in the color of Endings blazing with the same hatred that suffuses his voice.

Brazen_Sand: "if they wouldn't let anyone just march into Gem and take it when I was running it, what makes you think they'd let you just march into the territory of someone they actually *LIKE*?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: Many of the refugees have additional limbs, strange growths and other mutations. Few of them seem so far gone as to not be viable within Creation, though.

Brazen_Sand: "Follow me!" Brazen called. "We'll keep you safe, get you help!"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "The Raksha? Or the Deliberative?"

Brazen_Sand: "Oh, I'm Brazen Sand!"

Brazen_Sand: "The Deliberative, of course. Who gives a shit what the Raksha think? Even the Raksha don't give a shit what the Raksha think."

Nomoe_Hideaki: doesn't speak to the refugees himself, but graces them with a benevolent nod. Then he flashes a signal to the air ship overhead. "Our holds are empty on the return journey, they can come with us."

Brazen_Sand: "Oh right, or we could jsut do that." Brazen said.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Yes, there are some Exalts out there keeping small islands safe just like Sanken was before we reconnected with Creation. Their territories will be left untouched, naturally."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "There are further concerns of legality and rulership of course, just one of many obstacles. But I don't intend to let that stop me."

Brazen_Sand: "Right, and they won't be worried at all about you running across Creation with an army big enough to scour the Wyld out of it."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Sanctified oaths will quieten the worst concerns, I estimate, but yes. That too is one of the impediments we face."

Brazen_Sand: "I dunno, this shit is crazy. I've got a kid to raise as well."

Brazen_Sand: "We?" Brazen asked

Nomoe_Hideaki: smiles, understandingly. "While I would welcome your help, I understand completely that you have a family to tend to."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Family /always/ takes precedence."

Brazen_Sand: Brazen gritted his infinite teeth. He did have responsibilities to Chiyara and Wandering...but this would be so damn exciting to be a part of...

Brazen_Sand: "Are you trying some kind of reverse psychology thing on me?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "I do not joke about matters of family, nor do I lie to my friends in matters of such importance. You should know that by now, Lord Brazen." Nomoe gives Brazen a serious look, slightly hurt.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "I *will* do this, whether it is alone or with the Deliberative behind me, or anything in between."

Brazen_Sand: Brazen shrugged. "This is all politics, man. It's totally beyond me. All I want to do is save people, but I end up having to get permission, go to meetings, take part in debates, sign crap."

Brazen_Sand: Brazen sighed. "Yeah, I bet you will. You never let anything stop you."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "No," Nomoe agrees.

Nomoe_Hideaki: The airship descends quickly from above and opens the ramps to its holds. Tired but overjoyed the refugees stumble inside.

Brazen_Sand: "So you just want to run off while we have to deal with the Empress? You know that Malfeas is going to do something crazy."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "No," Nomoe shakes his head. "This is no endeavour that would benefit from haste, though it pains me to think of the suffering out there beyond the Line. With the Scattered Petals I will be able to begin the crusade much earlier than originally planned, but this matter with the Empress will have to be played out to its conclusion first."

Brazen_Sand: "I mean, I'm happy stopping it. That's just more awesome shit for me to do, which is great. But...isn't this sudden?"

Brazen_Sand: "So you want the damn thing for yourself, eh?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Considering that I have already spent fifteen months on the preparation, what's a few more?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "For myself? Hah." Nomoe laughs with what seems like genuine amusement. "Do I look like a madman to you?"

Brazen_Sand: "You never let anything stop you." Brazen repeated.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "No," he adds seriously then, "a weapon such as this must be in the hands of the Deliberative and no one else."

Brazen_Sand: "I think it's crazy. If I had my way, the thing would stay as a mountain."

Brazen_Sand: "Who the hell would even need that much firepower?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "True, if it benefitted me, I'd take it for myself in a heartbeat. But it simply doesn't. A Titan in my hands alone means chaos and instability, possibly war. A Titan under the authority of the Deliberative on the other hand means stability and peace for the whole Eastern direction, and hope for the wyld-drowned territories."

Brazen_Sand: Brazen nodded. "Well, let's just hope things don't turn out like last time. The Yozis didn't always lie, you know."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "You would just discard the hopes and lives of all those who could be saved by using it?" Nomoe inquires. "Would you really?"

Brazen_Sand: "I don't need that giant thing to save them. I could walk from one end of Creation to the other and burn the Wyld pockets out of them all"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "And how long will that take?"

Brazen_Sand: "I have forever"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "What will you do when their armies retreat from you only to return once you're gone?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: looks to the last of the tired refugees entering the airship. "They don't," he says simply.

Brazen_Sand: "How is it that of all the people in Creation, you end up being the one guilting me." He asked.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Because neither Wandering nor Bright Snow are here in this moment?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: "Remember when we spoke, earlier today at my palace? About this very same issue?"

Brazen_Sand: Brazen closed one eye while trying to remember. "Oh yeah, right. Well, you know, today has been pretty hectic."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "That it has been," Nomoe nods.

Brazen_Sand: "So what? You're going to go on a crazy Creation-wide tour to get rid of all those Wyld pockets? Dumping off those obelisks and stuff out of the goodness of your heart?"

Nomoe_Hideaki: He sighs. "Either way, we have to face facts. It will not remain a mountain, the Deliberative will see to that. The only question that remains is how it will be used and by whom." He gives a small laugh, accompanied by a gesture indicating uncertainty in the face of the future. "Considering all the possibilities I think I represent one of the best."

Brazen_Sand: "But you'll have to get them to agree to letting you run around in it." Brazen noted.

Nomoe_Hideaki: "The East is the most populated direction, I will start there," Nomoe replies. "After that, the North. And I hope by then others will have taken up the same banner. The Deliberative has taken on the mantle of rulership, so it must also take on the burden of protection for the whole of Creation."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "True," Nomoe concedes. "Will you stand with me in that? Or against me?"

Brazen_Sand: "Well, I'll consider joining. If, you know, some other crazy thing doesn't happen."

Nomoe_Hideaki: His tone is one of a simple, neutral question.

Brazen_Sand: "You know, the Moon exploding or something."

Nomoe_Hideaki: inclines his head slightly. "Naturally."

Nomoe_Hideaki: "But don't worry, I'll shoulder the politics of it. After all if you were drowned in red tape, who would take care of Chiyara?"

Brazen_Sand: "Damn right!" Brazen agreed