{{wst>session-main}}

{{wst>shyriath|Dlyss had extended an invitation to Einriss to accompany her to a meeting of the Council of the Citadel, except of course that 'invitation' hadn't exactly been the right word. Enneth had shyly delivered the message in the form "Dlyss says she wants you to come along," leaving little room for objection.

It seemed that Einriss was moving in more exalted circles these days - or at least around them. Like most of those who accompanied the various notables into the Council Hall but were not themselves notables, he and Enneth were being studiously ignored by the rest of the crowd. Said notables were too busy talking with each other, and their guests were generally attendants, or more rarely constituents or benefactees, who spent their time paying attention to those to whom they were attached.

Most takma societies had no nudity taboo; clothing was not worn for modesty so much as for protection or decoration. The latter use was much in evidence here, with brightly-colored cloaks and robes flowing behind their owners, and elaborate headdresses, not to mention jewelry and cosmetics and even magical effects, occasioned either by their own power or that of a servant (from illusionists, garish displays of lights; from elementalists, cloaks of water or shifting waves of sand around the feet; from shifters, beautiful and impossible scale colors; from energists, haloes of fire, and so on).

By comparison, Dlyss looked very plain. Her only clothing was her white robe; her only jewelry, a thin silver marriage-chain around her neck, with three charms attached - one for each husband. But she strode through the crowds like a senior matriarch, head held high, wings slightly extended, and none dared to be in her way. Few attempted to engage her in pleasant conversation, other than a murmured greeting. Enneth and Einriss lurked in her wake.

The Council Hall was at the heart of Oldstone; the oral histories of the Founding Families said that it had been enlarged from the original common room their ancestors' families had shared. Now, of course, it was a considerably grander room. On a floor the shape of a semicircle sat thirty-six daises: two, against the center of the flat wall, were raised up higher than the others, while the others were arranged fan-like facing them. On each dais was a couch where a Council member could recline comfortably; surrounding each, on the floor, was furniture for their attendants. Spectators and their guests were restricted to the galleries around the edge of the room, but Dlyss was not a spectator; though she was no council member, she had her own boxed-in seating next to one of the twin daises at the focus of the room; she arranged herself placidly on her couch while Enneth and Einriss took seats behind her.

The business of the Council seemed to revolve around issues that were either very large and general or annoyingly specific: the things that needed to be agreed on, but were either big enough to demand some kind of majority opinion, or small and personal enough that an arbiter was needed to decide them.

Much of the meeting seemed to be concerned with the latter category, and their sheer pettiness appeared to exasperate the Council members. One involved a petition to rescind the ban on playing boulder-ball in the outer market, on the grounds that it provided useful employment for elementalists to repair the structures and lifegivers to repair the bystanders; the Council denied it, noting that it was the third session in a row where they had felt compelled to do so, and threatened the petitioner with being involuntarily shapeshifted //into// a boulder for a sixth-turn if he persisted. There was that about the meeting; for all the pomp and formality of the setting, the actual business of the Council was conducted with little decorum.}}

{{wst>shyriath|At last, the session turned to weightier matters, particularly the need for more mentalists to monitor the Citadel's borders in the event of Unchosen incursion.

"Scouts report that more and more Unchosen have been wandering into these mountains lately," grumbled one councilor. "They are deflected, of course, but the current guardians are increasingly overworked by the task. Some recruitment is in order."

There was some reluctant agreement; no one liked calling for recruitment. Being one of the border monitors was not a popular job, because it was generally lonely and cold and miserable; but there it was. //Someone// had to do it.

At this point, Dlyss stood up, to the silent acknowledgement of the co-chairs. "Honored councilors," she said in her ethereal voice. "This will not be sufficient. I have said it to you before: the Unchosen are becoming aware that something is here in these mountains. They will continue coming; they will come in ever-greater numbers. I have seen this. Lone travelers we can turn aside and misdirect, but in groups they will be more formidable. I must say once again that we should prepare to fight them directly if the need arises."

One of the councilors, a blood-red female in sheer green robes, stood up. "Good Oracle, you //have// said this before. And to you I say what //I// have said before: deflecting attention has its disadvantages, but picking fights with the Unchosen will actively invite it. No scouting party returning to their homeland will announce us to the world more effectively than that same party disappearing without a trace; better to steer a small group wrong than to have an army on our threshold."

"Armies will come nonetheless, Councilor Jorith," Dlyss replied sternly. "They can be fought now, while they are small and far, or later, when they are large and near. But they will come. I have seen it."

"So you keep saying," snapped Jorith. "But we have only your word for it. None of us are eager for the company of Unchosen, but your aversion to them is well-known-"

"My aversion to them, Councilor," replied Dlyss with unusual chilliness, "is well-earned. You are surely aware that //some// of us were not so fortunate as to be born to freedom, as you were, and that they know better than you what the Unchosen are like... with all due respect."

"Your 'respect' is a sham, Oracle!" Jorith shouted, as other councilors' voices rose in support or opposition. "Don't think to lecture me, or to preach at me like your poor followers! //Some// of us, born in freedom, are not so mired in our pasts that we cannot see through your messages-" The two co-chairs began quietly conferring with each other. "-and how you take advantage of both incoming refugees and those who have sympathy for them-"

One of the co-chairs twisted her head in a shrug; the other gestured to an attendant, who cast a large, glowing "SILENCE" in the air. Jorith settled down, still agitated, as the word faded away in midair. The co-chairs turned to Dlyss. "Your concern is recognized, good Oracle," one of them spoke. "But understand that militarization is a step few want. Our ancestors - and indeed, the newcomers that arrive here every cycle - came here to avoid strife and conflict. The inevitability of war is not something that many of them will be prepared to accept."

Dlyss dipped her head toward the chairs. "Accept my words as what they are, honored chair: advice and warning. My visions of the future are never absolute. But I feel that this future cannot be avoided; and I would caution that a terrible truth does not care whether its victims accept it."

And that, throughout all the rest of the session, was all that Dlyss said; at least, anything of any substance. She was consulted on some other matters, concerning which her foresight was asked for. Sometimes she said a course was good, or bad, or that it was unclear. But she volunteered nothing else. And then, eventually, the session was over; Dlyss led both Einriss and Enneth out of the Council Hall and its foyer, and back toward the stairs to the Third Level.

When they were clear of the crowds, Dlyss slowed slightly so that she was walking beside Einriss rather than in front of him. "Tell me," she murmured, "did you have any thoughts about my exchange with Councilor Jorith?"}}

{{wst>pinkgothic|Jorith? The name presumably should ring a bell, Einriss reasoned, and the question implied they had said something worth having opinions on, which left very few candidates. He couldn't be sure which one had been Jorith, though, which caused him some discomfort. Probably it had been the one who had found it fitting to yell in a misguided attempt to lend his words credence with volume alone. What //were// his thoughts about that exchange? "I find it strange that the Council asks your aid in knowing the future, accepting your remarks about it without so much as a second thought, but discarding that very advice when it does not suit their world view. Either they think you a liar, in which case they should not be asking for your advice at all - or they think you are honest about the visions you share with them, in which case it makes no sense to accuse you of having an agenda with them." A pause, while he mulled how to summarise the matter; then: "Their inconsistency baffles me."}}

{{wst>shyriath|Dlyss' expression, as usual, did not change much, but there was a satisfied glitter in her eyes.

"Some of the answer," she replied, "comes from uncertainty. I do not see the one future that will be; I see the many futures that may be, and how likely each is at the time I look. They know this, or should; I have explained it to them enough. Knowing, therefore, that the scenario I describe is not certain, they are not wrong to be cautious; but in this instance caution is reinforced by political considerations, which should have no bearing on deciding a matter of life and death for our kind.

"And then," she added more stiffly, "Their attitudes toward me are not uniform, which makes up the other part of the answer to your question. Most feel I tell the truth, or at least believe what I say; but others consider, if they are generous, that I may be mistaken in how I interpret what I see. The less generous, like Jorith, believe that I deliberately exaggerate or lie about my visions for my own ends. They cannot prove me guilty of this without subjecting me to a mentalist's probing." They made for the stairs that led back up to the Third Level. "Having done nothing wrong," she added, "I have not deigned to allow it, and they cannot compel me to do so."}}

{{wst>pinkgothic|Einriss considered her explanations for a moment, unsure if he was quite willing to accept it as a coherent image. That said, it seemed to fit the data, which was more than he could really say of his fleeting intuition that 'they're just inconsistent and haven't thought things through' - while that served to superficially explain things, he couldn't claim it would have helped him predict the situation as he observed it. It made sense Dlyss would be more aware of the dynamics at work, of course.

Her remark about the mentalist made him pause, though, if thankfully not outwardly. Then: "Why not grant them that insight? It would surely serve as a lasting rebuke to Jorith and lend credence to you." But as he spoke it, he realised that the burden of proof would simply shift to the mentalist. Still, perhaps...}}

{{wst>shyriath|Dlyss' nostrils flared; she appeared to dislike the suggestion. "Perhaps," she stated shortly. "But there are undesirable outcomes emanating from that choice. I will not make it."

And that seemed to be that; she apparently did not see fit to explain what 'undesirable outcomes' meant. "In any case," she continued, "I saw it as unlikely that the Council would embrace my warning with the required urgency; but the chance was sufficiently nonzero that it was worth trying. I have given them the chance; over and over, I have given them the chance."

There was a long, contemplative pause. "I asked you to witness that meeting in order to impress upon you certain facts. There will be times when, for the sake of the security of the Chosen, I will seek to act where others will hesitate, and they will resent me for it. Some of the things I will have you do may likewise become a target of their ire, should they become common knowledge. It is only proper that I advise you of this possibility."}}

{{wst>pinkgothic|Einriss found himself displeased by the narrative Dlyss was painting. While he supported her position that a sufficiently likely future should be properly dealt with, the notion of acting against the wishes of //some// Chosen for the benefit of //all// Chosen seemed fundamentally flawed. But then, he was hardly a politician, he reasoned, and all of politics seemed to function fine without that he could wrap his mind around it. Dlyss had already demonstrated that she understood that domain better than he did. That made sense - social cause and effect was likely easier to understand if you could view past and future of proceedings.

And then, out of what felt like nowhere, came the reference to his work. For a  moment, his own private reaction confused him as he tried to slot it into the known frameworks. Identifying it as equal parts astonishment and excitement, he mused what might have triggered that feeling, rationally out of place as it seemed. Then he found it: If his work were to become the target of protest, it presumed the work was important enough for other takmar to care about.

A sensation of serenity and clarity gripped him - though he was unsure how //true// it was, how much implication his intuition really had happened upon. With a calmness that struck him as alien (but nonetheless welcome), he said: "I understand."}}

{{wst>shyriath|"Good." Dlyss appeared to drift off for a moment, staring into the air -although, almost absently, she managed to steer herself around a couple of aides clustered near the bottom of the stairs, avidly discussing something in a low voice - and gave an indecisive rumble. "But where to start..." she murmured.

As they mounted the steps, the oracle seemed lost in thought. Then, in a quiet voice, she asked, "Ah. ...there are two things I wish you to look into. The more immediate is to devise an organism - a plant, I think, in this case - that is capable of attacking a creature at range, such that it is at least capable of disabling it. Possibly the emission of some kind of gas or toxin would work. And it must be capable of thriving in very scanty soil and moisture. Such plants, placed around our borders, would reduce the area needed for the scouts to cover. Yes."

She paused, still staring at nothing, leaving the second thing unsaid.}}

{{wst>pinkgothic|The reaction was predictable even to someone not an Oracle, were they paying attention. "And the other thing?" Einriss asked, even as his mind started working on the task, pondering his options and whether a plant would do for the constraints given, or if something at least fractionally more mobile was necessary.}}

{{wst>shyriath|"It will be difficult," she murmured in a dreamy voice, "but necessary. Chosen can sense the presence of other Chosen, unless they are deliberately hiding. Therefore there is a faculty that exists that allows one to distinguish between a living thing that is Chosen and  one that is not. This must be isolated, and a way found to incorporate this faculty into other organisms."}}

{{wst>pinkgothic|An //investigation// task! That was new. Truth be told, Einriss was unsure how he would even do that, given that it was rather orthogonal to his usual approach - but in principle it should be possible. Much as his transplanted wing membrane functioned, he could in theory transplant more basic traits... perhaps even into adult examples of the target organisms, though this wasn't part of Dlyss' request. Either way, it served as a challenge, laid out in his mind one step at a time, the first of which was to find the exact nature of the trait, the second of which was determining its chemical cause... "Understood," he acknowledged, the tone of his voice betraying how preoccupied he already was with the problem.}}

{{wst>shyriath|"'Understood'?" Enneth felt moved to comment. She tended to stay quiet in Dlyss' presence - though this was very much not the case in other contexts - but she seemed rather incredulous. "That's your only reaction? Not even a jaw-drop or a 'what?!?' or-"

She was forced to skid to a halt to avoid running into Dlyss, who had stopped and was looking her squarely in the eyes. Enneth's mouth clapped shut, her jaw worked nervously for a moment, and then she said: "Well, it //is// sort of a tall order, ma'am..."

Dlyss said nothing, but tilted her head to glance at Einriss, as if waiting for a response.}}

{{wst>pinkgothic|Right. Enneth was also there. Einriss pondered his response. 'Careful' was perhaps not quite the right word to describe the nature of the process, but he certainly did not let Enneth's tone rush him to an answer. "If we are to pass the perimeter described by Dlyss without ourselves struggling with whatever defenses we put in place," Einriss reasoned. "We will need a means to differentiate between friend and foe." A pause. "While the conversation in the Council proved that not all Chosen are necessarily friend, and similarly we can likely assume that not all Unchosen are necessarily foe, it is undoubtably a useful heuristic to guard our borders. If nature has granted us a means to make this distinction - and indeed, it has - it makes sense to, given the capability to, isolate and refine that ability. Dlyss said it was difficult. I agree. But it's a logical component of a biological defense perimeter."}}

{{wst>shyriath|Dlyss, for once, looked openly pleased, an expression that unnerved Enneth even more than Einriss' dispassionate summation of the matter. "But do you have any idea of how you're going to do actually do it?"

"If anyone had such an idea, child," Dlyss stated, turning away and leading them from the landing onto the Third Level, "they would have used it. I am aware," she added to Einriss, "that it would be unrealistic to expect results on the second matter in too short a time. In the likely event that the creation of the plant proves quicker than its... guidance instinct... provide them to me first. I shall confer with the Council to place them such that the scouts know not to approach them in the course of their duties. Will you require anything for this work?"}}

{{wst>pinkgothic|"I don't know yet," Einriss answered Dlyss, although his voice betrayed no nervousness. "But you can count on that if I run into any problems that more numerous or better resources could solve, or the assistance of a differently skilled Chosen, I shall let you know as soon as your schedule permits."}}

{{wst>shyriath|"Excellent." Dlyss paused, and then added, "Permit me to speak of something. When I was young, before I found the Citadel, I wandered among the Unchosen. I hid for a time in a great city with an Unchosen couple, who passed me off as a young niece; and although I was not truly a child, I was young enough and small enough that with limited exposure to the public the subterfuge worked.

"There came a day when we went to the market, and I went with them, wearing a cloak to obscure my age. I could sense, in the future, something important, but I could not tell what it was; but, behold, in the midst of the square, the authorities were condemning a prisoner before the crowd. It was a Chosen.

"They executed him, then and there, with the crowds cheering at the sight of his blood; but the next prisoner to stand on the platform was she who had dared to harbor him - parent, friend, or kindly stranger, I did not know which. And the executioner said this to the crowd: 'Death is the fate of the witch, who is born to the thrall of dark powers; but which is worse, she who serves them from birth, or she who //chooses// to serve?'

"And, again to thunderous applause, her throat was torn out, and she was left to die slowly on the platform, gasping fruitlessly for the breath she could no longer hold. And as I watched this, a sick look came over the faces of my own protectors; and in the many paths of the future, the one in which they gave me up to save themselves bloomed and grew."

Her voice remained steady throughout the recitation, but her muscles twitched gently beneath her cloak. "And I left, as soon as they fell asleep, for I had learned something about the Unchosen that was important. What you say about all Chosen not being necessarily foe is not correct. Not all Unchosen are necessarily //ill-disposed// toward us. But all of them - //all// of them - are foes, and they should be treated so."}}

{{wst>pinkgothic|"The one whose throat was torn out clearly was not," Einriss observed, without much concern for the effect of his remark - it was a simple, logical flaw in the story, and his mind automatically treated it like a puzzle to solve, not stopping to think that it might frustrate Dlyss to have to explain the convoluted nature of social interactions yet again.}}

{{wst>shyriath|"The one whose throat was torn out," Dlyss replied, "had her throat torn out. However much she may have been aligned with us, that situation ceased to apply. Short of some miraculous mass movement in our favor, this - or some similar fate - will happen to any found //not// to be our foes."}}

{{wst>pinkgothic|"Certainly," Einriss commented. "But she was alive at one point and there are those that are alive now," he shrugged, matter-of-factly, as though explaining mathematics to a pupil. "It has negligible practical value, but we already established that earlier. Useful heuristics are useful heuristics - nonetheless, it serves no one to mistake them for an exact science."}}

{{wst>shyriath|Dlyss remained quiet for a time. At last, she replied, "Alas, the faculty which you will be attempting to isolate and duplicate is not your 'exact science'. Nor, barring some psionic component unforeseen, will it be made to do so. That fact will be sufficient for my purposes."}}

{{wst>pinkgothic|"The purpose of our entire sanctuary," Einriss reasoned agreeably, nodding along quite pleasantly. "That is what //useful heuristic// means, after all." There was a trace of absent-mindedness to his tone again. Privately, the idea of adding a psionic component did sound like quite a treat and at least in theory achievable, but that could only be argued as a hypothetical step three - and that could wait until they got past step two, if they ever managed to achieve that in the first place.}}

{{wst>shyriath|Dlyss declined to comment further on the subject. The possibility of Einriss actually pursuing such a distinction bothered her, however distant it was, and she privately resolved to do her best to arrange matters such that he did not proceed. Sparing some Unchosen and not others would be... untidy. And, yes, and they would not remain friendly anyway, when they saw their fellows dying around them. No, best to treat them all as foes, and let judgment be in dread Ba'uk's grip.

Aloud, she said, "Enneth. What of the other thing?"

The golden female cleared her throat awkwardly. "Er." She grimaced as Dlyss paused again and turned toward her. "Well," she added lamely, "it's not like picking out a new headdress, is it?"

"I had hoped, nonetheless," Dlyss repliedly coldly, "for some progress in the matter. I foresee none that is imminent. While I understand that this is an issue that cannot be forced, its importance cannot be understated."

"Well, someday," Enneth protested, as Dlyss started walking ahead of them again; her home was, by now, just down the corridor. Dlyss shook her head. "Someday could be anytime from  next vigil to the end of your life, and there is only so much time. Do not waste it." The oracle marched into the alcove and through the gated entrance, from which the guards shuffled hurriedly aside.

Enneth waited outside until she was sure Dlyss was well out of earshot, and muttered, "Never mind that it's entirely my own business, destiny or no."}}

{{wst>pinkgothic|Einriss seemed mildly confused by the exchange - it was apparent as a subtle expression in his body language that both Dlyss and Enneth were familiar with by now. He waited until the conversation found its natural - if slightly awkward - end, lingering near Enneth, guided by curiosity and his own brand of concern. "Is she pressuring you into something?" he asked, finally, deciding for himself that this was the only reasonable interpretation of what he had just witnessed.}}

{{wst>shyriath|Enneth refolded her wings, which had involuntarily extended slightly during the conversation. "What? Oh. Sort of, yes." She started looking embarrassed. "It's not really- well, I suppose she'll start bothering //you// about the same kind of thing, eventually, so you should probably know anyway..." The statement was slightly telling in that Enneth appeared to have already classified Einriss as 'single'.

"I don't have a mate and I'm not particularly near to finding one, and that bothers her. Single people aren't as likely to have babies, and she wants there to be babies."}}

{{wst>pinkgothic|//Huh,// Einriss thought. "Huh," he said out loud. He folded his wings and seemed to consider the predicament for a moment. Then: "Technically, you don't even need a male, though the methods of self-fertilisation I know of all come with a higher risk for illness and disease." Well. There it was. Leave it up to the amateur biologist to make a creepy remark about it, without a trace of anything but scientific curiosity in his tone. "Or if you found a willing donor, there's always the option of-" He stopped, blessed with a rare moment of self-awareness. "Excuse me. I don't believe we clarified if you also want children, only that you're frustrated that you're being strongarmed into finding a mate - so on reflection, those musings may not have been of interest."}}

{{wst>shyriath|Enneth, under the circumstances, took it well; she merely stared in astonishment, and then with a careful blankness. //Well,// she thought, //he's either single or well on his way to it.//

Aloud, she replied, "A bit premature, anyway." There were flickers of colored light around her head, of the sort illusionist sometimes got when they were feeling emotional turbulence. "Someday, maybe. But not yet. And when I do, it'll be the usual way, with someone, or someones, I'm comfortable having them with. It's //not// going to be because-" She pitched her voice in imitation of Dlyss'. "-of an 'imperative to contribute to the numerical situation of the Chosen'."}}

{{wst>pinkgothic|Einriss opened his muzzle as though to contribute a //scientific// thought to Enneth's observation, then wisely chose to keep it to himself. Whether driven by genuine insight or just blessed with a moment of luck amongst his blunders, personal opinion coinciding with reality purely by chance, he offered: "I'm sorry you have to deal with that. It's not a reasonable expectation for Dlyss to have."}}

{{wst>shyriath|"Well, she can't make me. All she can do is pry." Enneth gave him a sideways look. "But you- that is to say, if you're single, my guess is that eventually she'll start asking you about it too. You might wanna think about how you're going to answer."}}

{{wst>pinkgothic|He considered the question for a moment, as usual maintaining an somewhat calm and neutral air about himself as he thought, as though there were nothing that could possibly happen to him while he assessed a topic, least of all someone getting annoyed with the wait. "I would likely ask her what my future says about how realistic it is I could entertain a mate," he finally mused. Evidently he was at least fully aware of his habit of losing himself in his work - perhaps even in some regards aware how off-putting his obsessive personality was to the average takma. "And then," he glanced at Enneth with a look of exasperated matter-of-factness. "I presume she would turn the problem into something that I //am// good at and I would sink miscellaneous turns into some project or other for optionally raising Chosen fertility levels. Or something else with the same net effect," he shrugged.}}

{{wst>shyriath|Enneth gave Einriss an oblique sort of look. "I'll say this much," she said, "you're a good fit for the way Dlyss thinks. You both talk about things with such enormous consequences, and make them sound just like problems to solve."}}

{{wst>pinkgothic|Einriss eyed Enneth as though she had spoken in a foreign accent. He grimaced lightly. "Problems are not defined by the size of their consequences, and matters that need to be approached with caution and diligence are distinct from matters that cannot be approached at all," he commented, reluctantly, contributing another shrug to the conversation.

"But if instead you're concerned about the consequences of //projects//..." he trailed off, before resuming with an encouraging and matter-of-fact tone: "Well, then surely it would be best to involve yourself in them when they roll around, to ensure your concerns are met. Don't think I wouldn't appreciate well-reasoned input." A pause. "...perhaps not necessarily to hypotheticals, though. Just because I have grim expectations how Dlyss would approach the subject with me doesn't mean that she will think of that approach at all. Judging by that she hasn't even spoken to me about this subject yet we can presume all other projects have priority."}}

{{wst>shyriath|To her credit, Enneth managed to keep her face from showing her worry. She was, in her soul, as artist; effect, consequence, were what life was about. They were //important//. The idea of having them so casually dismissed was rather disturbing, especially when you could see them being spread out over a lot of people and a lot of time.

Of course, he'd be working for Dlyss. //Dlyss// understood consequences, probably better than anyone. But in a weird way, this was the least reassuring part of all; the oracle might know very well what any given course of inquiry might lead to, but who knew how she was deciding which path was right? Or how much easier it would be to travel it with Einriss' help?

Aloud, she simply said brightly, "Mmmmyeah, I suppose so. So... I should really be getting home for a while. See you later, yes?"}}

{{wst>pinkgothic|Oblivious to the misunderstanding, Einriss felt confusion - until a moment ago, it had appeared as though Enneth clearly cared about the consequences of projects. Now, she seemed unenthused by the idea of helping to shape them and ensure they were all considered. That the trouble might be one of communication - that she had interpreted his formal correction as dismissal rather than as a semantic quibble - didn't occur to him. But there was nothing in her statement he could have used to query her further on the matter, and so he did what he was best at: Withdraw. "By all means," he encouraged, although his confusion made the statement come across somewhat... haltingly.}}