Fellowship of Animus | First Council of Sages

[sageprincess]

Characters: THE FELLOWSHIP OF ANIMUS aka pretty much everyone
Setting: Floor 38, early afternoon - forward-dated to July 29
Format: Party style - pick your poison
Summary: After repeated delays, Zelda and Gandalf have finally called the populace of the Tower to discuss productive means of dealing with their situation.
Warnings: None yet, will edit should something come up

It's taken far too long to get to this point.

Come Sunday, the various couches and armchairs of the uppermost lounge have been arranged in vaguely semi-circle-like patterns, with chairs from other floors scattered amongst them to increase seating even more. The semi-circles face inwards towards a central point to facilitate discussion among a large group of people. Though this is by no means a party, small slices of Lembas bread are available on tables around the perimeter - though there is no shortage of food, the hungry tend to be less cooperative, all the same.

Outside, the sun shines brightly without a cloud to obstruct it, but the atmosphere inside is much less carefree. Considering the purpose of gathering here this day, it's to be expected. Should this council succeed, it may very well change life in the Tower as everyone knows it. If not, well... one should certainly hope individual efforts begin to bear more fruit than they have in the past.

Comments

The Gandalf Speech of Hope

[the_white_rider]

[ When the meeting is about to end, Gandalf clear his throat before starting- ]

What do we have in common, I ask? There are technicians, writers, students, magicians, soldiers, workers, doctors and many other professions gathered here. There are royalties and non-royalties amongst us, there are people who believe in higher beings, others who do not. There are people who lived in worlds where magic is an absolute, others where technology is, some both or neither. We have different cultures, beliefs, backgrounds.

Yet, here we are today, sitting together in the same room, brought together by the same will. Our worlds are dead, hope is lost and our fate in the hands of people who cannot be trusted. We could give up and allow the events to unfold without speaking our voices. We could fight each other. This is the history in most of our worlds. When cultures meet, when different belief and opinion meet, war ensues. This is a fate that most sentient species share. But this is not what happened. The impossible happened and a miracle was born.

We want to know what's happening. We desire to discover the mysteries of this tower. We want to help those who unlike us cannot act and make a difference. We refuse our fate to be decided by others. We want to save our homeworlds. We stand together and we have chosen to fight against this faceless enemy. We are ready to do what's necessary.

Of course we are not perfect. We may be wrong sometimes, we may commit mistakes and we will commit mistakes, this is a certainty. Yet we shall learn from them. We must not fear the darkness; there is nameless darkness we will have to cross to achieve our goals, yet we will not submit to the darkness even if they tempt us. Some will lose hope and give up along, some may fall; but even in the deepest darkness, there is always a light for who wants to see it. Even in the deepest darkness, we can count on each other.

There is not only our host's will at work in this tower. There is not only the evil that destroys our worlds at work. There is good too and we can see it every day even if it is hard to see it. The moments of joy that can be shared in this place, in this situation. As short as they may be, each of them is a miracle to be treasured. I believe we are all here for a reason. Our presence in this tower is not random. There are thousands, millions, even sometimes billion of people living on our homeworld. Yet, when two people from the same homeworld are summoned to the tower? More often than not they are connected in some way. I do not think this is a coincidence.

There is good at work, and it is only up to us to write the ending of this story, because in the end. Our worlds will be restored. Our suffering is not meaningless. In the end, what is good will prevail. We have given to ourselves a purpose. We do not know enough yet to accomplish what is to be accomplished, but we have the will to work toward that purpose. If our hosts do not act, we will. If they torture us, we will not scurry back in darkness. For now, we need to gather information, to gain knowledge on this place. We need to get to know each other better, to deepen what binds us. We need to organize ourselves, think about what has been told today, answer the questions and ask new ones. Now we can work together toward those purposes, and when we will have enough information, we will meet against at this very place. Then we will use what information has been gathered to make a difference.

[alwaysataclimax]

[Momotaros looks over from his chair - since his prior outburst, Ryotaro has forced him out of his body - and chuckles.]

Pretty good speech, old man.

[He means it, really.]