2017-06-14: In Mother's Absence

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  • Log: In Mother's Absence
  • Cast: Riesenlied, Siegfried
  • Where: Photosphere
  • Date: 14th June, 2017
  • Summary: Riesenlied catches up with Siegfried, in the wake of Mother's absence...


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

In the wake of Operation: Gungnir and the reclaiming of the Teardrop, as well as the subsquent revelation of Mother's failed awakening and the Veruni's alliance, things have been... busy, to say the least, at the Photosphere. An air of activity never scarce seen since centuries ago fills the layers of the Hyadean capital, or what passes for one. In the midst of this, Riesenlied has made herself busy since her announcement to the open world of the Ebony Wings' decree, and in the tending of Old Petra and the soldiers wounded and scarred from the battle, as well as filling in her reports back home to headquarters.

Riesenlied still holds her concerns, though, and in the midst of all of this activity, she heads to the upper quarters in search of their leader... "Lord Siegfried? It is Riesenlied," she calls, bowing her head in deference.

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

As a rule, Siegfried does not really 'do' depressed. He has been disquieted, however, by the failure to awaken Mother. Alhazred had few answers for him, and he has found no other answers save what the Veruni have provided. Since then, the work of Siegfried has been focused on one thing: finding where the Guardian statues might be. The damnable Elw hid them well.

He has spent an inordinate amount of time looking at Mother's cocoon while he thinks. Some have wondered if it is... appropriate, or shows a certain level of inaction. None are so foolish to discuss that thought in Siegfried's hearing.

"Riesenlied," he greets. He doesn't look away from the cocoon at first. He only glances, slightly, over his shoulder after a moment's pause. "I understand that you have kept busy."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied may understand Siegfried doesn't get depressed, but... she still has concerns, especially how he has spent more and more time by Mother's side. "Yes," she answers politely. "We are just now seeing the results of the battle at Adlehyde. Golem Lolithia has been safely shipped back to the Photosphere's hangars, where it is being repaired and studied as we speak. I have seen a good number of our rookies and neophytes are experiencing a culture shock from their first venture out, but I am working through their troubles to ensure that they take the lessons of this battle well."

She has long espoused the importance of the psychological impacts of battle on a soldier, ensuring that they are tended to well. It's had... mixed reception, particularly amongst the proudest of the Hyadeans.

"Lord Siegfried..." she speaks, after a pause, looking to Mother, stepping by his side. Concern is a rare thing in the Photosphere -- seen as weakness to some, as well. But this was an extraordinary situation.

"Are you all right?"

She can't help it. She shows concern, not just as a fellow member in their struggle against Filgaia and the Guardians, but... also as a friend. Because they have fought through thick and thin over the centuries. Because Siegfried has taught her many of the tactics and strategems she holds to hear. Because she values him.

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

"Good. We may need it in the days to come. After the trouble the Elw have caused us... let them give us aid, too," Siegfried says, with a little frustration entering his voice. It doesn't last long. He nods, after that, arms folded. He hasn't stood in the way of Riesenlied's efforts to look after the young ones. He sees the value in it.

After all, a well Demon is a Demon who can better serve the cause of Mother.

He turns, though, at the question. There is a flash in his eyes -- not anger, but something else. It isn't -- it wouldn't be, if they hadn't worked together for long centuries -- appropriate. But, Siegfried is the leader for a reason. Of the Quarter Knights, he is the only one to not openly run roughshod over his fellowers.

"Yes," he says. "I am ill at ease... but I know what we must do. However many setbacks we encounter... they are short obstacles. We will revive her, Riesenlied. We /will/."


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"I heard her words," Riesenlied speaks, looking up. "I felt... that gentleness, that kindness, even for a moment."

She places her hands together and lowers her head. "You said that I would have liked her... and I believe it. Our Mother, who brought us here from the brink of our destruction, to bring us to salvation and this promised land, only to be struck down......"

She sighs. "It is bothersome, the enmity that the Guardians have shown us. I have experienced it personally as well, twice now... it is palpable, even without words. A hatred that has lasted a thousand years..."

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

"Mother has always looked after our race. She saw fit to save us, when Hyades fell. She saw fit to bring us here. She has been a demanding goddess, yes... but she always been just and kind to us." The Quarter Knight has real conviction in his voice. Another thing, perhaps, that sets him apart from their peers.

He turns, finally, to face Riesenlied. "They are vengeful, hateful spirits. I know what the Elw and the humans would claim. They are mistaken. The Guardians deign to pick which lifeforms may call Filgaia home -- and try to strike those they disapprove of down, with sorceries and vengeance."

He folds his arms and his scowl deepends. "...They are fitting gods, for creatures like the Elw. For creatures like the humans."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied places her hand to her chest, and frowns very quietly. "... the Elw ..." She's scarce heard of them, for the records are so few and far between. "What were they like? Were they intermediaries between humans and the Guardians? I have only scarce heard of how they possessed advanced technology, and disappeared in the wake of the war." She frowns. "I do not doubt their hatred of us, but it brings me to question why they left... were they wiped out?"

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

"No," Siegfried says. "They were not wiped out. They chose to abandon Filgaia -- to leave it, after the damage that wars caused this world. They left it in this state... and yet left us with their legacy." He frowns, then he shakes his head sharply. "Their sins are great. They were advanced... but they were cowardly. They were keen to let humans do their fighting for them, until they felt their hands were forced."

He looks down, then, thoughtfully. "And where they went... I could not say. I don't know that I would care to know, either. I doubt they will come back. Not with Filgaia in its current state."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"... the legacy of the war stains many," Riesenlied speaks after a considerable pause. "It stains our young, who are entrenched in the long and draining war that has not truly ended, between us and the Guardians. It stains the humans, filling them with a thousand-year fear that has perpetuated through rumors and myth... and much like how the Elws used the humans back then, as you say, the Guardians also continue to use their shamans to do their bidding..."

She shakes her head. "It is my fervent hope that Mother will bring an end to this tide of hatred, that has perpetuated across generations..."

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

"The humans hold the brunt of the responsibility for this ceaseless war," Siegfried says, with some firmness. "They are short sighted. Their leaders hunger for war -- and the rest cower, fearfully, and let the world collapse. Humans... their weakness has prolonged this war. And even the ones who've offered us a hope of settling it have always failed us."

He shakes his head, then he quiets again. He looks back to Mother's cocoon, then, and his eyes gleam that eerie red when he looks up at her. "Mother can. The Guardians have fled -- and the humans would destroy themselves and us with them, first. Mother is the only hope that our Filgaia has, Riesenlied. If you would spare some humans... then you should hope she feels them worthy."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied blinks at that, and says, "There were those that you spoke to settle the war, in the past?" She hadn't heard of that. "What... happened, that they failed you?"

She lets out a quiet breath, looking to Mother. It's difficult for her to reconcile this figure that she has always revered as a gentle, caring goddess with one that would still... choose who is worthy and not. Was that any different to how the Guardians and the Elw treat them?

But on the topic of sparing some humans...

"The situation in Ignas is more complex than I'd like it to be," she remarks. "Even in Operation: Gungnir, we still were only able to scratch an inkling of Gebler's true capabilities -- their ability to respond to our assault was extraordinarily swift. Fortunately, the Ebony Wings campaign has already borne fruit -- even amongst the varied sorts, I have already been approached by those sympathetic to our cause. We will need multiple insights if we are to not manuever ourselves into a corner..."

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

"I worked with one human. In the alliance, he said that we might find Mother... that we might claim Filgaia, before more damage was done. But he was concerned only with his own vengeance -- and another blow was struck against Filgaia, in so doing," Siegfried says. His arms uncross and he shakes his head. "They may sound like us, Riesenlied. They may promise us justice. Humans do not and cannot keep that promise."

He looks up at Mother. "They are liars. Each and every one of them. I know my fellow Quarter Knights think of them only as vermin... but that gives vermin an insult they do not deserve."

His frown tightens, and he listens when she talks. He nods, slowly. "...If you would use those humans, then I urge you to tread carefully. I won't forbid it. Your methods have borne fruit before. But, Riesenlied, remember this." He turns to look at her, his expression looking something like concerned behind his helm. "Mankind will destroy itself -- and destroy us with it, if they can. See that they don't."


<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

Riesenlied... nods slowly -- she doesn't take Siegfried's words lightly. They come from scars of battles that she was not even privy, battles she was not borne from. "A man concerned with vengeance..." She sighs faintly, and says, "I am quite familiar with how humans are gripped by the many emotions and circumstances that cause them to sway from their promises, I am afraid..."

Individually, they are weaker than the majority of demons.

"What was... his name?" she finds herself asking. "Did he betray you, or?"

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

"He was..." Siegfried trails off, before he shakes his head. "...His name is not one worthy to be spoken again. He was a man turned into a beast. At the time, I thought him like. Enraged and furious, but righteous in that. Ruthless, but there is an elegance and power in ruthlessness. Brutal, but honest in that. But... no. He was something else. He went beyond the maxim of true, pure power."

Siegfried folds his arms. "He discriminated in its use. He became embroiled in something else -- and let himself, I think, be used by his own base desires. I thought he was a human that might understand what it is to be of Hyades. I was wrong."

His eyebroows furrow.

"I don't speak his name because it is a namne that does not deserve to be remembered," the Quarter Knight concludes. "I won't dishonor you with it."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"... I see..." Riesenlied nods slowly. A man who turned into a beast? She hadn't even heard of that tale, from the other Knights, or from the other elders. Was he a Beastman, or something else entirely? "Yes, then I shall not ask further." But it certainly is in her mind, this shapeshifting man...

"There is... one more question that I had," she speaks with some hesitation.

"I speak of the Lady Harken... our newest Quarter Knight." There is a slight pause. "I do not mean to pry, especially not since she has proven her loyalty and her strength... but I understand that she came to us only recently, after our siege of Arctica, and through ... mysterious circumstances..." She pauses once more, with a sigh. "And it has not escaped my notice that her style is remarkably similar to our enemies back in Arctica, Lord Siegfried."

There is a pause. "Perhaps it is best if I phrased it thus: is she someone whose circumstance you approve of, Lord Siegfried?"

It's a bit telling, perhaps. She trusts Siegfried, and if he were to say he trusted the unknown manner in which she came about and became a leader amongst Demons... then she will embrace that trust in turn. It is perhaps the most polite way she can shape this, outside of just asking outright.

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

Siegfried cuts Riesenlied a look. It's almost sharp -- but only almost. She phrased that carefully, which may have been wise.

"Is she?" he asks. "That remains to be seen. Your observations are astute." But he doesn't confirm them quite so openly. The Quarter Knight frowns, as he looks up at Mother. "Perhaps I will. Perhaps I won't. I think... after four hundred years, and after working with you and the other Tainted, you have come to know my mind on such things."

He hesitates, himself.

"We will see if she proves herself," Siegfried says, "and then I will decide whether I approve the circumstances around our newest Quarter Knight. Where a Metal Demon comes from matters not to me. What they do and how they do it are everything."

<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.

"... yes, you are right," Riesenlied nods. It is true -- he was accepting of her, after all, regardless of her background. Where others only scorned her and saw her unfit, he was willing to give her a chance, an opportunity to prove herself. "Then I shall do just that. Indeed, it is as you say -- I do not mean to make a question of her origin, only that it is something that you have no regrets, Lord Siegfried."

What... goes down in Alhazred's lab, after all... is not something someone stomachs so casually. It might even be the source of her question.

"That is all that I had, Lord Siegfried," she bows her head. "Unless you had more, that I should tend to...?"

<Pose Tracker> Siegfried has posed.

"I have none... as of yet," Siegfried says. But, he could have them, and that implication is made abundantly clear. That has often been the case with Alhazred's methods.

He shakes his head, though. To question a Quarter Knight is a serious thing -- and even if Siegfried finds Alhazred's methods distasteful, he has never found them more than distasteful. He nods, once, and then he looks back at Mother. His expression returns to its stony reverence.

"No, not as of yet," he says. "Continue doing well, Riesenlied."