Video

[alwayscomeback]

Who: Sokka, maybe some Maglor, and you!!
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: The Iskaulit
When: Backdated a couple days ago - before the new planet mingle

[The feed opens up to one of the larger, empty rooms in the Iskaulit. There's a few boxes stacked around, but otherwise the room is starkly empty. Sokka grins, raising his arms in the middle of the room. In the background, Maglor seems to be moving stuff out of boxes.]

So, hey guys! Me and Maglor have decided it'd be a great idea to build a forge on the Iskaulit. So many people don't have a clue what they're doing with guns, we figured giving them a chance to have weapons more suited to their time period might help them out a little.

Plus, you know, Atroma can suck it with taking our weapons away from us. We'll just make new ones.

ANYhoo, it's obviously gonna be a while before it gets set up, but anyone willing to come help build it, or gather materials, that kind of thing would be really appreciated. We'll put your names on a little plaque or something. Hopefully, we'll get something awesome out of this.

Comments

[bythewaves]

[ a small quiet, sad, smile ]

I did try. But folk seem...reluctant to accept my solution.

[evervigilante]

What was it?

[bythewaves]

I left.

[ He shrugs a bit and then quotes ]

To evil ends will all things turn that begin well - so we were told, and so it was. Thus, to remove myself seemed the most logical solution.

[ ADMITEDLY HE WAS LESS THAN SANE WHEN HE MADE THAT DECISION BUT HE STANDS BY IT NOW ]

My family are not so pleased about that decision.

[evervigilante]

You left or you ran?

[ Because it sounds like the latter. ]

[bythewaves]

Both, and neither.

[ Maglor's eyes are distant ]

At the end there was nothing left, not oath, nor kin, only the curse. I... do not clearly remember those days, but... it seemed better to not return, and bring the curse with me.

[evervigilante]

"Seem" better and "is" better aren't quite the same thing, are they?

[ Yuri would know. He's had similar conclusions. ]

Do you know why corrupted power is weak? Why some curses work and others don't?

[bythewaves]

Even so - or at least, so my kinsmen seem insistent on saying.

[ The smile is wry and a little crooked ]

I cannot say I do, but evil always seems to ruin itself, in the end.

[evervigilante]

Because they're alone.

[ Alexei, Zagi, Barbos . . . all the people Yuri faced. Even himself. ]

They think they know best because they understand the power. And they keep themselves alone in that knowledge.

[bythewaves]

"Alone." Maglor murmurs softly.

"I suppose He might have thought himself so, although He had followers aplenty."

[evervigilante]

Having followers isn't the same as having an equal.

[ Yuri had Flynn. So even though they both lost their way, they were also able to pull each other out of it. ]

When you're alone, there's no one there to correct you or help you grow. You stagnant or trap yourself in your own thoughts.

[bythewaves]

That much is true. [ Maglor smiles a little sadly ] It seems you know the burdens of loneliness well.

[evervigilante]

I might have some idea.

[ He won't offer more than that. ]

But I've seen enough people with power and curses to know that it's the trap of being alone.

[bythewaves]

[ Maglor nods, accepting what he was given ]

But what if being alone keeps people safe.

[evervigilante]

You wouldn't be the first person to think that.

But how much of that is just your thoughts and how much of it is the truth?

[bythewaves]

[ Maglor shrugs ]

I cannot speak for truth or lie, but all I know is that it has always proven trus before.

[evervigilante]

Being proven true once or twice doesn't make it the truth.

That's the danger of being alone. You force one truth upon everything.

[bythewaves]

Hard to say.

[ Maglor hums softly ]

But I chose my own sacrifice rather than the possibility of harming those who remain. But here my kin refuse to allow me that choice and I...am too tired to fight them.

[evervigilante]

Wow. Shocking.

[ His tone is completely flat. ]

Sacrifices are so noble after all. Why would anyone dislike them?

[bythewaves]

[ That earns him a wry quirk of a smile ]

Well in fairness most of them were dead, at home, and those who were not believed me so, and it was convenient to allow them to continue do so.

[evervigilante]

It's almost as if sacrifices are a convenient bandaid for the problem.

[bythewaves]

[ That gains Yuri a laughing smile ]

I have been told that before.

[evervigilante]

[ Yuri shrugs, in a sorry not sorry manner. He has no patience for sacrifices. ]

Not enough times, though.

[bythewaves]

Probably not, but I am old and stubborn and set in my ways.

[ Maglor shrugs wryly ]

Maybe if enough people say it, one day I will be able to believe it.

[evervigilante]

Sorry. I only say it to people who want to save themselves.

[bythewaves]

Then I fear you will be out of luck with me.

[ Maglor shrugs again, wry ]

Best you leave the hard work to my brother... I might even believe him, one of these days.