Seers Folly

There was a small group gathered on the edge of the temple district gathered around a young woman wearing the robes of a Seer of Eluna. The woman’s blue eyes were bright with fervor and wide with a touch of fear. Her voice, when she spoke, was touched with the same tones that touched her features. “The High Seeress has all but locked herself in her chambers. No one has seen her since the vision that we all shared.”

One of the people, newly drawn into the conversation spoke up. “What vision?”

Several people hushed him, but the seeress was not one of them. “The vision of Eluna that came to us not more than a few days past. The High Seeress doesn’t dare speak what she believes it means but…” Here she presses her lips together and looks troubled. “What else can it mean?”

“Tell us what it means!” Another voice in the crowd.

“Eluna killed Animus.” She says, half-whispering the terrible secret.

GAME: Ravenstongue casts Alter Self. Caster Level: 17 DC: 20

Mikilos perks as he passes, having had some minor business at the temples. But the gathered group grabs the wizard's attention, pulling him close enough to catch the important bits of the exchange. "...I'm skeptical. What exactly was this shared vision? One would think some whisper of accusation would have been made well before now."

GAME: Mikilos rolls spellcraft: (2)+39: 41

Recent events have demonstrated to Cor'lana that appearing as herself invites more trouble--in the form of vicious mouths and a bit too much attention--than it's worth to do every-day errands. And for her devotional prayers, she especially does not want to be interrupted.

So she adopts a disguise she's taken before. Something that makes her smile because it reminds her that, while her mother's gone from the world, she lives in a sense so long as she is remembered and thought of. (Someone close to her had told her that regarding himself, after all.) Which means that an enchantingly beautiful human woman of dark waves of hair, blue-sapphire eyes, and generous figure is going through the Temple District--

Or would be, if it wasn't for the fact that she's stopped in her tracks as she overhears the dirty lie that's now in her ears and head. It sticks there like something filthy thrown up on the walls.

She walks forward to the group, eyes narrowing, her arms folding under her chest. "Mmmm. That is akin to slander. You'd best have a good reason to say such about the Sky-Singer herself, Seer."

It has been a long day for Seldan, who, clad in his usual appearance of weathered if well-cared for armor, Reunion at his hip, eschewing the helm, strides through the streets of the Temple District in hopes of making it out of the city before nightfall. He neither conceals nor parades his identity, and pauses at the gathered crowd's edge, listening intently.

"Archmage, I, too, shared it," he begins, describing it briefly.

The moon rises in the sky, a crescent, round and seamless. A flash, a man standing at the shore in the sea. The moon descends, slowly, creeping toward the midnight water. A flash, a woman’s voice sweetly calling. The moon slips silently into the ocean and the water turns red. A flash, crimson spills across the tide.”

When he is done, he turns an alabaster-impassive gaze back to the young girl, his tone even, steady, and with a Myrrish lilt to it. "Even so, Seer? It is not the way of the High Seeress to share her thoughts so openly." A moment of silence falls, but he continues to regard. "You have, however, given me a worthy question to ask of Her servant." He does not explain that remark. "But come, I would hear your interpretation, and not that of your fears."

The seeress smiles thinly as Seldan intervenes. "I know you, you're Ser Seldan." The seeress says, looking him over. "Your hair and your bearing as well as the sword on your hip mark you as he."

The woman turns her icy gaze on the disguised Cor'lana. "You have - all of you - heard from this paladin of Eluna the vision sent to us that have served her. You may tell me to share my interpretation but not my fear? My fear and my interpretation are the same! That Eluna slew Animus! Only She knows why, but I wonder now as to the wisdom of my service to a Goddess who would slay another of Her own kind!"

The crowd murmurs angrily in agreement, a few looking at Seldan in particular since he's been outed as himself. He is after all a well-known figure in Alexandria. A few others peer at Mikilos, recognizing him as well. "Isn't that the Archmage Mikilos? Tell us what you think!"

GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Sense Motive: (12)+27: 39
GAME: Mikilos rolls sense motive: (8)+14: 22
GAME: Seldan rolls sense motive: (14)+24: 38

Mikilos frowns mildly, his eyes glowing faintly with a pale blue light as he scans over the crowd, lingering a moment on the Seeress and the raven haired speaker. "I think this is the first I've heard of such an accusation. The Dark Bitch Taara killed Animus, wresting the power of magic, at least, dark magics, to her own control. A vision of moon, tide, and blood doesn't mean a gentle Goddess of light stooped to murder of her divine kin."

"Yes, Seer. I am he, and that is precisely what I ask of you, for wisdom is not to be found in fear. Fear clouds the vision with false imaginings." Seldan's tone is still gentle, even, and he inclines his head to Mikilos. "Even so. It is as he says, and that is the question that I mean to ask. For such visions and dreams come not only from the Sky-Singer. Spells there are that may plant dreams, and nightmares." He stills, sinking even more into that alabaster impassivity. "Have you attempted any divining, or research? For forget not that the Tempter is the Mistress of Lies. Think you that she would not send such a thing, to trick you, to wrest you from the Sky-Singer?"

"Surely you're mistaken," the disguised Cor'lana replies, arms still folded underneath her chest. "I am inclined to agree with the Archmage and Sir Seldan both. Is it not possible that the vision shows the Shadow Sorceress _disguised_ as the Sky-Singer? Or some other malevolent agent? If it was Taara who killed Animus, then she would stand the most to gain for blaming it on a goddess of the light."

She pauses to take a breath. "Surely the vision granted to you is not meant to inspire fear in you or to make you question your faith, but to question those who would come to you in the guise of one and not another." Cor'lana feels the sick itch of irony crawling up her back as she speaks, considering her current state.

The seeress looks at the three that speak to her and shakes her head. "Do you think that we have not _asked_? Eluna does not _answer_. Or speaks in such riddles that even the hardest of our faith is shaken. Look you that the High Seeress is not soothing her own! I have not seen a single glimpse of her in all the days since this vision!"

The crowd now seems evenly divided amongst those who believe the priestess and those that believe that it's far more likely that Taara is the culprit. At least for the moment.

"Think you well. All of you. For though surely Taara gained in power, so too did Eluna herself! In the vision it is the moon that cuts the sea, not some weapon of Taara's own. And though you speak truth that any can send visions, is not Eluna herself the Goddess of dreams? Visions? Why would She allow Taara to send such to Her own? To shake faith in Her?"

Mikilos's eyes widen for a moment, blue light flaring, and his frown darkens, his stance shifting to combat ready as he addresses 'the seer'. "...what are you? Hiding one's true shape is not a crime, but it casts your words in a suspicious light."

"You ask me to think, when you are not yourself spouting aught save blasphemous hysteria." Now there is ice in Seldan's tone, ice that deepens and crackles at the archmage's words. He narrows his eyes at the woman, and reaches for the crescent and sphere around his neck, pressing it to his lips. "Holy and mighty Dreamer, show me the presence of Your enemies." This, unlike his usual approach, is spoken aloud, audibly, and it remains in his hand as he levels it at her. "Archmage, perhaps you would be so good as to dispel that seeming? Evil I sense from her, but not that of a fiend."

There's surprise in Cor'lana's features when Seldan so openly and boldly asks Eluna to reveal to him his enemies. It's a surprise that suggests familiarity with the man despite the fact she's never worn this guise around him. "I can, Sir Seldan," Cor'lana replies, lifting a hand and murmuring the words for her magic to form within her hands.

It's a shimmering thing that she forms in her hands and lets go. A magic that Seldan _has_ seen before. But not from this dark-haired woman--another with violet eyes and half-sil ears.

GAME: Ravenstongue casts Dispel Magic. Caster Level: 17 DC: 21
GAME: Ravenstongue rolls 1d20+17: (18)+17: 35

The woman looks at Mikilos angrily, then draws herself up as Seldan accuses her of being evil. "Watch, now you will turn me into some foul creature to protect your Goddess. I know your kind!" She seems to be nearly prophetic a moment later when the altered Cor'lana's spell tears off the illusion of humanity and leaves some sort of strange creature in her place. A hairless humanoid without a nose, gaunt and tall.

The woman tears off the cloth that marks her as a priestess and throws it on the ground, stepping on the symbol of Eluna. "I defy your Goddess! Let Her strike me down if She can! Let Her prove Her evil before all these-" Suddenly the woman lets out an eek as a cat twines between her feet, tripping her up and sending her crashing to her butt. The cat meows and wanders toward Seldan looking smug.

However many in the crowd are rumbling uncertainly, backing away from the source of magic and cat-prowess.

GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Knowledge/Arcana: (17)+25: 42
GAME: Seldan rolls knowledge/arcana: (12)+25: 37
GAME: Mikilos rolls knowledge/arcana: (13)+35: 48

Mikilos arches a brow at the cat, but keeps his focus on the doppleganger, stance relaxing slightly. "Defy all you like, Eluna is, practically by definition, not evil. Besides, we have laws. And unless you've broken one" he lets that idea hang in the air a moment "we have no reason to strike you at all. If you'd care to debate the nature of the divine, however, I'm perfectly willing to talk."

"I am fortunate," Seldan murmurs when the doppelganger appears, and squats down, holding out a hand uncertainly towards the cat in the way of one with _zero_ experience with cats and no idea what even to do. "I had begun to think that Mal was right about women. Well am I taught otherwise."

He looks up at the doppelganger, then, still offering to the cat, but not taking his eyes from the creature. "It is unwise to attempt to conceal oneself before Her, but then naught have I seen from you save hysteria and foolishness. You gave yourself away, for we are better taught than that."

Cor'lana presses her lips together as she sees the Seer revealed for who she truly is. It's then that she finds herself far less focused on maintaining the disguise that she, herself, wears, although her spell still persists for her to obscure her true self--

No, she has to win the crowd. She has to _act_. Otherwise their faith in Eluna will be shaken. She understands what Seldan's doing now, even though it goes against his very nature.

"Friends and all who bear witness: know this miserable creature to be a doppelganger, an evil creature that often takes on the appearance of those who it has spirited away or killed in cold blood." Cor'lana snarls the last phrase ever slightly, so as to not oversell it. The Theatre District may love an actor who can sell on a stage, but this isn't exactly the Hopewright Theatre that she's selling tickets for. "What have you done with the woman whose guise you are wearing? Have you murdered her? Or is she trembling in a cave somewhere? Waiting for someone to rescue her from her grisly fate?"

GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Diplomacy: (11)+31: 42

The woman - or rather the doppelganger growls and gets to its feet. It sends a look over those gathered and notices that when Cor'lana speaks that they seem to grow even more uneasy. "And who are you to say such things about me? We all know that you are the one who made me appear this way. So that you could twist my words. Well I won't play your game." She marches toward Cor'lana, then past without another word.

With the 'seer' leaving the people left seem uncertain of what to think. The cat sniffs Seldan's hand and boops his finger with its snoot before eyeing him and then looking at the woman, then wandering off to do cat-things.

Mikilos hesitates, taking a step after the doppleganger, and stops himself, looking to the person he's pretty confidant is Cor'lana. "Often, but not always. We've no proof anyone has been harmed, and while I'm loath to assume all is well, I think the true goal may be to goad us to violence."

Seldan blinks in surprise as the cat willingly interacts with him, and when it leaves, looks after it, then stands slowly to face the doppelganger. "Its true intent may have been to sow panic," he counters Mikilos, gently, then turns to the crowd, drawing a deep breath. "It is not the High Seeress' way to fear," he explains, his entire demeanor steady and even. "I know not this creature's intent, but well do I know the wisdom of the High Seeress. She has counseled myself and others who received the vision to seek audience with Her servants, that we might learn more. The Tempter is not to be trifled with, and she might have sent such visions to blame Her deeds on another. Such would be Her way. Even were the vision sent by Her, seldom are the Dreamer's visions clear. Such is the Dreamer's way, in turn, and we must seek Her wisdom and understanding. That do we do, even now."

GAME: Seldan rolls diplomacy: (16)+22: 38

"Sir Seldan is right," the disguised Cor'lana adds. "The Sky-Singer is not a bloodthirsty goddess. She has compassion for those who are kept in fetters, even those of the Dark, and so I beseech any and every one of you who are lost and confused to seek counsel with the Temple of Eluna. The night is lit up by Her light, kept company by the mystery of the stars--whose number is as many as those mortals upon which She smiles upon in the night sky."

She smiles brightly then at every face in the crowd that she can manage. "Go gently on and without fear. The Silverguard has spoken!"

GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Diplomacy+2: (5)+31+2: 38
GAME: Ravenstongue rolls Diplomacy+2: (6)+31+2: 39

"The Silverguard is right!" Says one man, nodding to his fellows. And most if not all seem to be in agreement. With that the group begins to disperse, and though there are still a few small murmurings of discontent they seem mostly of the 'the things that happen in this city' type rather than the sort that are blasphemous.

Still, the symbol of Eluna lays on the ground, and this is surely not the only move being made against the temple of Eluna. The only question is... why?

-End