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Cantio Compared to last time, the area around the tower on the lonesome strip of land is looking far more like an actual operating base now than just a strip of land with a weird tower in the middle of it. White and purple prefabs on one side of the strip contrast sharply with not only the ominous medieval-fantasy style tower stretching upwards on the other side, but also the steel gray APCs featuring a stylized skull logo. The warp gate has everyone that comes through it facing those prefabs, too, potentially creating a bit of a whiplash just from seeing the modern/future tech in one direction and that magical tower in the other.

It's inside one of those pale plasticky prefabs that Cantio's called those assembling today to join her in the hopes of getting everyone up to speed with the tumult that's been brewing in Legendra. She meets everyone arriving at the warpgate with a polite, if mildly strained smile and bow at the waist. "Welcome! Thanks for coming. We've got a... A fair bit of stuff to cover today, and time might not be as much on our side as I thought it was the first time everyone came here."

Those that follow Cantio into the meeting area are greeted by the sight of a well-lit, but otherwise drab war room with tons of chairs surrounding a massive table. A similarly huge map is stretched across the entire surface of the table, showing the geography of the land along with multiple colorful flags dotted around it.

Those that remain outside, meanwhile, will see Ramda (the mysterious floating dandy that lost an arm in the last battle in this area), looking hale and healthy as he loiters outside that sealed tower. He spares glances at the group every now and then even as they're arriving, but he keeps his distance from the prefab that Cantio's leading people into.
Arcadia Arcadia is unphased by the contrast that greets them emerging from the warpgate, she's use to seeing such anachronistic juxapositions. The Line is full of them from all the different societies and gangs interacting for survival. "Looks like this point has been established appropriately." So inside we go. Because where else would she go, without an active directive to follow. She's mostly here because documenting such worlds being on the cusp of either tremendous advancement or possible apocalyptic self-destruction is what Argoxandrians do. And most of the Scholars wouldn't last taking three steps into a potentially violent world, so she gets to do it.

At least there's a map. Maps she can understand. Her eyes can be seeing flickering as she looks it over, recording the details for later. Good grief that's a lot of seperate territories, no wonder they all have constrasting efforts.
DRYCLEAN-SIGINT Faint static roils underneath the clamor and bustle of the foward operating base, underpinning the conversations, equipment checking, the rumble of an APC's engine activated to provide power to something or another. Listening. Upon reentering the 'war room', DRYCLEAN is already present, overlooking the map on the table and occasionally manually adjusting an antenna. Anyone watching closely enough would have seen them slip into the room shortly after Cantio begin greeting people at the gate, obviously arriving from elsewhere. There doesn't seem to have been any legitimate reason to do this, of course.

They give a two-finger salute to the group, leaning back slightly from their hunch over the table. "Hey, folks. Accelerated deadline, then. Tensions growin' worse or somethin' more excitin'?" They tap the side of their secondary monitor. "Gotta stay prepared t'move straight to Plan C if we gotta, ha ha."
Ishirou Ishirou is here, despite a large amount of trauma he's been exposed to recently.  More than that, he's...oddly focused for a change.  It's hard to say what exactly has changed but he has a slightly more focused and serious air to him.  Sitting down in a chair, he brings up holo screens and starts flipping through them.  

With him is a black box with arms that floats around.  Both help with the projections but seemingly communicate with him once in a while.  It's not always obvious, and often not verbal, but it seems to turn towards him.  There is a moment where they look at each other, and then turn back to the screens.  

Right now, as far as people can tell, data is being tallied based on what they faced the last time they were here.  The strengths, powers, weaknesses, and abilities he was able to scan out of the various forces, as well as the monsters that appeared out of the leaders themselves.  He also takes a long hard look at the map.

He asks questions of either people who are locals, or those who actually had been out scouting about various features.  More or less trying to get a good lay of the land in the areas most important and directly related to their own holdings.  He rubs his chin after a while and starts placing these calculations into what he's typing.  

The final point of research is using his research into the local laws and customs, as well as local magical and occult to try and better refine his intelligence.  Laws and customs can determine each group's approach to war.  The demons that lead them would have to at least lip service to these without losing their support...and when they did have to skirt the line it'd help factor in their troop's morale better.  

Research on their magical and occult traditions would let him better understand what magics they can use, what theories they lean on, and how developed and role such magics play in battle...and perhaps try and reveal some information about the demons themselves.  

Ishirou was trying to be the best Ishirou he could be...and that was data gathering and analysis.  
Cantio "We've been working pretty hard at getting everything set up here, yeah." Cantio confirms to Arcadia as she steps around the big map table to point out the differently colored flags. "See that? There's... Basically eight main players in this world's main stage, and I've gathered everyone here today to sort out what our approach is going to be to sorting things out here."

She passes out some prepared materials, too, as she starts to speak. The material is just a single-page printout corresponding with each of those flags, indicating the different factions in this world as potential areas of interest. "Tensions are definitely getting worse than they were when we first arrived, yeah." She chuckles weakly at DRYCLEAN's comment, sighing a moment later. "Plan C... Yeah, it's starting to be a little more likely, but it's not the only option even if plan A... Well."

Cantio clears her throat, then pulls down a projector screen. One of her drones floats up from behind the group, providing some convenient presentation slides to add a bit of extra visual flair to what Cantio says next.

"Plan A: We get everyone to cooperate with us so we can find the eight warriors of the Dragon Force." That gets a fancy strikethrough effect. "Unfortunately, fighting's been getting worse ever since Fandaria-" The yellowish-beige flags on the top left of the map light up. "-declared war on... Er. Everyone."

She coughs and clears her throat. "From what I've heard, the previous monarch's brother escaped from imprisonment and killed him in order to take over. It's a weird line of succession, but considering the people we ran into the first day we showed up, I'm not that surprised about it. It just makes our job harder, because all the other nations have started squabbling over territory, too."

"Plan B: We ally ourselves with one of those nations, help them unify the continent, and then we should have a relatively straight shot at getting the eight warriors together to fight Mard... Madruk? Marduk? The evil god. It's the easiest method, if we can agree on who to support."

Cantio pauses a bit before continuing onto the next slide, with the little star identifying this camp's current location blinking a few times. "Plan C: We insert ourselves as the unifiers ourselves. We've established a solid foothold here already, and having an obvious outside party trying to take territory out of nowhere might already be spurring some of the existing nations to accelerate their own plans. Whether we take over or they all unite to fight us as the common enemy, everyone's still... More or less on the same page."

Ishirou's scanning feeds him a veritable crapton of data now that there's been time to actually sit down and analyze it in earnest. The commanders from last time, more than the mages under their command, are most certainly demonic in nature if their appearances weren't easy enough to make that assumption with, and their bodies have insanely concentrated amounts of it that would let them pull off all manner of crazy weather effects and gravity tricks that they used last time.

The people's support for different rulers, of course, are biased towards the ones closest to them and in the best position to actually keep the fighting away from their villages. Notably, Fandaria (northwest), Highland (southeast), and Tristan (northeast) appear to have the highest concentrations of fighting power among the eight primary kingdoms.

Legally, the different nations do still rely on each other for trade, and haven't actually banned any imports or exports in the interests of not creating unrest among their own populace. There's laws against demon worship and the like, of course, but there's notably a lack of anything against magic used to raise people from the dead. They just seem incredibly specific to specify magic that would be used to revive or glorify Madruk.
Cantio THE ACTUAL STUFF ON EACH NATION

Bozack (green, southwest): Living deep within the jungle, the beasts of Bozack have become totally self-sufficient since the attack of Madruk. Before, they relied heavily on the surrounding nations for their necessities, but that changed forever after Madruk destroyed much of their lands. Now, they have very few dealings with their neighbours, and trust no one. Bozack, unlike other nations, tends to be more of a democracy rather than a monarchy. However, its people still look to their leader, Gongos, for direction.

Fandaria (beige/yellow, northwest): Fandaria was founded by miners on a quest for gold. When it was found that the land was rich in mineral resources, wars broke out between the miners for territorial control. After much bloodshed, one of them declared himself Fandaria's first emperor. To protect himself and his new kingdom from invaders, he built a large army. Since Fandaria's military might has grown for centuries, it is now feared throughout all Legendra.

Highland (white, southeast): Highland Kingdom has existed from time uncounted. A Highland man's honor means more to him than his own life. Sadly, many paid the ultimate price for honour when they opposed the Dark God Madruk. Despite sustaining heavy casualties, Highland was the first kingdom to rebuild after Madruk was locked away by Harsgalt. The monarchs who have ruled over the land have done so with a kind but firm hand. They have created a kingdom that is peaceful, tranquil, and policed by the chivalrous Highland Knights.

Izumo (purple, west): Before Madruk destroyed their home, the inhabitants of Izumo lived on a bow-shaped island near the southeast corner of Legendra. In his rage, Madruk obliterated the island, hoping to destroy all of its inhabitants, but the people fled to the mainland just in time. After the disaster, the people of Izumo rebuilt their island paradise on the mainland. Always shrouded in secrecy, Izumo forgoes dealings with the other nations. They are a unique people whose lives are strictly dictated by ancient traditions.

Palemoon (blue, east): In ancient times, a spell was placed upon the walls and moat of Moon Palace to prevent intruders from conquering Palemoon's capital. However, Madruk was able to break this spell and attack the Elves. After the sealing of Madruk, the Elf tribe has worked hard to rebuild their clan. They do so by hiding themselves deep within the great forest. In these ideal surroundings, the Elf tribe is once again beginning to prosper. Under Teiris' direction, they may once again become one of Legendra's dominant kingdoms.
Cantio Topaz (orange, center north): Topaz is a religious nation located toward the centre of the continent. It was founded by monks who wanted to devote their time to serving their gods, and purifying their bodies with the martial arts. Its monarch is chosen through an annual martial arts tournament, and all capable men are allowed to compete. The winner is then allowed to rule the kingdom. Understandably, the men of Topaz spend much of their time training their well-defined bodies; still, they only fight when forced to.

Tradnor (red, center): Madruk was quick to destroy Tradnor, because he feared the magicians' combined power; its people have spent a long time rebuilding their kingdom. As they are obsessed with the study of magic, they have had little time to expand their borders; at present, they have only two castles. Tradnor tends to avoid involvement with other nations' conflicts, causing many of their neighbours to view them as an easy target. However, invaders are quickly disappointed when they are forced to confront Tradnor's deadly magic guard.

Tristan (black, northeast): Tristan is one of the most powerful nations in all of Legendra, second only to Fandaria. Due to their harsh climate, relatively few people tend to stay there. However, the kingdom is ruled by a dictator who is in full control of the military. From an early age, only the strongest are enrolled into Tristan's military. If a person is not in the military, they are forced to work in the fields in order to produce enough food for the soldiers. The only way to leave the empire or the military is by death. Relatively few are able to defect to the other kingdoms.
DRYCLEAN-SIGINT Fingers tap in time with explanation beats; nodding along, in a way. They cross their arms and point a finger at the grey flags in the south. "That Madruk, then? I ain't been doin' enough recon on the area, ha ha."

They continue to listen to the plans as they're listed, though they just keep running a hand over the edge of one of the pages. "Evil god. Remind me of all this, ah, mythology. Eight nations, eight warriors, seems cut'n dry. There anythin' preventin' normal folks from just tryin' to get the drop on the fella? Divine protection or that lot? Seems, ah, pertinent if we're just waltzin' on in and tryin' to take the role, ha ha."

The sheet is set down. A gesture is made to the flags nearby the grey expanse. "Somethin' else. This fella, they got any goal past some sorta conquer the world nonsense? An actual war campaign? Know the enemy and all that, ha ha."
Arcadia Arcadia accepts the infosheet, though her attention is mostly on the actual presentation after scanning the page into her memory. She occasionally nods her head which shows she's listening, even if she doesn't entirely grasp the more nuance details of the matter.

Eventually she makes a soft hmming sound. "Similar matters have occured in The Line with the various societies coming to balance after the stabilization with the rest of multiverse. Though not to the degree of actual war between all nations... But most of ours also have more common ground to unite on." Her tail does that slow swish-swash cats do when they're thinking. "I am in no real position to make an authoritive decision, but from analysis and experience Plan B would be the most effective, if a decision can be made who to initially align with. Plan C, if necessary, is entirely possible, especially if the backing of one or more Faction can be gained... but being seen as outsiders trying to impede in their matters may make unification difficult."

She pauses a moment, then nods. "A good point. Is there a reason we cannot simply amass a force of Elites and deal with Madruk ourselves? Hypothetically speaking."
Ishirou "I'm going to immediately put the breaks on Plan C.  That's just /asking/ for the war to get worse as the multiverse gets involved.  Projections.." he says, thinking, and then displaying.  "Show here there is a sixty-five percent chance that both the Paladins and the Watch would take this action as you attempting to spread the Concord's power in a way that couldn't ignore.  That'd embroil the entire nation, one which is war-torn enough already and also recovering from a goshdarned demon lord rampaging through it, through even more conflict."

"Given the state of the multiverse right now, this place would be a hotbed of back and forth, and probably used as a place for elites to fight each other to either blow off steam, make a name for themselves, or a hundred different reasons to fight another elite."

"So...no.  Just no," he points out to Cantio, with a look.  Like a look that says 'If you try to pursue this I'm immediately leaving and reporting this to the paladins.  Ishirou is in full impudent brat today.

"Plan B should not be considered easily, that would forcefully change the geopolitical landscape of a land...meaning that if anything goes wrong, the multiverse is blamed.  It could, with an average of a twenty-five percent chance make the area a hotbed for political upheavals, insurrections, terrorist actions, and more cults to the god of evil.  Demons thrive in this kind of place. ...Also ironically, the Watch.  That number goes up if the Watch doesn't like who is chosen."

"Plan A actually is the soundest plan, with an end goal of bringing them together against the aggressor nation with an aim of freeing them.  An alliance would also go a long way to getting these nations to work together, while also running campaigns to win the hearts and minds of Fandaria.  Given we could once more force the arrogant demons into revealing themselves...and the combined might would easily be enough to turn the battle against them."

"This plan has the highest chance of success, will weaken the god of evil's attempts to reassert himself without considerable time and effort, and will possibly break the nations out of their spiraling war and might even foster lasting peace.  It'll also give them autonomy when dealing with the Multiverse, as well as make their interactions with the three factions a lot better.  Literally, everyone wins, except for the god of evil."  
Cantio "The evil god, yes. Madruk." Making a mental note to fix her slides later even though it's unlikely she'll ever use them again, Cantio takes a moment to get some drinks for everyone. There's water, iced tea, soda, novelty ice in the shape of little musical notes, and even damp towels courtesy of various drones floating about the war room.

"Madruk still needs to be summoned since as far as I can tell, the last set of eight warriors sealed the god away since they couldn't destroy him." She glances outside the war tent briefly, then back at DRYCLEAN. "I heard from Ramda it's because they weren't fully unified in their goals or purposes, so they lost their chance and had to resort to their own plan C. B? The one that didn't involve solving the problem for good." She explains in response to both DRYCLEAN's and Arcadia's questions on that, then strokes her chin a moment later. "Hm. I guess we'd need him to be summoned before we could destroy him, right?"

She laughs awkwardly, then clears her throat. It wasn't that funny. "... That, or ferreting out all of his agents so there's nobody that would want to summon Madruk again."

Cantio then shakes her head at DRYCLEAN's question about the set of gray flags. "Not much yet. It's a smaller kingdom called... Litonia? Their leader's been trying to carve out a place there for former slaves, but they're also kind of stuck between two bigger powers. We're definitely keeping an eye on their movements, though, since one of the eight might be in there for all we know. It just feels like..."

She furrows her brow in thought. "... Like they're more of an enigma than Fandaria. At least they're upfront about wanting to fight everyone."

Arcadia throws her support in for Plan B, getting a slow nod from Cantio. "That's what I was thinking, but it's still going to involve a lot of bloodshed if we end up allying ourselves with the wrong nation. I'd like for us to be on the same page if we did go with that one, and Plan C..."

Ishirou's firmly against it, and he gives quite a bit of reasoning to it along with a side of NUMBERS. Cantio raises an eyebrow slowly at him at first, then breaks into a quiet giggle before smiling warmly at him. "You've really grown a lot since the first time we met." She chuckles and shakes her head briefly after that. "Don't worry, I'm not really considering plan C unless things go /that/ terribly wrong with everything else first."

Taking a seat at the map table finally, Cantio chugs a whole can's worth of water before continuing. "Besides, I wouldn't want all of that attention on myself or the Concord without something to get out of it, anyway. I've learned from the last time I did that."

Resting her elbows on the table, Cantio looks over at the map again. "I really would like plan A to work, as unlikely as it sounds with the fighting already going on. We might be able to see if we can start negotiating with the different rulers to get them to agree to a ceasefire, but we shouldn't rule out the possibility of having to fight with or against them if it's messier than we'd like things to be."

Her eyes move to the map as she gets back up to peer over each of those sets of flags. "We'll need to start somewhere, though. Who should we approach first?"
Arcadia Arcadia accepts an iced tea. Pass on soda. Last thing we need is a speedster drinking too much sugar and caffiene... granted her technorganic biology probably doesn't process it in the same way to cause such a 'rush' but its best to not test that. Regardless, refreshment is appreciated. "Ah," she reponds to the explaination. "So the primary step is to maintain his imprisonment other than confront him. I see."

"A would be optimal, but may already be unacheivable in full. Impractical even..." Arcadia taps a fingertip against her chin. "Though that does not mean it would be impossible to try and get nations to cooperate with each other... and if A is unviable that is still steps towards B?" Her sidebangs sway as she shakes her head again. "I am not a tactician. Though I see it may take a combination of plans, Ally with those we can unite, Battle those who are less willing to cooperate."

Arcadia stares at the map for a few minutes. Sips her iced tea. "The one we likely do not want to ally with is the one that started the string of aggression. If anything their contention could be a point to propose unifity to the others." Sets the partially drank cup aside. "Alternately, we determine which nation, besides that one, needs the most protection from their neighbors. They may be the most willing to accept assistance, and give us oppritunity to prove our stance to the others."
Ishirou Ishirou gets a little embarrassed at the comment, and scratches behind his head, "Uh...thanks Cantio.  Flattery won't get you anywhere though!" he says, defiant brat that he is.  She can tell it does get her somewhere, mostly less harsh.  Also more likely to believe her saying she doesn't want to do Plan C unless it's a last resort.  He also accepts a soda, because his sleep schedule is fucked.

Appeased by this news and thinking he looks back over the map.  He considers it again, as well as his data.  "Izumo, Tradnor, and Topaz first.  This will create a trench that Fandaria will find hard to go over, it'll help slow communications with other cultists, and will prevent Fandaria from focusing on one nation next to them.  It'll force an initial stalemate, and even show that it's possible to fight them back.  Early victories will encourage other nations to throw support behind these three."

"Then from there try and woo other nations with focuses on what we would need to keep the battleline drawn where we want it.  Multiversal influence could easily help push initially, but it won't mean much if the nations don't feel they've earned their own victory through their own strength.  This is a war about hearts and minds as it is about the strength of one's arm or the potency of one's spell."

"Not only that, it gives us a good combination of scouting and spies, mages who are good for support in any situation...as well as the old enemy of Madruk.  Topaz as well as a similar bad history with Marduk, and would have a lot of the weaknesses of cult forces."

"They'd be the easiest to get a foothold on, pressing situations, and all have a very ugly past with the god.  It's a good place to secure our reputation, and encourage more members to join."
Cantio "Confronting him might be easier if we're looking at a permanent solution, honestly." Cantio admits with a light sigh. "The fact that his revival has become a problem at all is why I'm not fully...? Convinced that just stopping his current followers-"

There's actually a slide for the monstrous transformations of Gaul and Scythe, too! They definitely look the part of 'servants of the evil god' compared to anyone else here, although there's still a lingering question mark as to what their relation to him is in an official sense. "-would stop his revival in the future. It just feels like it'd be too convenient if it could be done so cleanly without a constant presence here that might be a little grating to the locals in the long run."

There's a long pause as she considers something, then continues with a quick nod. "Building more allies and trust is vital, yeah. Fandaria would probably provide us with a lot of information if we could get on their good side, but seeing as they seem to be the most likely culprit..." She sucks in some air through her teeth. "... Nnnno. Probably not them. As far as those that need the most help..."

She grins again, seeming enthused by Ishirou's suggestions and Arcadia's logic lining up quite nicely. "Izumo, Tradnor, and Topaz do seem to be in the most precarious positions of all, yeah. Izumo and Topaz are both right at Fandaria's doorstep already, and Topaz and Tradnor are smack in the middle of.. Well. Everyone. They'd probably appreciate the reduction in directions they can be attacked from three to one. We'd even have an easy time reaching and reinforcing Topaz from here, too, since we're right above them."

Clapping her hands together, Cantio looks rather pleased overall while looking from person to person to person-with-monitors. "If there's no objections, then, I think we've got a plan sorted out. We can establish contact with Topaz soon, and then we'll try to get them on board. If all goes well, we can move onto Tradnor from there, then Izumo and the rest after that. Did I forget anything?"

Outside of the war room, Desperado mercenaries move back and forth getting more defenses in place and getting supplies stocked in the prefab buildings. Others pass by the war room with curious, yet faceless glances at the entrance, and other pass by Ramda who is still watching the entrance from his position by the Shadow Tower.
Ishirou Ishirou thinks for a minute, then shakes his head.  "That seems like a sound objective and I think a lot of things of value were covered.  I'll have to dig into research to try and see if I can dig up anything that might give us an edge in communicating.."

A pause when Arcadia speaks up, "This is true, if the first plan is impossible, then the second would be already started on.  There is little loss in attempting the potentially more difficult one.  Also, with me here I can try and get you informational edges wherever we go!"

Then on the topic of the demon lord, "Well, I can also do research as we go with that too.  Maybe I can uncover something that'll help us when the time comes.  The rest of what I said is mostly for the potential that the first guys messed up so bad he can only be sealed.  It's best to keep options open!"  

"Oh yeah, I'm doing a thing here soon with letting people try out my cooking skills, interested in coming?"
Arcadia Arcadia may be combat oriented but she's combat oriented as a guardian and defender, so looking at things from that angle usually helps her parse things that otherwise flit from her comprehension. In this case it seems to put her on a similar track as the others so that's a good thing. "An acceptable plan of action," she agrees with a nod. "Topaz first also allows us to move ahead while maintaining connections with our base operations here, not cutting off ourselves in the process."

Her wings twitch a little. Mostly because she's still not one to stand still for as long as she has. "We can focus on making a unitied situation to keep the Greater Evil at bay first, and worry about figuring out how to permanently removing said Greater Evil later, when more about it and the conditions surrounding it are known. Unifying and protecting the actual people of this land comes first." As much as she enjoys fighting she at least has priorities straight in that regard.
Cantio Looking quite pleased with how well the planning session turned out, Cantio nods in agreement with pretty much everything being laid out. "It never hurts to cover multiple angles at once, no. Best case scenario, we get them on our side and start a nice snowball effect while we get more intel. Worst case scenario, we'll still have plenty of leverage if we approach the nation in arguable the worst spot to defend themselves. I'll see if I can't find out some stuff about Madruk, too, or at least more about Fandaria's leader since..."

She scowls, perhaps for the first time in weeks. "Killing his own brother just to take power... That sort of thing is unforgivable, but nobody's even ousted him yet. I can't imagine how his people could just let that slide unless they believe he'd be able to protect them that much."

Thankfully, her mood is lightened up when she hears about Ishirou cooking. "You? With food?" There's a long pause as Cantio stares right at him, then gives that impressed/surprised nod. "Yeah, sure! I didn't know you had it in you. I wonder..."

"Can you calculate the flavors before tasting it?"
Arcadia "The people may also feel they do not have the strength needed to punish him. Or to lead themselves, leaving them vulnerable to other threats." Arcadia snorts softly. "Assassination of realtives over power is unfortunately a common occurance historicaly. Not that it excuses it any."

Then the conversation shifts to something more casually entertaining. "While I do not require nutritional intake I am fully capable of tasting and ingesting food because communing over meals is a common social practice. The people were more accepting of a guardian who displays traits and engages in activities they are familiar with." She picks up the glass of iced tea. "Food also often has cultural information," she adds, before finishing the drink off.
Ishirou Ishirou holds up a finger, "Yes.  They will be delicious.  Also, you might want to send me a list of allergies."

To Arcadia, he nods, "That's actually why I originally /got/ into cooking.  Well, besides becoming a human-ish form.  It's taught me a lot."