I see.  But you have sidestepped the question, Raziel.  What joys would this bring you?  What sorrow would this present?  Berd considers.  Perhaps your answers would be, 'the joy of controlling something I did not control before', and 'the sorrow of losing to an Archon with greater assets than myself'.

I believe there is more to life than such things, but to each their own, of course.

He ponders for several long moments, humming a curious song in his dragon-voice.  One of Cyan's, naturally.  Then, You ask me why people require plants and pebbles.  There are many reasons, some simple to explain.  Consumption - food, nourishment.  A place to stand, to put one's feet, for not all creatures can fly within the void, nor swim within the Underflow.

But there are other reasons, Raziel.  Would you know them as well?  Berd glances around the chamber.  They must be shown, for they are difficult to comprehend.  If you desire, I can attempt this.  We would need to travel, of course - I cannot show you mind-to-mind, and I do not believe you would allow such an intrusion.

+ I, RAZIEL, WOULD POSSESS THEM, AND OTHER ARCHONS WOULD NOT.  THERE IS THE JOY.  POWER.  DOMINION.  OWNERSHIP.  CONTROL! + the Archon's voice rises in volume as it speaks, and then drops, to little more than a whisper, + THERE IS NOTHING ELSE IN LIFE? +

It listens to Berd's words, and finally says, + KNOWLEDGE IS IMPORTANT, BUT ONLY AS A MEANS TO GAIN MORE CONTROL.  I WILL SEE THESE THINGS AND, THEREBY, GAIN KNOWLEDGE. +

Berd had anticipated as much an answer.  He had not, however, considered that there might be doubt.  A lever, he knows, that can move the world.  Archimedes would be pleased.

Gaining knowledge is, indeed, a valid goal, he agrees.  In a way.  There is pleasure to be had in knowing something, is there not?  Follow, then, Raziel of the Herenethi.  I must leave this place hidden, of course, else I will have a trail of your associates...which I do not believe you desire.

This is to be yours, and yours alone.  For now.

The drake expands his cloak to include the archon, then falls into the Underflow, knowing full well the creature will follow.

You are accustomed to this place, are you not?  I have noted your kind's skill at traversing its flow.  How does it feel, Raziel, to enter this place underneath it all, to glide through its currents, to study the intelligences which swim through its depths?

How does it feel to enter this place I term the Underflow?  And what is your name for it, I wonder?

For me...it is as though I return home - somewhere safe, somewhere familiar.

+ THIS PLACE, THIS UNDERFLOW, IS NO DIFFERENT TO MY KIND THAN ANY OTHER PLACE.  WE SPEND AS MUCH TIME HERE AS ELSEWHERE.  THERE ARE SOME WHO NEVER LEAVE IT, EVEN BRIEFLY. +  the Archon moves easily alongside Berd, with no more difficulty than a fish in still water.

+ CARE MUST BE TAKEN, THOUGH, AS I AM SURE YOU KNOW.  OUR HISTORY IS FILLED WITH TALES OF MINDS WHICH WERE SCATTERED BY THE CRETH, OR DRAWN INTO THE VOID. THERE ARE SOME WHO SAY THAT THOSE WHO CHOOSE TO LIVE HERE HAVE SUCCUMBED TO A KIND OF MADNESS. +

+ THE THINGS WHICH SWIM IN THE DEPTHS, AND DEVOUR DEAD WORLDS, ARE THE LEAST OF A TRAVELLER'S WORRIES HERE.  FOR THIS REASON, WE HAVE ALWAYS ADVISED CAUTION TO YOUNG ARCHONS ABOUT TO ENTER IT FOR THE FIRST TIME. +

Curious.  I was not aware of the potential for madness, here.  *amusement*  Then again, for a time I, myself, was quite mad.  Brought about by my fall, but perhaps perpetuated by the forces of the Underflow.  Perfection, lost long ago, now eludes me.  Information freely given, in exchange for Raziel's thoughts.

Madness.  The Logrus - a whorl in the Underflow, grown in power to a veritable torrent.  Was it possible that other whorls, smaller whorls, drew in travellers and spat them out, changed, broken by their experience, and yet gifted with power?

Might there be lesser cousins of the Logrus existing within the Underflow?  Not like its bastard children, calcified by the Pattern's order more and more the further one travelled through the Myriad Worlds, but actual pure forces of chaos, yet smaller, less localized?  Less...permanent?

Something to explore in the future.  Not now.

You are wise to care for your younglings.  And yet, there is such competition between your people.  How do you reconcile this?  Where are the lines drawn?  Something Berd has always found interesting, and faintly disturbing.

As he swims the brilliant river, his mind's eye seeks a particular world - one with which he has only passing familiarity from a visitor and a native.  Cyan has been there, once.  And he has touched the mind, read the signature of one of its luminaries.  Tasted the power of one of its creations.

He does not believe it to be destroyed, nor fallen to preparations for war.  Not yet.  In this land, he knows, there will always be beauty.

+ IT IS THE NATURE OF THINGS.  THERE ARE FORCES HERE WHICH ARE MORE POWERFUL THAN MERE MINDS CAN COMPREHEND.  WHAT THEN, CAN A MIND DO TO DEFEND AGAINST THOSE THINGS?  THE ONLY TRUE DEFENCE LAYS IN AVOIDANCE.  IF A THING CAN NOT REACH ITS TARGET, THEN IT CAN NOT DO IT HARM. +

+ BUT NOT ALL OF THOSE THINGS ARE WITHOUT MINDS OF THEIR OWN.  SOME WILL SEEK OUT THEIR VICTIMS.  IN THOSE CASES, AVOIDANCE MIGHT BE VERY DIFFICULT. +

Berd's question regarding boundaries and the care of younger Archons, brings a laugh which booms through the Underflow like thunder directly overhead, + THE LINE, AS YOU PUT IT, IS DRAWN WHERE THE VICTOR DRAWS IT.  IS IT NOT SO IN ALL PLACES. + Raziel answers, simply.

The pair veer suddenly, and a world rises towards them, like a bubble from the depths of some ocean...

More information regarding the Underflow - Berd files it away for future reference.  Regarding the Archons...

Not in all places, no.  There have been, and will be, other ways of drawing lines and boundaries.  But that is not what we are here to discuss.  Not yet, in any case.

The world expands before them.

I ask that you respect the beings of this world while with me.  Observe, but do not interfere.  It may be that we will discuss with one or more of them ideas of interest to you.  But we will not harm them, nor will we harm the world.

One gleaming eye fixes upon Raziel.  This is not negotiable.

In a flare of invisible energies, cloaked to the naked eye, Berd and the Archon explode into the sky high above a brilliant, cerulean ocean.  Ahead, the sun glares into their vision, its rays shimmering atop the blue expanse.  Below it, mountains rise, pale and icy atop, then growing verdant robes that coat the hills below.  The trees grow tall, as tall as the redwoods of earth, reaching up to the sun, above.  The forest flows down to the coastline, where a coral reef surrounds a golden, sandy bay.

While much of the forest remains pristine, a section before the bay shows signs of habitation.  Structures dot the tops of the trees, small houses and homes.  Others rise from the ground, below - almost as if part of the forest, rather than an invasion.   An aircar hums on its way in the distance, fans nearly silent, its small exhaust emission-free of all but water.  And shadows move upon the golden-sugar beach - several humanform shapes, going about their business of setting up for the day, some having already begun their 'work' before the sun had risen.

Welcome to Escher.

Raziel blurs and dwindles away, becoming no more than a spark, which expands to become a tall, humanoid form, clothed in lightning.  Its feet touch the ground, and the Archon looks about, with evident interest.

+ I WILL NOT HARM THE CREATURES HERE, UNLESS I AM ATTACKED BY THEM, IN WHICH CASE I WILL USE WHATEVER FORCE SEEMS NECESSARY TO DEFEND MYSELF. +

The creature's attention seems suddenly drawn to the highlands and forests further away from the shoreline.  + ARE YOU AWARE THAT THERE IS A PORTAL HERE?  AN OPENING TO ANOTHER WORLD.  IT IS CLOSED AT THIS TIME, BUT I SENSE THAT ARCHONS HAVE BEEN HERE. +

I would expect nothing else.  Self-defense is something Berd well understands.  I am aware archons have been here in the past, but not as to the specifics.  A portal?  Have they come more than once?  I know of only one instance.

A glimpse of a memory in the fractured mind of his poor child - tinted glasses fallen in the waves, the smokey threads of blood tainting the pure water.

Berd bites back his fury, relaxes his spirit.  One mind remains alert, hard as diamond.  Prepared.  The others focus on diplomacy, on philosophy.  On forgiveness.

The drake turns toward the sunrise as he wings down to the beach, remaining cloaked from vision for the moment.  Observe your surroundings, Raziel.  Consider what you see.  Of course, you will see it from a single point of view - your own.  Berd's bejeweled eyes sweep over the beach, the waves, the sunrise...over the small groups of artists, gathered to observe, record, create.

He waits.  Patience will be necessary.  This could take a long, long time.

+ I WOULD SPECULATE THAT THE GENERAL WAS HERE, AND RELATIVELY RECENTLY.  I CAN FEEL HER SERVANTS, THE TWO TRAITORS.  THIS WORLD IS FILLED WITH THE TRACES OF THEIR PRESENCE. + howls Raziel, reducing in size until it is no bigger than the drake which accompanies it.

+ BUT OTHERS HAVE ALSO BEEN HERE, MANY OTHERS, OVER A LONG PERIOD OF TIME.  THE PORTAL IS PROBABLY THEIR DOING, SINCE IT FEELS OLDER THAN THE FADING AURAS OF THE TRAIRORS. +

+ WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THIS? +

The Archon stops, hovering before a column of stone which stands among the trees, its surface carved with dozens of bas-relief images.  Most of the designs follow a common theme - men battling mythical beasts, while a woman often watches from a little way off, usually bound to some solid object.  The images are worn, and partly obscured by moss, but they are still recogniseable.

Most of the monsters appear to be larger relatives of the Berd.

More archons, here?  Interesting.  One of the hydra-mind peels off, searching for these traces, seeking to isolate them from the world's natural emmenations.  Now that Berd knows they exist...

The purpose?  Berd stares critically at the sculpture.  Undoubtably this was a column, a weight-bearing pillar for a structure at one point in time.  The pictures, however, were created to make it more pleasing to the eye, to bring forth emotions based upon the viewer's past relations with common stories.

The pillar carries poor likenesses of his son, he judges.  But that is legend for you.

Tell me, Raziel - and this is relevant to our journey - what makes you feel?

The Archon stops dead and falls silent for a while, save for the crackling of lightning across its form.

Then, + THAT WOULD DEPEND ON WHICH EMOTION YOU ARE DISCUSSING.  A LESSER ARCHON IMPEDING MY EFFORTS CAUSES WHAT HUMANS WOULD CALL ANGER.  THE SUCCESS OF A RIVAL MAKES ME FEEL ENVY AND ANGER.  THE PRESENCE OF HARBONAH INSPIRES FEAR. +

Raziel starts to orbit the pillar, and sparks leap from the creature to the surface of the stone, revealing the presence of minute flecks of copper.

+ THERE ARE IMPURITIES IN THE MATERIAL.  THE DEFEAT AND HUMILIATION OF A RIVAL GIVES PLEASURE.  IS THIS WHAT YOU MEAN? +

Berd slowly nods his head.  Understandable, these things.  And what, Raziel, makes you feel pleasure?  No doubt the crushing of an enemy, but are there other occurances in your life, times that have not involved diminishing another, when you have felt pleasure?  Pride?  Relief?  Or even comfort?

He turns away from the archon to face the pillar.  This pillar...do you Archons have stories?  I am certain you do.  Let me place this in a frame of reference.  No doubt you now speak of the Worldkiller, tell stories of how he destroyed your nursery world, murdering untold infants of your kind.  I can guess at what emotions this story engenders.  Rage.  Fear.  Hate.

Imagine, if you would, the Worldkiller dying at the hands of an Archon.  And that being the ending of the story.  What would any Archon feel at hearing this?  Envy, that they were not the one to defeat the Worldkiller?  Perhaps.  Relief, that he would no longer threaten the young?  Pride, that an Archon vanquished such a foe?

Consider a statue built to commemerate this ending.  To remind Archons of the story in its entirety.  What emotions might boil in Archons viewing that statue, of the Worldkiller's defeat?

He returns his gaze to the Archon.  <b>Here, you see images from one of the stories of these people.  Here, one of their own defeats a savage beast, to save another.  Had YOU, Raziel, slain the Worldkiller before he destroyed the nursery world, it would have paralleled this image.

This...sculpture evokes the emotions that story engenders in these people.  When they see it, part of them remembers the story.  Remembers the desperation they felt, when they first heard it.  The anticipation.  Then the sudden relief, the pride in this man, exemplary of their race, who saves his people by defeating the beast.  All of these emotions stirred within, simply by looking at a carved column.

His eyes glitter, but his power remains leashed.  This is one aspect of art.

+ YOU SHOULD NOT SPEAK OF THE WORLDILLER.  YOU ARE PART OF HIS ENTOURAGE. + Raziel awings around, almost as if Archons have faces, and it wants to look directly at Berd, + THE LAST THING YOU SHOULD WANT TO DO IS INVOKE THE EMOTIONS THAT HIS NAME ENGENDERS. +

And then the moment passes, and the Archon goes back to its study of the carvings.  + IT IS A MATERIAL REPRESENTATION OF A MOMENT AND A LOCATION, AND OF THE EVENTS THAT OCCURRED AT THAT CONJUNCTION OF TIME AND PLACE. +

+ INTERESTING. +

+ THOUGH IF THEY WANTED TO PRESERVE THIS EVENT, THEY SHOULD HAVE USED A MORE DURABLE MEDIUM.  I COULD DESTROY THIS WITH JUST THE BRIEFEST THOUGHT.  ONE OF THE DANIOTI COULD DO IT ENTIRELY WITHOUT THINKING. +

Hardly in his entourage.  We attempted to prevent it.  Berd's eyes dull.  To my shame, we were too late...my faction has turned from such things, Raziel.  We will not again bring such destruction upon your people, regardless of how the war proceeds.

I tell you this - I feel sorrow such an event transpired.  Yes, sorrow for you and yours.

I would die before I allowed it to happen again.

He regards the pillar silently for a long moment.  Yes.  Easily destroyed.  But it had to be created, did it not, Raziel?  It needed to be shaped - by tools, by hands.  There are limitations to the durability of such materials.

And this is only one such sculpture.  I am certain that if you spend sufficient time in this world, you will see many such creations, each by a different artist, each from a slightly different perspective, evoking slightly different emotions in its viewers.

He slants a glance at the archon.  Do you know why that is, Raziel?

Raziel is silent for a time, contemplating the carved stone or, perhaps, considering Berd's statement about his own feelings regarding the events at Hosk.

Finally the Archon darts upwards, flips into a horizontal position, and descends rapidly to the ground around the pillar.  Further, in fact, it burrows into the earth for a couple of feet.  When it lifts again, the pillar is gone, leaving only a hole in the ground with walls of cooling glass.

+ I DO NOT KNOW WHY HUMANS WOULD CREATE SO MANY.  I WILL TAKE IT FOR FURTHER STUDY. +

If you desire.  Its creator has likely long-since passed away.  But do not harm it, as per our agreement.

Berd flits about before landing on a branch, perching to stare at the archon.  What would Cyan say?  How would she deal with this creature?  The drake cudgels his mind.  Please, daughter.  Show me the way, for I am not what I once was...

Perhaps something of his creation has rubbed off in their time together.  Inspiration strikes.  So you cannot see why so many people would make slightly different interpretations of the same event, Raziel?  I understand.

Consider.  Are your feelings identical to those of other archons?

...or are they unique to you?  The drake arches one eye-ridge, studying the crackling creature.  And if you saw another creating a 'memory', forging a piece of artwork that held its own interpretations of an event, might you be interested creating your own, to show others your special, unique feelings regarding that event?  To let them feel more closely what you feel?  Would that not be interesting, to have others comprehend your feelings, perhaps even feel those feelings themselves, when they regard your...creation?

Berd pauses for a long moment, hoping that might sink in.  Then...

And having created your own interpretation for the world to see...might you then become interested in how others have seen it?  Might you then seek out other people's artwork, to study it, to better understand their interpretations?

Their feelings?

For by understanding that, might you not better understand them?
This message was last edited by the player at 12:35, Mon 01 June 2009.

The Archon is silent for a while, poised motionless in the air.  The sun slides down the sky, and drops below the distant hills, and  stars appear overhead, peeking through breaks in the clouds.  The clouds disperse, until finally the sky is like a sheet of velvet, strewn with with all the gems in the world - in all the worlds.

And then, at what Berd estimates to be about midnight...

+ I BELIEVE I UNDERSTAND.  EVERY CREATURE VIEWS EVENTS FROM ITS OWN PERSPECTIVE.  EVERY UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE IS FILTERED THROUGH A UNIQUE SET OF FEELINGS, AND PLACED IN CONTEXT BY A UNIQUE SET OF EXPERIENCES.  THE PERSPECTIVE, THE FEELINGS, AND THE OLDER EXPERIENCES, ALL SHAPE EACH NEW EXPERIENCE.  THAT, IN TURN, RESHAPES THE PERSPECTIVE AND THE FEELINGS. +

The Archon's voice holds... something, + AND PERSPECTIVE, FEELINGS, AND EXPERIENCE ALL AFFECT HOW A CREATURE EXPRESSES ITSELF.  THOSE EXPRESSIONS ARE THUS UNIQUE TOO.  INFINITE DIVERSITY IN INFINITE COMBINATIONS. +

That something, in Raziel's voice, seems a lot like wonder.

Time flows.  The sun falls, burning the sky, and on the distant beach, the painters seek to capture the moment.  The stars pinwheel above.  And Berd waits.  When necessary, he has patience.  Too much so, at times...but then, when one has eternity, when one has been eternity, what matters a few hours?

Finally, the Archon speaks.  And Berd replies with a voice like a choir of twelve.

YES.

A long moment of silence passes, as the little dragon watches.  He waits.  This is the crucial point - Raziel may use this knowledge in many ways, some contrary to his former purpose, some not.  But whatever comes of this, even if the Archon returns to darkness, Berd is finally satisfied.

He needed to see it happen.  Experience it firsthand.  But these creatures, these Archons - they are not simply a deadly virus upon the Myriad Worlds.  They can change.  They can grow.

They are worthy.

And despite an urge to push, to speak, to make a comment or ask a question beyond his affirmation, the drake waits.  The single word is enough to show Raziel that he, Berd, understands as well - understands the statue, understands the underlying point, understands the Archon as well.

When understanding comes, when one is understood, one is no longer alone.  And when one no longer feels alone...might one grow past a blind need to take, to hold, to control?
This message was last edited by the player at 18:26, Wed 10 June 2009.

Further silence... Raziel is apparently deep in thought.  As immobile as an Archon can ever be.

And then it descends much closer to the ground, and thunder booms out across the world, a continuous peal, like the laughter of some dark god, as bolt after bolt of lightning strikes the earth around the spot where the column had once stood.

When the noise and the glare cease, and the smoke clears, there are two perfectly drawn spirals of cooling glass inlaid in the ground, both centred on the shallow pit which once housed the stone, carefully interleaved with each other, never touching.

+ INTERESTING.  I CONSIDERED HOW WE CAME HERE, TRAVELLING FAR, AND DRAWING IN TO THIS MOMENT WITH INCREASING SPEED, AND THIS IMAGE CAME TO MIND.  TWO LINES PULLED, IRRESISTIBLY, INTO THE CORE. +

+ THERE ARE PLACES WHERE ENTIRE WORLDS ARE BUILT UPON SUCH PROCESSES - FORCES WHICH CAN NOT BE DENIED, WORKING TO CREATE STARS, AND HOLD THEM IN PLACE.  IT HAD NOT OCCURRED TO ME THAT SIMILAR FORCES OPERATE TO GUIDE OUR OWN EXISTENCES. +

Another pause, the only sound the crackling of electricity over the Archon's form, and then it moves to replace the stone at the heart of the design.

+ AND NOW IT IS COMPLETE, I THINK.  AT LEAST, IT SEEMS AS COMPLETE AS IT CAN BE AT THIS TIME.  AND, AT THIS TIME, I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT I WILL TELL HARBONAH OF YOUR PRESENCE IN THE FORTRESS.  AT SOME POINT, I MAY REPORT IT, BUT FOR NOW, I MUST CONSIDER FURTHER WHAT YOU HAVE SAID. +

+ CREATING... THIS... WAS ODDLY SATISFYING. +

Berd stares, fascinated, as the Archon...makes an attempt.  A good one, as it turns out - metaphoric, symbolic.  Powerful in its simplicity.  He nods slowly at Raziel's explanation, his eyes burning with barely leashed interest.  Where will the Archon go from here?  What runs through its alien mind?

Indeed.  Future travellers will come, will see this piece you have created.  They will study it.  Consider the implications.  Place their own views upon it, some of which will no doubt nearly mirror your own.  Awash with curiousity, they will wonder about its creator, how the artist might have captured something that resonates so with their spirits.

There is more to the worlds than simple physics, matter, and energy flow, and yet the patterns echo throughout it all.  'As above, so below.'  You have captured this truth here.

Then the archon takes it a step further, replacing the original carven stone, and Berd falls silent.  There is poetry here, and the herenethi...amazed, Berd realizes Raziel has the eye of an artist.

What you have created...  Berd flits about it, but does not intrude upon the design by landing.  Some may come, drawn by the sound.  And I think when they see what has been wrought here, they will bring more - to study, to interpret.  He chose wisely with the world, Berd sees - in another place, the new sculpture might be torn away for a museum, or reworked into its original shape to 'preserve tradition'.  But this is Escher.

I thank you, Raziel, for your forebearance.  You have taught me much, and for this I am grateful.  The drake cocks his head, landing upon a branch.  I hope to speak to you again in the future, that I may learn more.  And that I may see more of your art.

No empty words.  From Raziel, Berd has relearned hope.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:40, Tue 16 June 2009.

+ I WOULD APPRECIATE FURTHER CONTACT. + Raziel replies, quietly by Archon standards, + I TOO HAVE LEARNED FROM THIS MEETING.  WEIGHING THE POSSIBILITY OF OBTAINING FURTHER KNOWLEDGE AGAINST THE POSSIBILITY OF HARBONAH DISCOVERING OUR CONVERSATION, I BELIEVE THAT THE VALUE OF ADDITIONAL KNOWLEDGE OUTWEIGHS THE POTENTIAL RISK. +

+ ONLY THE TRACKERS KNEW OF YOUR PRESENCE AT THE FORTRESS, AND THEY LACK THE MEANS TO COMMUNICATE THAT INFORMATION, EVEN IF THEY REMEMBER IT STILL.  THEY ARE SIMPLE CREATURES, EXCEPT WITHIN THEIR OWN FIELD. +

The Archon moves, slowly circling its artistry, as if studying it from various angles, + I MAY RETURN TO THE FORTRESS SOON, OR I MAY SEEK PLACES WHERE I CAN LEARN MORE.  THIS IS SOMETHING I NEED TO CONSIDER.  WHAT OF YOURSELF? +
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:37, Fri 17 July 2009.

It is settled, then.  We shall meet again.  Berd studies the Archon, settling his psychic signature further into place.  Given time, he can now locate Raziel across the Myriad Worlds, bespeak him over vast distances through the Underflow.  Sometimes one must risk all for the chance to seize a prize.  His eyes glitter.  Can knowledge of the universe and one's place within it be of lesser worth than any other goal?

The drake unfurls his bejewelled wings, stretching.  That is good news regarding the Trackers.  His eyes darken as he considers the creations, impregnated with a sliver of Cyan in order to better hunt their prey - a clever means of attuning them to her psychic vibrations.  For myself, I must consider.  I meant to speak with Harbonah, to see if we might find some means of halting this war.  I do not know if that is possible, but...  Again he regards the Archon; again his eyes darken, but this time with sorrow.  After meeting you, Raziel, I am more convinced than ever that the conflict must end without further destruction to either side.

It is likely the Archon does not yet feel this, not entirely.  But he might, if he continues to follow his line of thought.  He might.

And so.  I may return to my people, though I will tell them no names lest yours somehow fall from their hands to Harbonah's.  Or I may return to the fortress.  Or...I may consider these things you have shown me here, today.  Again his gaze goes to the sculpture, studying its simple perfection.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:26, Wed 10 Mar 2010.

+ I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT HARBONAH WILL END THIS WAR VOLUNTARILY. + Raziel responds, after brief contemplation.  + NO OTHER LEADER HAS EVER BOUND THE SERAPHIM TOGETHER QUITE SO COHESIVELY AS HARBONAH HAS.  TRUE, SOME OF THAT COHESION STEMS FROM VIOLENCE, AND THE THREAT OF VIOLENCE, BUT MUCH OF IT IS FUELLED BY THE PROMISES OF RICH REWARDS WHICH RESULT FROM TRIUMPH - DOMAINS TO RULE OVER AS WE SEE FIT, TERRITORIES TO EXPLOIT AND CONTROL... ENDLESS SPACE FOR THOSE ARCHONS WHO FIGHT FOR THE SERAPHIM CAUSE, AND NOTHING FOR THE OTHERS. +

+ WITH SUCH PROMISES MADE, HARBONAH SIMPLY CAN NOT AFFORD TO END THE WAR UNTIL THOSE THINGS CAN BE GIVEN TO THE SERAPHIM.  TO DO SO WOULD MEAN REVOLT AND DESTRUCTION. +

There is a low rumble of thunder from the Archon, a sigh, perhaps, + THE SPOILS OF WAR ARE BEST OBTAINED THROUGH VICTORY. +

+ AND FOR ALL THAT WE SERAPHIM MIGHT CLAIM THAT IT THIS WAR IS A CRUSADE, A JIHAD, IT IS, IN THE END, A WAR OVER TERRITORY. +

Berd's head droops.  And yet, Harbonah offers nothing in the end.  For already there is endless space within even one of the Myriad Spheres, and your people are dissatisfied with even that.

Even if he gains what he seeks, how long before your people begin to battle again?  If borders are expanded, soon the desire grows to match.  This is the way with all people, not only yours.

And the Seraphim will hunt down those who are different.  The Nephillim, for example.

All that will remain will be war.  Forever.

Berd heaves a sigh, vapours rising from his muzzle.  As a drizzle commences - nothing to one of the herenethi - his eyes stare into infinity.  This is my issue, Raziel.  There is no true 'winner' in this conflict.  If we win - less likely, I admit - it will be at a terrible cost, not the least of which will be the utter destruction of the Seraphim - for I cannot see your people surrendering.  If you win, all of this will cease to exist, and from what I have seen, nothing shall remain but eternal war in an ever changing, ever twisting infinity, where nothing is stable, with no room for growth.

He closes his brilliant eyes.  Only by stopping the war can these fates be avoided.  And yet how?  Kill Harbonah?  Even if I chose to do so and succeeded, another would likely rise to take his place, or the Seraphim would fracture into a dozen factions...and the war would continue.

The eyes open.  A war over territory, you said.  Does the key lie here?