[D7LE] What Sleeps Beyond the Looking Glass

[Illiam'iira]

"Yes." She lets out a soft little hum. "For Ikkit's future? Let me ask him if it's alright. I imagine he won't give a rat's ass, since he's not one to put stock in that sort of thing, but I'd prefer to get his consent before I share."

Illia will pick up the brooch hanging from her neck. Ringing a hidden bell, the drow whispers something in a sing-song voice. With the spell cast... she waits.

"I wouldn't call haruspicy primitive, myself, simply... underdeveloped as a school of divination, given its bloody nature. I've heard of a troll haruspex who's frighteningly accurate when using their own entrails." She tilts her head. "How do you find divination philosophically interesting?"

[Ikkit the Bastard]

Somewhere in Sigil, a goblin's complete indifference to fortune-telling in all of its forms was expressed in friendly but coarse terms.

[L'Orr-hui]

''No.'' the illithid interjected ''What did the haruspex see in you when he gazed back?'' he paused ''Or rather, what do you think he saw in you.''

They took notes

''As for haruspicy, I said that it was a primitive form of divination but not one without power in the proper hands. Giving me an exemple of someone giving great predictions does not contradict this statement. On the subject of divination itself: few people are disciplined enough to bear the knowledge of their future. Such knowledge always restricts the possible outcomes you could have to a handful few...likely why the haruspex said that Black Marian was devouring futures.''

[Illiam'iira]

"Oh." She blinks. "Hm... I don't know. It felt more like something else was looking, not him. Like Ignaeus was an opening maw and as I looked down inside him or I guess beyond him, something looked back. I don't..." Illi rubs her temple. "I just feel something pacing at the borders of my self, taking little nibbles. Not eating. Not inside. I don't know if it knows what I am, exactly, or understands me, but it sees me and knows I exist. I don't think it saw much of me beyond the fact that I looked. Like catching a stranger's eye."

There's a pause as she considers something else. "But -- it almost took on the tone of a teacher."

[L'Orr-hui]

Hearing the description of that irritable gnawing feeling gave the illithid pause: this could be more then a mere manifestation of the abyss. The thought was intolerable but the young elf might be able to shake that grip.

''I see. Understand this, lady Illiam'iira: What is gnawing at the edge of your consciousness is alien to you in everyway but so are you to it. If you wish to break free of this...connection...you might be able to do it by either reinforcing yourself into who you are or by molting skin and evolving into a new you.''

[Illiam'iira]

Illi listens attentively, nodding every so often. "I had considered as much," She answers very softly. "I mean... about its alien nature. I thought if anyone I know here might understand more it would be you, and did not want to play around looking into such things myself, given my... limited area of expertise. I am no wizard or cleric."

Something in L'Orr's words seems to give her pause -- there's a moment of silence between them as she considers it. A memory of something her mother told her. The circumstances she's found herself in.

"How would I reinforce myself?"

[Makeshift]

[Go ahead and make me a Wisdom save, Illi.]

[Illiam'iira]

[you are a very rude man Makeshift. But hey! Fuck you! Nat 20! Wisdom Save - may add Favored by the Gods if failure: 1d20 20 Can add Favored by the Gods if that still fails.]

[Makeshift]

You feel centered. This is your place in the universe, these are your hard choices to make. No two-bit cosmic horror is gonna eat you here, while you make those decisions for yourself. You get the feeling that L'orr is pretty much right on the money there. But you're still missing something... Some tiny detail, you don't need it to save yourself from this, in fact you should run away from this stuff as fast as you could if you wanted to save yourself. You're missing something here... What is it?

[L'Orr-hui]

''These things do not understand form or boundaries as we do'' They began ''They come from the outside and the forms they take are corrupted forms of what we know. Think on yourself both on what you are and what you are not. Think not only of yourself but also of others. Think on what you hold true, the people in your life and on who you fight to be. Will yourself to be and affirm it.''

They paused

''Who are you?''