Completed [Nyka] Dominion, or the tragedy of the commons [Ialari]

[Tarot]

If Dira even noticed Ialari's pitiful state she made no mention of it. Then again, the gods were seldom interested in the outward appearance of things. One might even wonder if they saw the world in the same shapes and colors as mortals did. Her eyes were locked on the Isur woman, though, a light crease of concentration on her brow. There was a short, expectant silence, as if the goddess of death had expected her to add more, but when no further words came from Ialari, she took a step in her direction and spoke softly. Her words, however quiet, filled up the Dominion as if they'd become one with the world. "You have indeed proven several things," she mused, "let me count a few... that you are stubborn beyond words, that you do not have an ounce of common sense, that you are quite blind to the rising value of real estate in Nyka... and yes, that you can get a job done and perhaps even use Rok for a higher purpose. Of course, that says little regarding everyone else who draws breath in this world; I expect them to just take and take and take as is their custom." She appeared thoughtful for a moment, and seemed to reach a conclusion. "But I guess we've removed the loopholes now; the most glaring ones, at least. Others will stretch the rules, as people are wont to do, but those can be dealt with individually. Maybe, in time, wizards like you could even do something about healing this place." She waved a finger and a slice of sky above dissolved, as if it were nothing more than wallpaper. Behind was just an infinite blackness with a gaping red wound running across like a grisly rainbow. "Be very careful around here. Nothing is as it seems. You can make no worse mistake than to think this was meant for you. The Ukalas is a beast in pain; it shouldn't surprise anyone that it can bite." Another motion of her finger unrolled the sky again, covering the celestial wound. "Countless possibilities converge here as one; here you live, here you are still unborn, here you have died countless times. No contradiction at all." She gestured towards the tree. "You may encounter things even I cannot dream of, and all real, but it always goes both ways. These things beyond my dreams will encounter you. If I think about it in such terms, I almost feel bad for mankind." She smiled thinly. "Almost." She looked sideways. "You want to speak, shade?" Shalla gathered her wits and floated a little closer. "I have a question," she said. Dira nodded lightly and retorted, "who doesn't?" The ghost faced the goddess who was pretty much her nemesis and asked, "about Berliotz, is there hope for him? That punishment, is it to purify his soul before he can rejoin the cycle?" There was some expectation in her voice. Dira noticed and savored her answer. "Hope for him? Damned if I know." She pulled out the black coin, the ashl that served as currency on Black Rock, and stroked it with her long fingers. "I punished him because it is what I do sometimes. I am death. None can escape my grip; I must make an example of those who defy me. Whatever happens to them afterwards, their destiny as it were, is outside my purview. Nothing good comes from asking death to answer the big questions of life, child." Shalla was silent, taking in the goddess' hard words as best she could, and finally hissed her reply: "But I knew, from the first moment, that you were lying back then." Dira's eyes widened a little. "Oh?" The ghost's own eyes glowed with emotion for an instant. "I'm good at one thing, Lady of the Dead, only one. I have watched people lie for centuries. It was clear to me that you wanted to mark Ialari all along. You just placed her in a condition where she was certain to ask for your mark, and played hard to get so you'd acquire a willing servant. You manipulated everyone from the start, didn't you? Wouldn't surprise me if you even caused Master Farke to discover Berliotz in Nyka in the first place, so the whole of Sahova would know. Wouldn't surprise me if Dominion was just an excuse..." Dira blinked, then smiled with her teeth. It was Death's smile, terrifyingly ambiguous. "Think what you will. Thought is all you have left, anyways." She turned to Ialari. "Well then, Ialari? Have you made up your mind regarding the other end of our deal?"

[Ialari Pythone]

Ialari could not help her initial lack of words to Dira. Her mind was still reeling at all that she had experienced in such a limited span of time. For any mortal inexperienced in standing in the presence of a god, in Ialari's case, two of them, all within a matter of moments, the shock to the mortal system was significant. Ironically, Ialari's experiences with having her soul assaulted ten times over combined with the near crippling effect on her body and mind, had hardened her like metal worked by the hand of Izurdin himself. Though her words were short to start, Dira more than made up for it with her own. Ialari listened as Dira commented on what the isur had proven and what she expected for the future. At mention of the damage done to the Ukalas and the revealing that followed, Ialari could only stare in disgust at the terrible gash that ripped through the seemingly limitless boundaries of the divine realm.

Ialari's mind quickly awakened from it's momentary suspension when Dira spoke of countless possibilities and lack of contradiction. Ialari's gaze quickly returned to the tree that Dira motioned to. Just as quickly, questions began flooding Ialari's mind yet were paused by Dira's addressing of Shalla. Ialari turned to Shalla as the ghost seemed more than eager to speak with Death.

The question of Berliotz was one that fluttered in Ialari's mind as well. Despite what he had done to her and what he had put her through, Ialari felt a strange bond with the dead wizard. Self-admittedly it could be because of Berliotz's shattered memories still drifting about Ialari's bruised and battered mind yet it was something she couldn't completely separate herself from.

Reflecting on Death's answers to Shalla's beginning questions, Ialari never thought of Death as being anything other than neutral in all things. Death was inevitable and unflinching yet Ialari began to find a small amount of difficulty accepting Death as punishing. Dira's justification however of making examples of those who defy her did make sense even if Ialari struggled a bit to reconcile it.

When a moment of silence appeared, Ialari parted her lips to speak yet was stopped short by Shalla who it appeared was challenging Dira in a way. Ialari couldn't help but wince after hearing Dira's previous comments regarding those who defy her.

Ialari was taken a back as well by the strength of will Shalla displayed as she spoke challengingly against Dira and questioned the goddess' motives. The comments held great merit though and Ialari considered them deeply as she listened. There wasn't much time to ponder it all however as Dira's response finally brought Ialari back into the fold. For the isur, she quickly formulated what she would say next. She had plenty of time over the last several days to think about all that was occurring. Occupying her mind with deeper thoughts was one of the only ways she found to keep her mind from giving up to the rigors of untold stress and fatigue.

A short fit of coughing followed a deep breath. Ialari wiped her mouth and finally spoke, "Before I come to a conclusion regarding our deal, there are a few things I wish to say. I mean, it isn't everyday one gets the ear of a goddess, not to mention the ear of Death." Ialari spit a small piece of rotted bone to the ground; leftovers from the explosion that threw Berliotz's unliving mass through the wall. "Regarding Dominion, or Rok if you wish, I can't speak for any others who may gain the knowledge after me. I can only hope that my own sacrifices in the pursuit of greater knowledge of this realm will speak for themselves. I do have a couple of questions and comments though regarding what you said about this realm. First, you say the Ukalas is not meant for us. I can't imagine anything other than that as fact. I feel like a stranger here yet at the same time I feel at home. The conflict between the two is enough to give me pause. Also, If countless possibilities are to be had and here I live, remain unborn or die countless times, that means time and mortal reality have no set boundaries? Within the confines of my Dominion, there are no limits beyond what my mind can fathom?"

Ialari ran the fingers of her offhand over her metallic shoulder once more, the feeling of the new etchings placed personally by the Divine Father sent a loving tingle through her.

Following up her previous questions, Ialari commented on the discussion between Shalla and Dira, "Berliotz's fate is well deserved. One day, before you release him to the winds of destiny, I would like to speak with him once more. Not the demented, tortured, corrupted and utterly insane Amir Berlitoz but the master wizard he was before falling down the well of madness. I would ask him a few questions." Ialari licked her dried lips, cringed at the taste but continued. "This brings me to my friend's comments about your motives. Now, I'd like to preface this by saying that you are a goddess and need not justify yourself to mortals or the undead. That said, I've come to trust in this short amount of time, Shalla's observations. I too now ponder how all of that has happened seemed to fall neatly in line in such a way that brings us to this point. That said, and my dear Shalla, please understand where I am coming from here, but I trust in the divine with little to no question. It is not my place as a mortal to question the will of the gods. Even if you, Dira, manipulated events to bring us to this meeting with expectations of me asking you for your mark, it is not place to question your motives. I could have, at any time, chosen a different direction. I could have simply ran from Berliotz; it was something I had considered if only briefly. I could have given up when my injuries threatened to consume me. In the end, I could have chosen to rely on my own failing, blind, questioning, faithless, judgement; instead I chose to see the signs before me. I accepted the will of the gods and sacrificed the only thing I had left. I've no doubt that you, Dira, know how I will meet my end. You knew that this was not the time and perhaps you did take advantage of that knowledge. It's still not place to question, not yet."

Ialari looked again at the tree standing just out of reach of her Dominion. "I left Sultros years ago with three goals in mind. The first, to seek out knowledge and experience that I could otherwise not find under the mountain. Second, I sought to restore my people to the prosperity, strength and superiority that they held so long ago. Third, the only way to achieve that would be to exterminate the disease that I saw the humans as being. I thought them to be the cause of my people's isolation and retreat from the world. Since that time, things have definitely changed. I've discovered quite possibly, the greatest knowledge ever so my first goal has attained an amazing jump. The second goal though has been complicated a bit as has the third. In myself I've seen my own weakness and it is the weakness my people also share. I alone can't save them. They must find it within themselves to restore their own greatness. As for humanity, it is but one symptom of a greater disease. We all had a price to pay in the devastation that brought us to the point we all stand now in existence, both mortal and divine. Mortals, all of us, decided to take the world for ourselves at the expense of the gods. We lost faith in the divine and deluded ourselves with blind faith in ourselves. At the same time, you, the gods, spoken with your own words, lost faith in mortality. The Valterrian was inevitable. No matter the actual cause, it would have happened one way or another." Ialari was getting beginning to feel the effects of her fatigue; Izurdin's touch was beginning to fade.

"I've come to understand quite a bit as of late. I've learned much about myself and a bit about the gods. I've learned something of those who have escaped death," Ialari looked to Shalla, "You say that nothing good comes from asking Death the big questions life. I would counter that one cannot know the answers to those questions of life without first understanding death. If what Shalla says is true and you indeed wished to mark me from the beginning yet wanted me to ask for it, I think you, Dira, have failed to understand something quite basic. You see, without sickness and disease, there is no strength and health. Without life, there is no death. There is no choice without destiny. We're all subject to destiny, I've see that now. I don't know how but I see that I was not meant to exterminate humanity. There was something more. While I won't challenge you or your motives, I will say that I feel even you are subject to destiny. Perhaps, you were meant to manipulate events and maybe meant to mark me from the beginning. Philosophy and theology isn't something that mortals and gods are meant to argue though, not in a way both could ever come close to comprehending in regards to each other. So I will leave it at this. I leave the choice of marking me to you. I will not ask for it. You are either meant to mark me or you're not. A deal was made and I fulfilled my end of the bargain. As for your end, I leave it to you how to proceed. Either way, you have my faith." Ialari sighed deeply, some more of her strength exiting as well. She wasn't sure if she would be able to leave the damaged structure on her own just as she wasn't sure if recovering in her Dominion was wise as well. She had a friend in Shalla as well as her own faith in the gods to see her through. One way or another she hoped one would see her through.

[Tarot]

The black jackal yawned as Ialari began to speak. The white jackal yawned as she finished. All along Dira stood silent, in no hurry to move to the next stage. Aside from tilting her head left or right as the Isur spoke, she made no motion to interrupt. Shalla looked fairly more nervous as her ghostly eyes flicked between her friend and the goddess of death. That the two wouldn't get along was only to be expected, considering what they were. In the end, Dira let some silence pass between them. Ialari felt like she might collapse any time now. "Well, well, well," the goddess said, looking thoughtful, "that was nicely spoken from your point of view, I guess. You'd have made a fine philosopher. I will admit I had set my eyes on you from before, like your shade friend said. I was not certain you would be the one to seek the forbidden magic, but I had my hopes which turned out to be well founded. Even though your father helped you, you indeed surpassed my expectations. Of course, the real challenge for you begins now. You now possess a power literally no-one else in this world can claim for the time being. That alone is enough to make the history books, but it will garner you all sorts of attention you probably won't enjoy. And you won't be able to keep this hidden - the gods will know soon, and they speak to their followers." This much was true. Ialari wouldn't be just another Isur after this, as soon as people in the right circles learned about Dominion. "This in turn gives us - you and me - certain opportunities I will not bore you with at this time," she smiled. "You seem a little tired to me, and I have more urgent things to show you. Likewise, our rather circular discussion about destiny and predetermination will have to wait. Come, let me take you on a short journey through the Ukalas. Your actions have proven that you can take this without being driven insane, unlike our friend here." She put the black coin away. "His fate is sealed, Ialari. He won't be talking to anyone again, not as his current persona. And as I said, whether he will turn any better in his next adventure is not for me to know." She extended her arm towards the two of them, and her black dress came to life like a black wave that crashed over them. "You wanted this, so don't be shy now. Let the abyss gaze also into you." Ialari's world turned black as she was swept away by a black tide. She couldn't even see her own body. Dira was answering her question about the Ukalas in her own practical way. She fell through a world of darkness for what felt like an eternity. Finally she hit something warm and soft, which she broke through like a shooting star. Looking behind, she had broken through a painted sky, a multitude of landscapes stretching beneath her flying consciousness. There were forests and mountains and lakes and caverns and castles and places where the sun didn't shine and people who'd never had a chance to exist and creatures who could have been if the right choices had been made and there were beasts and minds and bodies and rainbows with far more colors than seven and places where the rain fell upwards and places where the same thing happened over and over again and places where Dira herself ruled and souls wearing jackal masks endlessly recited in the middle of an amphitheater and places where leaves were harder than steel and there were places too alien to comprehend that left the mind spinning like some kind of optical illusion with staircases climbing in all the wrong directions. Every single sliver of this infinite richness couldn't be fully understood in isolation, but Ialari was a mortal and couldn't grasp it as a whole. She knew these worlds without end weren't at her beck and call. They would come to her and not the other way around. She would see what she must, not what she wanted, but even that was a honor beyond imagination as the wheels of the world turned endlessly. She did not know how long she flew over the Ukalas as a disembodied entity, but eventually she crashed into the painted sky once more and there was only blackness. When she came to, lying with her possessions in the middle of Nyka's monumental graveyard (as to be expected), she felt like she had died and come back to life. It was no longer winter but spring, the season of rebirth. Shalla was floating near an old grave. "She always gets what she wants in the end," she said with a hint of resignation, her eyes traveling to Ialari's left hand where the mark of a scythe made proud show of itself on her palm. "About that place..." she began, and then thought better of it. Any words wouldn't do justice to their memories. It was time to move on and return to the world they'd left, just a little wiser and sadder than before. OOC: Final post for you and then it's grading time!

[Ialari Pythone]

Ialari considered what Dira said about how the knowledge of Dominion would bring no small amount of undesired attention sooner or later. She hadn't thought much at first of those gods that either sided against her receiving Dominion or those who simply weren't involved and didn't know. Now that she had it, the involvement of those other deities was inevitable. It was something Ialari was beginning to realize yet there was little to nothing she could do about it.

As far as Dira's claims of wanting to mark Ialari for awhile now, Ialari couldn't help but ponder what that truly meant. The idea that Death has been watching you for some time and has chosen you to bare her mark was not something easily reconciled. While Ialari had vocally expressed her belief that the gods do as they will, knowing that Death's eyes have been on her silenced any words that may have exited her mouth in response. She felt herself shiver ever so slightly at the thought yet at the same time she felt an odd sense of honor.

Ialari did manage to raise an eyebrow at Dira's mention of certain opportunities that having Ialari's knowledge discovered by certain people would bring. Her mind's voice returned after remaining silent for longer than usual, "...people in the right circles? Those who would come to you in search of Dominion, you would have influence over them, influence that would benefit not only yourself but also Death. Are you ready for such responsibility?" Ialari shook away the voice as Dira spoke of the isur's fatigue. While she found the entire discussion with Dira to be more than exhilarating despite her exhaustion, she recognized the need to move on. "I agree, but I do want to continue our discussion sometime in the future. Perhaps we both could learn a bit more about each other." She forced a smile as her now dried, impossibly crack lips burned with each movement of her mouth. "As for Berliotz, I understand." Ialari wasn't sure what to do next before Dira raised her arm and her black dress animated and surrounded both Ialari and Shalla.

The darkness that filled her senses and left her in a freefall forced Ialari to struggle with suppressing the need to vomit. It wasn't as if she could vomit though with having eaten so little as of late. It was somewhat comforting though to no longer be standing. When the darkness continued for a time longer than Ialari could fathom at the moment, it abruptly ended with whatever warm, soft surface Ialari hit. The sights that awaited her reminded her of a dream. It wasn't any dream that she had ever experienced though for the scope of it was far beyond that of any mortal. The landscapes, some so beautiful they made her want to cry while others were so terrible she wanted nothing more than to return to Nyka. The people and creatures, objects and concepts, events and ideas, possibilities and endless wonders caused Ialari to want to reach out and touch it all. She wanted to experience it all yet Dira's presence kept Ialari's mind in reality. She could taste the danger spiced with endless possibility. The entirety of the experience would have literally destroyed her mind from the inside out if not for all the recent unconventional conditioning she had undergone. What the experience did accomplish however is that Ialari, while not fully able to comprehend all that she was seeing, had finally found a direction. She would become more a part of the endless realm that was the Ukalas. The rewards were untold even if their were matching risks.

The experience ended rather quickly as the feeling of crashing through the sky returned. When the mortal realm returned for Ialari, or perhaps it was the other way around, she sat up. She chuckled dryly at how appropriate it was to wake in the middle of a graveyard. The noticeable passing of the seasons caused her eyes to widen a bit at the realization. Gathering her possessions, Ialari carefully stood. Though she was feeling a bit stiff as if having slept for far too long, her wounds looked and felt to be old and for the most part healed over. She was still quite dirty and she couldn't help but compare the way she felt and the way she must look to that of a corpse that had dug its way out of the grave. Adding to that, as she glanced around the graveyard, she couldn't help but feel almost comforted. It was then that Ialari noticed Shalla floating nearby. The ghost's words and ethereal eyes brought Ialari's attention to her off-hand. "A deal's a deal." Ialari thought to herself as she looked at her palm. Ialari then felt a strange feeling of empathy for Shalla. It was a feeling she hadn't experienced in relation to the unliving before."Think of it this way my friend, Dira did not dispute the fact that she may be destined to mark me just as I was destined to be marked. Even Death doesn't know your destiny. When the time comes and brings with her with it, we shall see what destiny holds for you. In the meantime, we have a lot of work to do" Ialari momentarily joined Shalla in reminiscing on what they saw in the Ukalas and shook her head in silent agreement. Looking past the graveyard both to the city and to world beyond, Ialari released a deep sigh. "You know what? I think we've earned that drink."

[Tarot]

Skills +5 Dominion +5 Rhetoric +3 Leadership +3 Investigation +2 Escape Artist +1 Acrobatics +1 Camouflage +1 Unarmed combat Lores Dira's punishments The nature of the Ukalas The Aperture in Nyka Interacting with ghosts Mind rape Gnosis Izurdin (2nd) Dira (1st) Items A scroll tube with scrolls about Dominion, which can be read by everyone regardless of languages spoken. NPCs You have gained control of this NPC. She is loyal to Ialari and you can play her freely within the limits of what she would realistically do. I suggest that she remain bound to Sahova and serve as Ialari's eyes and ears in the Citadel. Name: Shalla wa'Nagat Race: Ghost (formerly Nuit, formerly Human) Skills: Spiritism 30, Stealth 40, Observation 30, Materialization 10 Bio: Former bureaucrat and secretary to magical figures of importance in pre-Valterrian Alahea. Actually a spy specialized in commission thefts of magical techniques. Forced to join Sahova, developed loyalty to Mashaen and was picked by Qiao for extermination at Ialari's hands. As far as Qiao knows, this is what actually happened. Tarot's Notes This was a great thread and I'm thankful that you stuck with me despite the time it took to get it done. Hopefully it was worth it! A few parting thoughts on my experience as a moderator. Halfway through, I was tempted to end the thread with Ialari running from Berliotz and letting him become yet another villain at large, but I'd played that card several times already and Berliotz didn't really have what it takes to be a recurring villain. Looking back, I'm glad we decided to go through till the end. Not only did we get to fully RP an application of Dominion, but I loved the final confrontation as it was very cinematic. As usual, I love playing Dira. I might not always play her exactly the way Cayenne originally wrote her, but she feels more real to me this way and conflicting sides to her are implied in the writeup - she's balance but she also "gets to have fun". The gods aren't monolithic entities and are as entitled to complex personalities as any mortal. A big inspiration to me is Death from Ingmar Bergman's classic movie, The Seventh Seal. When Dira mentioned not asking Death to answer the questions of life because she doesn't know, it was a reference to that film. Ialari is a lovely character with a mix of virtues and flaws. I love it that she's so resourceful through adversity, and I hate it when she starts sucking up to anyone more powerful than she is! You know you are doing something right when people have an emotional reaction to what your character does.