Liasethanil nodded slightly as Imaldris spoke. "Your question is a valid one; we might easily be accused of hubris, of seeking to hold the cards ourselves merely to make Lugganath great. There is no such reason why any Craftworld should be the place to hold the sword in trust, is there?" He took a sip of his water before continuing. His eyes sparkled slightly as debate was kindled. "In return I answer you this. Since we know where such a powerful weapon might be, others could surely discover it now that the trail has been found. Could we in all conscience leave it where it is? And secondly, perhaps you may not have heard - it is not a secret, but I daresay it is not a primary concern of others. We seek to move Lugganath within the webway. Once accomplished, such a translation would gift the sword another layer of protection from all save our own kind." "A possibility that I acknowledge has been ... problematic, for us before. Yet surely we can learn from the sins of the Fall? In this, our most dire of straits?" "We do not move as a Craftworld, with a great force of arms and fanfare of the panoply of battle. We send you, secretive, near-silent, in comparison to a host. You seek it clandestinely, swiftly, on our behalf but also that of the Eldar race. Other artefacts are being sought. Other ways to give Ynnead whatever we can to increase the power, the possibilities open to such a one. Shall such a battle be lost for want of a blade, a shield, any of the gifts we can bestow?"
"Indeed, there is no such reason why a Craftworld should be the place to hold the sword in trust, however there are reasons why some Craftworlds should not be the places to hold the sword in trust," Imaldris retorted. "I understand your view and I agree, now that the trail has been found at last it would be foolish to ignore the quest and let others get their hands on our heirloom, perhaps foolish is not the right word. Better ones should be reckless and stupid. But like I said before, it is the company's morale that I question. Not all of us hold the old virtues high in regard these days, I don't need to walk the Path of the Seer to divine such conclusions and I can only thank my own skills of divination that have brought me here on Lugganath to see through this quest for myself and for Ulthwé."
"To offer you, venerable Imaldris and you as well, wise Liasethanil." Yarelis opened and as typical mediator stepped between the two, the three forming a triangle. "We worry about the whereabouts after the blade has recovered, yet we do not know who might be interested or what we will face once it is recovered. Yet we all do know of one who can keep it safer than anyone else. And that would be Cegorach and his Harlequins, is it not very possible that the Laughing God sees, or has heard of Lugganaths attempts and awaits an Eldar to recover the blade so he may store it for when the time is right? Where else would it be more secure than in the Black Library where nobody but He and his Harlequins as well as honored and trustworthy guests only have stepped on? No one with the intention of the destruction of the Eldar race ever has reached the hidden library-world, and as such, we shall not let greed nor pride or even the belief of being the chosen wielders of the blade wash over us and instead trust in doing the right thing." She stepped a little bit forward. "It is a god-created blade made by Vaul the smith god which he attempted with to fight Khaela Mensha Khaine, the very same blade that Eldanesh wielded who may have not been a god, but a champion of them. None of us can acclaim the same title, and so it only makes sense to return the blade once recovered to Cegorach and his adversaries. It would be nowhere else safer, and he would declare someone worthy of wielding the blade. And if that does not please you... Then it should go to Asurmen, the First Phoenix Lord, Master of the Dire Avengers, savior of the Eldar race who has shown us the path to survival. For he is the hand of Asuryan, the Phoenix King, elder of the Gods and older brother of Khaela Mensha Khaine." The diplomat bowed as her suggestion was made to signal she was done. Remaining at her position she shared equal attention to the Warlock and the Seer.
At that the Fire Dragon stood up, abruptly, but not in a threatening manner. "If it can go to Asurmen, then why not give it to Fuegan? It is foretold that he will be the last of us to fall in the Rhana Dandra, and therefore our last hope of salvation. If he had the blade, would our last hope not be able to slay all who stand in our way? He is the embodiment of destruction, and with that blade he could ignite a path straight to the heart of our immortal foe." The fiery passion with which he spoke was an embodiment of his Aspect's attitude to warfare, and indeed of Amriel's ideals.
Faenkon leaned back in his chair, all this bickering over a weapon no one currently possessed. This was wasting valuable time that could be spent on the hunt for the ancient artifact. Seeing as this was quickly falling into a fight between the better guardians Faenkon stood from his relaxed position. Clearing his throat he finally spoke, "As much as this is a necessity in determining the best guardian for the ancient weapon, our first priority is in retrieving it. What information do we have on this path?"
"Because unlike Asurmen, Fuegan is not as talented with the blade. Whether the Rhana Dandra is upon us or not. It is Asurmen who led the Eldar always in the times of need, the Avenger of us and the slayer of daemons as we speak in the middle of the Eye of Terror. He is the closest we have today resembling Eldanesh, the original wielder of this legendary blade." Yareli offered with a soft voice. Of course the Fire Dragon wanted his own Phoenix Lord to wield the blade. How egotistic. But of course she would, as diplomat, not spit such allegations right at the temperament Eldar. "At least, someone with a cool mind. I join in the motion of Faenkon and say we shall retrieve the blade and then make a decision. But I will not let it go unsaid that my favorite course of action is still to hand it to Cegorach." She turns to the Warlock (@Jorimel ) who presented them with their latest task. "Your last insinuation from earlier, I take means that we will be on our own, relying on Iktomi's (@DaKaptin ) crew and vessel, as well of course everyone who joins us in our delegation here. Which would mean that if you trust us to find the way, that you have the before mentioned map ready to provide and for us to follow straight to our treasure?" While she felt not comfortable deflecting the debate simply like this... It may be the wiser option. Nobody wanted seers and aspect warriors to clash, it would only ensue in chaos and a lot of regrets. Without Morvan's (@High_Adept_Zeth ) leadership and uniting everyone under one banner, the group might be destined to split into sub-factions with own agendas. She could only hope that it would not come down to that and that indeed they would all work together as they did before. Given she only let the fallen enter her mind, because she trusted in Iktomi's skill of taking him down, while distracting the warp-twisted individual.
"This is what I meant when I spoke about good intentions turning into ambitions," the Warlock frowned as arguments of who would be the best candidate to carry such a weapon in case Ynnead doesn't appear when he's supposed to according to some of the Eldar behind this table. "I don't think any of the Phoenix Lords should get the blade for I believe this sword might represent something other than the things these leaders do, but like Faenkon and Yareli said, this should be a discussion for another time. I believe I'm right when I say the clock is ticking on this matter, no?"
Further argument on this topic was likely futile he realized. They were not likely to change their minds. "I concur with that sentiment, and I agree that the Harlequins are our best hope for storing the blade until such time as it can be used. They have always done what is best for our people." Having said his piece, Amriel sat back down. While he still thought Fuegan was the best choice, the Seer had a point.
Irlityra was a little taken back. She had asked for something more adventurous, but searching for the lost Sword of Eldanesh was quite a change. The sword was a myth, well she had thought that it was. She’d only ever heard about it from the tales of the Harlequins, and now the Seers had received information about its whereabouts. Sipping from the fruity drink provided and straightened her robes; Irlityra listened intently as the group discussed what to do with the recovered sword. ‘They have always done what is best for the Laughing God…’ Irlityra said in a voice that barely travelled across the room. ‘…and his humour is varied. But I agree the Harlequins are the best choice. I would rather that they had the Sword of Eldanesh than the craftworlds becoming divided over the issue.’ Entirely unsure of if her opinions were wanted or needed, Irlityra moved on. Looking to Warlock Liasethanil and raised the question in a respectful tone of voice. ‘Do you know who would stand beside for us in our search and who may stand between us and the Sword of Eldanesh? Deliberately or otherwise.’
