[X] Plan Bringing This Home
-[X] If at any point Viserys thinks it's a good moment to move closer to her to show both physically that a connection is growing and to comfort her, he will do so.
-[X] "I think, in the end, the important truth is not behind the masks, but before them. A thousand aeons of deathless scholars have not unraveled the truth behind it all, bitter and alone in their endless work. Yet others lived and died all around them, unburdened by the question of what lies beyond the turning of the spheres. No, I think what matters most is what we see when looking at these masks. Not the truth all encompassing, but the truth of our selves."
// Saying yes to her question would be easy, but I think it's not actually helping her in any regard. It would just leave he with doubts and might set her on a very destructive path to see them smothered. If destructive for herself or others is the question, but it wouldn't be pretty either way. So let's not give her the answer she wants, but the answer she needs. At her core, Melissandre is an old woman that is looking for the sense behind it all and the great apocalyptic war against a grand enemy is just what someone in her state of mind would latch onto. What she is asking for now is validation of the purpose of her life, so let's give it to her, but in a way that is self-sustaining instead of destructive.
-[X] "I know not your history Melissandre, nor why you follow R'hllor. What I know is that you have made this choice for a reason. You can force any man or woman to recite a prayer, to serve in chains, but not even the gods an force us to
believe. I have seen it tried." Motion to Rina. "And it failed. But when I speak to you, I know that there is conviction behind your words. That this is not a path forced upon you, but one you have chosen and for that and that alone, it is the
true path for you. Sometimes we might stumble on way and sometimes despair haunts our steps, but as long as we carry on, as long as we not give in, we will never fail completely."
// Basically I'm telling her that it's fine. Coming with logical arguments about philosophical truths was a good way to get her to open up to this point, but right now she is raw with emotion and those need addressing. If she didn't have those doubts about her own path, we would have gotten absolutely nowhere with the arguments so far. At the core, she craves the truth and what shakes her so is the realization that she might have spent her whole life running after the nicest lie instead. So she needs to know that, even if she thinks she failed, that's okay. Stupid mortal who can't comprehend the whole truth, remember that?
-[X] Trigger Grand Destiny, Divine Insight and throw Mythic Power behind this: "I have seen many things on my travels, both wondrous and appalling. I've spoken with angels and devils. Once I stood before R'hllor himself and argued about the fate of two friends with him. Another time I spat in the face of hell itself, to gain the freedom of a woman I barely knew then. I've seen the shades of gods from times long forgotten, whispering to me with their last dying breaths, and another who, after an eternity of torment, had the will to cast off his pain and hatred to be reborn pure again. And if I have any truth to share from all these things, then it is thus: There is always a choice and it is these choices who we are. Light and dark, virtue and sin, temptation and resolve. It is this what the masks mean in the end, but it is on us to see what each masks means and to choose between them. And if it is the light you seek and found it in R'hllor, then I would gladly call you ally, mayhaps even friend some day, but know that never I will begrudge a man or woman if they found the light in other teachings."
// Hope, this is Mel. Mel, this is Hope. Please be nice to each other. In the end, this is the mother of all authority arguments. We've witnessed enough divine shenanigans to know very well what we are talking about, but the important matter at hand here is the core of choice. Remember how we've met Vee? She gruesomely killed a few people, but they were assholes and she was lashing out at them while being depressed. Or Xor? The guy who thought he would do Lys a favor and finally have some friends by cooking up a zombie plague for an insane Vampire? Yeah. The nicest eyeball in the universe is a mass-murderer. And this is ultimately what the whole faith debate boils down to. We don't care if you follow this god or that, we care if you are cutting people open to feat on their organs. We take exception to that. Likewise, we take exception when you set people on fire for saying something you didn't like. Some gods will ask for that kind of nonsense, but as long as R'hllor doesn't, then we've got no issues. And as for Mel, if she really cares about the Light and Dark showdown, about the Good and the Truth and the Order and all that, then there is nothing wrong with her or her faith. And this is why I bring up Best Coatl here. He left behind the things he knew he didn't need. So can others.
@Snowfire, do your thingy. I'm going for a smoke.
This was pretty draining.