Reuniting what everyone has pieced together, here is how this will go down:
Wei Wuxian and Xie Lian hunt a beast to use as (food) bait, whose attractiveness Kumoi Yuuri enhances through her illusion work. Using Stephen Strange’s portals, the two drag the lure West, in order to draw the pursuing Irenia out of the sphere of Rathakku’s undead magical influence. Stephanivien’s muzzle-tying machine (official name) will rope her jaws shut during this hunt, successfully ensuring she cannot freeze everyone to death and end the chase early Jon Snow will be shooting arrows from the Eastern direction, discouraging her from returning — ideally, he will also be using portals to effectively track her and keep shooting.
As Wei Wuxian learned, Rathakku stole Irenia from another undead lord, frost king Anurr, who rules in the east. She owes Rathakku no allegiance, and she will (gladly) break free of his command the moment she’s out of the range of his power. Typically that would mean once she’s very far east and can pass under the control of Anurr. However… Wrathion will be using the influence-lessening sorcery, which he learned when he had to fend off another undead lord (the Beastmaster). That will ensure that Rathakku’s authority over Irenia ends… much sooner than expected, and long before she reaches Anurr.
Which means Irenia is open to anchor herself on someone else who possesses the touch of undeath and the strangeness that seems perpetually linked with the undead lords — Jon Snow, who fell inside a mirror of torture in Ellethia, and briefly bore the dark water within him.
The long story short is, you are not killing the dragon.
You are gaining her.
Now, for caveats. Without beating around the bush, I didn’t… expect this outcome. I wouldn’t have made her so big or named her something as bland as ‘Irenia,’ if I had thought she'd survive Arc V. This was not in the realm of the statistically likely. So, to make this... even:
— she is only connecting to Jon in the way someone might mooch off your unprotected Wifi network. She’s alive in undeath and given purpose, but she is not controlled by him or by anyone in the party. But she’s not a complete asshole, so she will behave kindly and never attack any of the people involved in this operation: Wei Wuxian, Xie Lian, Kumoi Yuuri, Stephanivien, Wrathion, Stephen Strange or Jon Snow. She might occasionally let them touch her, but she’s going to suddenly come down because they want to pet her.
— she is a party asset, not just Jon’s, or Wei Wuxian’s or Xie Lian’s, or… you guys get the picture. There is no way a single person would get dibs on a dragon of this scale.
— I’m open to letting you guys use her against Rathakku once or twice this Arc, because he enslaved her for months and has been using her relentlessly — she’s angry at him. You can all talk together when you want to use her. I'd suggest, keep it for event III.
— she might enjoy that she’s getting to stay alive, but she doesn’t particularly like the party, so she’s going to mostly spend her time physically as far away as she can, while resting within range of Jon. So many kilometers away, hunting… fishing… sleeping, flying. Whatever dead dragons do, once they’ve retired. In Arc V, we can have her off the mountain that hosts the fortress of Alem — at most, she can perch on the collapsed towers a bit. But she can't stay too long around Rathakku, and she's better kept on the eastern side (away from Rathakku). To make this simple, we'll assume she's lingering off mountain and can fly in now and then for short periods.
— because we have dragons (Wrathion, Vrtra) who will probably try to communicate with her or engage once she’s ‘with the group’: she’s fine! She’s ‘happy.’ A grumpy old lady, a bit hard of hearing, her sight’s not what it used to be. Death? Not as inconvenient as you’d think. She’s loving her life. She understands that she’s anchored on someone who cannot use her, and she loves that for herself.
— because you will inevitably ask this too, at some point: we’ll talk about the possibility of her giving rides. She’s very big.
Because she is such a battle asset, and the current event doesn't really factor in you guys having her, let's please ICly assume she is gained towards the end of the event. You can play whenever you want, just, ICly, let's say it's after Vataz's death that characters prevail.
QUESTION ON MY END: do you need me to put up a log for you guys, or are you good to handle threading the action in your respective logs? Honestly, if I put it up, it’s going to be… this summary and a picture, so it’s purely a question of whether you want a place to hang out together, or if you’ve got it handled.
Anyway, congrats, you have a dragon. I need a drink.
IRENIA OUTCOME
Hi guys! Apologies for the delay.
Reuniting what everyone has pieced together, here is how this will go down:
Wei Wuxian and Xie Lian hunt a beast to use as (food) bait, whose attractiveness Kumoi Yuuri enhances through her illusion work. Using Stephen Strange’s portals, the two drag the lure West, in order to draw the pursuing Irenia out of the sphere of Rathakku’s undead magical influence. Stephanivien’s muzzle-tying machine (official name) will rope her jaws shut during this hunt, successfully ensuring she cannot freeze everyone to death and end the chase early Jon Snow will be shooting arrows from the Eastern direction, discouraging her from returning — ideally, he will also be using portals to effectively track her and keep shooting.
As Wei Wuxian learned, Rathakku stole Irenia from another undead lord, frost king Anurr, who rules in the east. She owes Rathakku no allegiance, and she will (gladly) break free of his command the moment she’s out of the range of his power. Typically that would mean once she’s very far east and can pass under the control of Anurr. However… Wrathion will be using the influence-lessening sorcery, which he learned when he had to fend off another undead lord (the Beastmaster). That will ensure that Rathakku’s authority over Irenia ends… much sooner than expected, and long before she reaches Anurr.
Which means Irenia is open to anchor herself on someone else who possesses the touch of undeath and the strangeness that seems perpetually linked with the undead lords — Jon Snow, who fell inside a mirror of torture in Ellethia, and briefly bore the dark water within him.
The long story short is, you are not killing the dragon.
You are gaining her.
Now, for caveats. Without beating around the bush, I didn’t… expect this outcome. I wouldn’t have made her so big or named her something as bland as ‘Irenia,’ if I had thought she'd survive Arc V. This was not in the realm of the statistically likely. So, to make this... even:
— she is a party asset, not just Jon’s, or Wei Wuxian’s or Xie Lian’s, or… you guys get the picture. There is no way a single person would get dibs on a dragon of this scale.
— I’m open to letting you guys use her against Rathakku once or twice this Arc, because he enslaved her for months and has been using her relentlessly — she’s angry at him. You can all talk together when you want to use her. I'd suggest, keep it for event III.
— she might enjoy that she’s getting to stay alive, but she doesn’t particularly like the party, so she’s going to mostly spend her time physically as far away as she can, while resting within range of Jon. So many kilometers away, hunting… fishing… sleeping, flying. Whatever dead dragons do, once they’ve retired. In Arc V, we can have her off the mountain that hosts the fortress of Alem — at most, she can perch on the collapsed towers a bit. But she can't stay too long around Rathakku, and she's better kept on the eastern side (away from Rathakku). To make this simple, we'll assume she's lingering off mountain and can fly in now and then for short periods.
— because we have dragons (Wrathion, Vrtra) who will probably try to communicate with her or engage once she’s ‘with the group’: she’s fine! She’s ‘happy.’ A grumpy old lady, a bit hard of hearing, her sight’s not what it used to be. Death? Not as inconvenient as you’d think. She’s loving her life. She understands that she’s anchored on someone who cannot use her, and she loves that for herself.
— because you will inevitably ask this too, at some point: we’ll talk about the possibility of her giving rides. She’s very big.
Because she is such a battle asset, and the current event doesn't really factor in you guys having her, let's please ICly assume she is gained towards the end of the event. You can play whenever you want, just, ICly, let's say it's after Vataz's death that characters prevail.
QUESTION ON MY END: do you need me to put up a log for you guys, or are you good to handle threading the action in your respective logs? Honestly, if I put it up, it’s going to be… this summary and a picture, so it’s purely a question of whether you want a place to hang out together, or if you’ve got it handled.
Anyway, congrats, you have a dragon. I need a drink.