What? The World Needs Saving AGAIN!? IC Thread 11

[Xihirli]

Alifa grabbed her forehead. "Ow," she said simply.
Malyanna was already grabbing for Alifa when Sirthis landed. Around her was tourmaline, benitoite, and azurite powdered in crates.
"Hello, Alifa. How are you?" Malyanna asked.
Alifa looked up at her and nuzzled up to Malyanna's chest.
"Still not talking?" Maly nodded to the gem powder.
"Are you ready to defend your true name?"

---

"Probably all Feywild and Shadowfell crossings lead into Aurora now," Leff answered. Then her brow wrinkled. "Hold up, I just thought of something." She sat down and started sculpting with white fire, forming a humanoid starting with the feet. "I'll be an hour."

[Valmark]

"Boots reads her intentions and talks for her tipically" Sirthis explained, looking around at the gems "Sounds good to me. Are we going to make it all glittery?" he chuckled.

"Seriously, I have no clue what's all this for"

---

"Alright" Eris sat down, staring intently.
"White flames... So you are infusing life or something?

[Xihirli]

"Coat yourself in the gem dust," Malyanna instructed. "It will attune you to yourself and help you establish defenses."

---

"Okay, so you know how you normally can't resurrect gods with resurrection magic?" Leff asked.

[Valmark]

"Can I put it over my clothes?" Sirthis asked as he started spreading azurite over his face.

---

"Never heard of that. I thought one could- aren't gods just mortals without a Divine Spark?" Eris asked.

[Xihirli]

"Uh... no, you cannot, it needs skin contact."

---

"Yes, and the answer is you can, it's just usually impossible because their 'death' for the purpose of resurrection doesn't start when they die as gods, but when they become gods. In a very real sense, that is the death of their mortal selves, and so usually when gods die it's been too long since they were mortals to bring them back." For dramatic purposes, this is when she finishes making the roughly humanoid figure. "But Midnight became a goddess in the 1350s... about a hundred and fifty years ago... Midnight." And the white figure flashed and light went at Eris's eyes.

[Valmark]

Sirthis shrugged and started undressing, then opened the crates and started dipping inside them like bath tubs.

Uncomfortably, since they weren't made for that, but it was faster.

---

"So- Midnight is the one you're resurrecting?" Eris asked shielding her eyes from the light then checking the result.

Spoiler: Ooc

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I didn't know we were in the year 1500.

[Xihirli]

Malyanna kept holding Alifa. "True Names can be used to remove immunities, like to the charmed condition, or to deliver curses. You need to repeat your own True Name and choose a protection you want: You can make it so that in order to say your true name with the intention to do anything with it, they need to bypass your own power," Malyanna said.
"You can rig your True Name to damage and hopefully kill anyone who uses it, not just says it, that won't do anything, but use it with the intent to effect you. Or if someone tries to get you with your True Name they're brought to you for you to handle them yourself. Luckily, your True Name can only be used, like any other creature's, once every moon cycle... so once a month. So if you pick the first one they can't just keep trying."

Spoiler: Choices

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So!
-To use your True Name, a creature must make a Charisma Saving Throw against a Spell Save DC you have. If you have no Spell Save DC, use Constitution to determine it.
-Using your True Name is physically dangerous. Whenever someone uses your True Name, roll your hit dice and deal that much Necrotic Damage to whoever uses it. They get a Con save to half it, with the same DC as the above thing.
-Using your True Name instantly brings the creature that utters it into your presence, a la the Gate spell.

Spoiler: OOC

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Early 1490s. And I don't believe you ever asked.

She saw a woman in a black dress with the darkish skin of the Vitani people blinking and looking around.
"Well. It's been awhile. Hello, world."
"Eris, meet the mortal woman Midnight, once goddess of magic."

Spoiler: Person

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[Valmark]

"Mmm... They're all kinda useless in my situation, aren't they?" Sirthis asked with a frown "None of these will stop Tren Krom from stripping me of my power or turning me over to her side, or whatever other thing she has in store. Even worst, she could get Gated while I'm with my kids" he sighed "I suppose the first one has at least a chance to stop anybody who is below her"

---

"Hi, Midnight. We're Eris and Leflabah Lelahinn, welcome to Fortune's Wind, our home. We're near Baldur's Gate" she extended her hand to shake Midnight's.

[Xihirli]

"What would you like to try?" Malyanna said. "Maybe I can manage something."

---

Midnight shook her hand. "Thank you for your help, Eris and Leflabah Lelahinn. Now, I will need some way to contact the Raven Queen and have her return my Divine Sparks to me."

[Valmark]

"You mean a fourth possible choice? I dunno... Something that protects my True Name from Tren Krom. That's the whole reason to do this in the first place" Sirthis said "She's not only who could try to but she is the only one we know capable of doing it"

---

"That... Doesn't look like a good idea" Eris said "I don't know how god laws work but you'd risk plunging them into in-fighting again by weakening their Overgod. Especially given how well Tanaquill has been performing, as far as I know at least"

[Xihirli]

"The issue with that is she already knows it... and she's stronger than you. Gods' protections of their True Names are put in place to keep people from finding it out, and their defenses are only as good as they can manage. These are the usual safeguards put in place."

---

"The goddess of magic is not supposed to be the overgod," Midnight said.
"I don't think the overgod is supposed to be erased from existence," Leff said. "We're a bit past 'supposed to.'"
Midnight blinked. "Perhaps..."

[Valmark]

"Then there was no point" Sirthis sighed dejected "Sorry, I'm not criticizing you, if these are the only ways these are the only ways. I just... Thought that stopping Tren Krom from using my True Name would involve... Well, stopping her. With things like this I'd be better off using my True Name every time I can so that others miss their chance. Is that doable?"

---

"You know, Tanaquill was seeking a mortal who deserved Azuth's Spark. It's not the same thing I think, but if you want a Divine Spark anyway... You'll have time to talk other matters over" Eris suggested "Of course this is only a theory- she trusts our judgements but that doesn't me we have any kind of autority"

[Xihirli]

"Do you know how to use a True Name?" Malyanna asked.
"I don't."

---

Midnight laughed. "So I can take an internship while I wait to get my old job back?"
"We can ask. Please, feel free to stay here for as long as you like."
"Hmm. You know... it takes so much alcohol for a god to get drunk, and even then we have to willingly push away our poison immunity for it to work. Who wants to go crazy while I've got the chance? Come on, I'll buy." And Midnight pulled a fist-sized pure gemstone out of her cleavage.
"Where were you..."
"I wished for it."
"Isn't that dangerous?"
Midnight laughed. "More dangerous than having my head pushed into the Far Realm? Where can I sell this?"

[Valmark]

"Osterneth knew. Tren Krom knows. There must be a way to learn how" Sirthis said "Any way you cut it, those people had to get the knowledge from somewhere"

---

"Well, you can come back from that. You can't come back from losing Wish" Eris noted "And that has also made you weaker for the rest of the day, though probably nothing will happen"

Spoiler: Ooc

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Insight on Midnight? This may be just a weird plan to get them drunk.

(5d20)[12][17][14][17][12](72) let me check what rolls I got today.

[Xihirli]

"Hey, let me know when you find it, I'm interested. For now, do you want one of these protections just in case?"

---

Spoiler: OOC

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I don't believe Eris can be poisoned.

"Well, I didn't lose Wish. So..." Midnight shrugged. "Ready to go?"

[Valmark]

"The fact that you don't want to search for it leaves me aghast. That said... I suppose the first protection thing can shield me from other creatures who'd use it. Anybody good enough to not care about it is likely also going to be too powerful for the other protections to matter, unless they are someone like you. Besides, that's the only protection that actually protects me, the others won't stop whatever effect it is"

---

Spoiler: Ooc

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Eris is on the harder side but she has no immunity to poison.

"I guess so" Eris nodded "Let's see if I can drink an ancient wizard under the table"

[Xihirli]

"Hey, I've put enough work into this True Name stuff!" Malyanna insisted.
"I'm still trying to find out how you can tell if your True Name has changed or not!"

---

"Hey," Midnight said playfully. "Who are you calling ancient?"
Stacia insisted on joining, and Delilah came long too. Leff also followed, but with the caveat that she wouldn't drink.
"Where's a good place to drink around here?"

[Valmark]

"Have you tried saying it aloud?" Sirthis asked "When I spoke my True Name it gave me a sense of clarity. If you had changed yours... Wouldn't the old one feel wrong?"

---

"I heard that at the Blade and Stars there are good drinks" Eris suggested "Stacia, you're the one who visits the city the most. Delilah, you're a bard. Where would the two of you take someone to drink if they couldn't have gotten drunk for more then a hundred years? At least without a lot of effort"

[Xihirli]

Malyanna frowned. "I don't like it, but... Ulorrun-Elda!"
She pouted.
"Still is. I guess... I guess I haven't changed that much."

---

"Well, I didn't take you to the second best bar in the city when we had the girls' night out," Stacia told Eris.
"Sounds good! Let's just..." Midnight threw open the door to Ruby's gem shop. "I am here to sell a gem!"
"Well," Ruby said with a wink. "I'm looking at something pretty."

[Valmark]

"Or my way didn't work. Try pronouncing someone else's True Name to control wether it does feel wrong or not- Let me test it out" Sirthis pronounced, in succession, his True Name and Malyanna's True Name, checking for any different feeling.

---

"Midnight, this is Ruby. Ruby, this is Midnight" Eris presented them with a sly smile "We're about to go get drinks"

[Xihirli]

Sirthis got a familiar buzz of self-assurance with his own. Nothing really happened with Malyanna's, it was just information he knew.
"I'm not sure what that was meant to accomplish."

---

"Sounds fun," Ruby said. "You know, we're about to close..."
"I'll invite you along for 10% off."
"Cheeky..." Ruby said, then: "Wait, I'm giving you the money."
"I know," Midnight said with a wink.

And soon they were getting drunk at a casino with Ruby!

[Valmark]

"Well, maybe it wasn't going to feel different, I was checking that" Sirthis explained, then frowned.
"Weird. It's really hard to look at you when you hold Alifa and think of that name as your True one- and not just this one time" he said "Perhaps... Mmm... Could you run by me again what we know about how True Names are related to a person?" Sirthis asked "There's a chance that Ulorrun-Elda will keep feeling like your True Name as long as you don't realize your change in personality for yourself. As an example, imagine if I stopped putting my loved ones above all else- imagine if that wasn't something I do consciously but something I do while still thinking to be doing it for love. Would Magre-Rur still feel like my True Name despite me having changed? Consider that we could only find our True Names out by examining our memories in detail- it may very well be that without a deeper analysis we cannot realize that our True Names have changed, thus still wearing our old ones as our proper ones. Especially me and you Malyanna, our force of personality is far more trained then others- the image of ourselves we lodged into our minds could even deceive us" Sirthis looked at Malyanna, unsure if he had been clear.

"Or it may just be that you need more time to change"

---

Since Midnight was paying and Leff was watching over them sober Eris felt the freedom to spend and drink as much as she cared.

Spoiler: Ooc

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I assume we'll gloss over this casino episode?

[Xihirli]

"In any case, I will need to meditate on this for awhile." Malyanna looked down at Alifa.
"Hi!"
"Hi," Alifa said slowly.
"Oh! Um... I'm Malyanna."
Alifa just looked at her.
"Malyanna."
"M-mal!"
"Yes! That's right! Mal!"

---

Spoiler: OOC

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Yeah too similar to what we've already done.

[Valmark]

Sirthis looked at them thrilled seeing Malyanna and Alifa interact and didn't say anything, standing there covered head to toe in glitter observing his girlfriend and daughter talk to each other.

He had been in weirder situations.

---

Eris eventually got to the point where she was a molest drunk and started trying to kiss Leff or keep her tied to herself with the tail.

It wasn't very different from when she was sober, except for the bad breath.

[Xihirli]

Malyanna eventually gave Alifa back.
"She's a brilliant baby."

---

"You know how I feel about this while you're drunk," Leff said. "You've got to pick what you're tasting."

[Valmark]

"You heard that Alifa? You're a genius" Sirthis giggled and held her up to kiss her forehead, leaving a bit of azurite on it.
"Not to cut the fun short, but I'd like it if I stopped being covered in gems"

---

"Mph! See if I care when I'm sober" Eris said I'll remember this!"

She was going to care and she wasn't going to remember it.

[Xihirli]

"Alright," Malyanna said, passing over Sirthis's baby.
"Don't be a stranger, right?"

Spoiler: OOC

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Okay so Sirthis can do next kid while Leff and Eris deal with Midnight's talk with Tanaquill.

[Valmark]

"I'd never"

Spoiler: Ooc

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Sounds good.

[Xihirli]

Tereine, the lavendar-skinned nymph, went into labor not long after. Sirthis was probably the father. It was a relatively easy birth, especially compared to the twins', and Tereine ended up cradling a pale little boy. "Hello, Demis," she whispered.

---

Tanaquill stopped by Fortune's Wind a few days after. The Shadar-Kai hovered around her at a respectful distance, looking suspiciously at anyone who came too close to the Raven Queen.
Midnight stood, looking right into her eyes.
"Greetings." After a few seconds she added: "Overgod."
"It's a pleasure to see you again, Midnight."
"You could have visited me at any time. I was in your afterlife."
"With all the reorganizing and chaos and crises, I've scarcely had time to visit my own family," Tanaquill said apologetically.
"Your paladin tells me that your position with the gods is too tenuous to risk giving me my divine sparks back."
"She speaks truly. While Good and Evil no longer quibble over my position, Law and Chaos are harder to rein in. Some of the Lawful Gods do not like how I differ from Ao in my more hands-on nature, not seeing that we have little choice with the Inevitables gone. The Chaotic gods largely follow me, but I would quickly lose much of their support if they decided I was not strong enough to lead them."
"Your paladin has also informed me that you have Azuth's Divine Spark."
"Yes, destroying Asmodeus and the hells was, I believe, my first official act as Overgod."
"Azuth... is an old friend. I think he would want me to... at least for the time being."
"It's not a problem. Of course, Midnight."
Midnight smiled. "It's been some time since I was called by my old adventuring handle by anyone I... respected. I think I will keep it this time. I took on Mystra's name to ease the transition... but then, my reascension is not the biggest transition going on at the moment."

[Valmark]

"We're your mommy and daddy" Sirthis hugged Tereine, leaning over her shoulder to look at Demis with a smile.

Spoiler: Ooc

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Sirthis doesn't actually care wether the biological father is him or not despite what it may look like.

---

Eris looked between the two of them, unsure.
"Does... That mean we got a new Azuth who will not be Azuth but will instead be Midnight?" she asked.
"...I'm not sure that was clear"