Maya

Upon entering the dark depths of the chasm, everything that the kitsune queen rehearsed in her mind… it vanishes. The atmosphere, the presence of the dragonborn leading the meeting, it’s unnerving her, even though it shouldn’t. In fact, throughout the entire event, Maya probably heard about one or two things coming from, but the rest of the details, despite appearing to be seriously focused, she either didn’t pick up or heard only half of it. Her poor fox head is spinning inside despite masking it in front of the others. But the moment Joel raises the topic of some otherworldly invaders, the kitsune goes on high alert mode and shudders even more; She thought he was mentioning her and Renar, out of all people that would've entered here. All of a sudden, her hidden tail becomes stiff in fear. Ittai nani o kikeba ī nodeshou ka? Watashi to watashi no musuko wa kore to nani no kankei ga aru nodeshou ka? Soshite... Naze minasan wa sudeni shitte imasu ka? ! (一体何を聴けばいいのでしょうか？私と私の息子はこれと何の関係があるのでしょうか？そして...なぜ皆さんはすでに知っていますか?!What am I supposed to even listen to? What's me and my son got to do with this? And... how do you all know already?!) 

Even as the others spoke their piece, she remained silent. Upon being asked too, she wanted to speak up… there was something she had in mind… Watashi no ōkoku no shidō-sha to shite… iya… joō to shite, tatoe watashi ga iji shitai heiwanotameni shinmin ga watashi ni hankō shita to shite mo, watashi wa kesshite sakarawanai yō ni saishin no chūi o haratte imasu. Bōryoku wa watashi ga kono sekai ni motarashitai tēmade wa arimasendeshitaga, soredemo watashitachi wa koko ni imasu. (私の王国の指導者として…いや…女王として、たとえ私が維持したい平和のために臣民が私に反抗したとしても、私は決して逆らわないように細心の注意を払っています。 暴力は私がこの世界にもたらしたいテーマではありませんでしたが、それでも私たちはここにいます。, As the leader... no... as the queen of my realm, I take great care to never defy my subjects, even if they defy me for the peace I aim to maintain. Violence was never the topic I want to bring to this world, yet here we are.) But again, she couldn’t let it out. She does lift her clawed hands every once in a while as a feint gesture of some sort but still... nothing. Just total anxiety overrunning her shivering soul. This was a question that she can’t even answer without even breaking it down into a language that’s incomprehensible for the others besides… Renar.

Mira

The atmosphere felt entirely different; Around Elmars, Mira felt nothing but sheer rage at the thought of just beating some sense into this birdbrain herself. Around Joel though as she enters and witnesses his starry aura, the anger that’s been housed in her heart has been converted into terror. She’s come face-to-face with a prime minister for the first time ever; Considering that he has a lot of authority, it wouldn’t be wise for her to present herself in the most obnoxious way possible. In fact, like Elmars, Mira gives Joel her politest, yet serious courtesy towards the latter. During the meeting, she remained silent because she would never want to interrupt someone as powerful as him. At least until she heard notes about some goblins being murdered near where Adelaide's domain is. Seeing that Cezars was related to her, she draws to some immediate conclusion, though not a rather accurate one.

“Part of it mu- p-part of it must be Adelaide’s doing at least that’s what I assume from my misadventures with um… these guys. I mean, fireballed… it’s gruesome but… that’s something a Fire Genasi like her would do. But the cut down ones… um… ev-e-even so um, it makes sense considering that they were in her turf after all. I mean, I was told that she wasn't one to be messed with. And not like anyone would be able to touch her.” She muses with a paw on her chin, only for her to raise her curled up ears in shock over... “T… that’s impossible. What do you mean that… the barrier has been shattered already?" She gasps. She vaguely remembers her mother telling her that Lancea was well protecte by otherworldly invaders by this imaginary 'barrier' in the sky, and she believed it for a long time. Now, to hear that not only this is real, but it's been shattered before she can initiate her plans to revive the rebellion and help the world rebuild its forces before something like this happened... It was news to her, even though she had to compose her cool on the outside. At least, until Joel asks her and everyone else...

“Defy… what people is?” It took a while for her to process this rather unusual question; She has no idea how to respond  to this, since she has never thought of defying others... if she heard that right. “I only defy those… who have nothing but…” This isn’t making sense. What does he mean by defy the people? She blinks. She can hardly find the answer for it herself. It took her two hard swallows plus ten seconds before she could recompose herself. "Defying the people was never on my mind, if that's an answer you anticipate. At least, not until you brought this up yourself, sir. That's all I have to say." Her eyes then darted to the others. Maya chose to stay dead silent over this matter, which is understandable, but… she needs to speak up for themselves too. As for the rest, she’s anticipating in silence over what they have to say on their end. Right now she doesn't suspect her and Renar would be one of those invaders, not since they haven't showed any hostile intent towards her or anyone else just yet. But, what if...

Renar

The mention of their space-time barrier gave me chills on the inside, especially since us kitsunes here do not belong in this world. Just as I feared. They knew all this while… At least, not fully though. He said there are invaders that came months ago. Me and Okaa-san, well… we came a few weeks ago so it couldn’t have been us doing this. But… hang on… he means invaders… which means…

My thoughts return to that mysterious world… Golarion, was it? Have they already arrived on this planet to enact their conquest? Some of them got fireballed… not a surprise. Only a Fire Genasi like her would do this; It’s unimaginable that a planet like this would be at peace for over 5000 years and not be able to prepare for such an instability immediately though, and now they’re blaming us for actually putting them in a predicament? I just can’t wrap my head around all of this either. At this point, I have this impression that despite being hours away from enacting our sabotage, we’re about to get unnecessarily sidetracked… again. It’s ironic how me and my mother are doing everything to prevent these things from happening despite being from a world that promotes murder… and now… ugh… 

“Defy the People?” I blankly reply. Why is even asking us this though? If this is a trick question just to weed me and Okaa-asn out from the rest then... I need to be careful of what I say to him. I mean sure, fine if you want me to answer that I can… “Well… I… um…” All of a sudden, I felt the gasp of my breath slip away; I let out nothing but a wisp of air from my mouth…

Matte… naze nani mo dete konai nodesu ka…? (待って…なぜ何も出てこないのですか…? Why is nothing coming out…?)

Shoot… did he not say define..?! I misheard; I thought he said define the people… not defy. I suddenly became tongue tied, unable to utter my voice of reason. Other than Rixi… other than the Wildland Shifters… other than my mother who has been worried about me 24/7… I couldn’t find an actual answer, as to what defying people meant. I felt paralyzed. “S-Sorry, um... I a-actually... I-I don't understand what you're asking me. Would it trouble you to repeat what you just asked, please, if you don't mind?"

Liivi looks about as some of her companions seem perplexed.  She understands because she feels much the same way.  Addressing Joel she says, "I admittedly do not fully understand all this interdimensional stuff, magic barriers, and other realms. But it makes no sense when you ask 'How we defy what people are?'  Do you mean 'How do we define what people are?' I think that makes more sense."  She gives a brief glance to the others to see if they might agree. 

"I have no idea what to answer to the first question. But defining people... I suppose any sentient being would be a person." 

Alex takes this in with relative silence, a pained expression crossing his face at the mention of murders. 

"Defy?" he frowns, based on context he's guessing Joel means define. "To defy people would be to turn against humanity I suppose, but I don't think that's what you are asking. To define people, well that's easy. Any sapient creature is a person. Any being able to differentiate between right and wrong and make choices of their own is a person. Any being that knows good and evil and acts accordingly, is a person." He could stop there, but he has a feeling where this is leading, "Good or evil, any being that can think for themselves is a person. So then, any race that has the ability to comprehend these things is a people. It doesn't matter who they are, where they came from, what they look like, or even what amount or good and evil they have done. Emotions and free will define us and set us apart as people."

Suddenly, the tense atmosphere in the room turns into awkwardness. Joel has a whole speech prepared, but fine, he swallows his saliva and tries again.

"I meant to say 'define,' not 'defy.' But fine, ignore that for now." Joel face-clawed, "I just haven't had a lot of sleep lately, a lot of things to do, a lot of paperworks to finish, not to mention constatly travelling everywhere, since I'm the leader of a nation and everyone wants to hold a meeting with me every ten hours or so. Trade agreement, military exercise, sports competition, it's the symptoms of having the most stressful job out there."

"But... Back to the point." He snaps his fingers, "I suspect that the interdimensionals are the ones behind these goblin's deaths, we might not have a lot of information about them, but they have proven themselves that they live in a backwards and barbaric society that doesn't respect our scared customs, and that goes back to what I said earlier."

Joel leans closer, "I only consider Lanceans to be proper 'people' in this universe, no other society out there are like us, they only seek to kill, pillage, and destroy, either at each other or at themselves. And let me tell you something, I am willing to let billions of those interdimensionals die before a single Lanceans gets murdered."

"This isn't my opinion, it is the objective truth, there are many scientific souces out there that suggests that our brain and our biological evolution are geared toward peace and helping each other."

"You have a new mission: you'll go to the Duchy of Varkalu and investigate those deaths and bring whoever had done this to justice. If they're fellow Lanceans, imprison them, they might be working with savages but they're still one of us, and Lanceans don't kill Lanceans. If they're from the other dimension, you have my permission to kill them, and you will face no legal consequences, because that's what those otherwolders deserved." His voice is low, and also full of rage, and he probably isn't the only one who thinks of this way. "And do not tell anyone about this, this is a top secret mission."

"I also have my mission to do, once the world is ready to know that we're being invaded, I will lead a crusade against these demons. And I will not stop until the universe has been cleanse of its filth, not until every planet learns our way of peace, and no one will be able to stop us." Joel says in the most casual tone you've ever heard, then he stands up and adjusts his clothing. 

"This is nonesense!" Liivi says forcefully. "First, how will we or anyone know to any degree of certainty if someone is or is not Lancean? Second, you conveniently make this proposed mission completely secret. So if we were to do as you say, those seeking to condemn us will have NO knowledge of your permission!"

She shakes her head. "And what is this calling those you've deemed not even people demons? Are there not demons who are Lanceans? Or are you condemning them also?"

Mira

“Hold on time out, time out! I get that you’re mad and all but come on, an interdimensional crusade? Isn’t that a bit too drastic?!” Mira gasps exasperatedly with her paws out. “Lancea has been at peace for so long, how else would you raise a billion troops in a matter of months? Like, unless if you have thoroughly enacted the logistics there’s no way you can just give the go-ahead to just launch a galactic scale at the expense of the people! And over a single murder that could've been easily prevented at all odds? Define what people are, you said? Am I missing something or have I actually underestimated what's at stake right here?”

When Liivi exclaims in an equally furious manner, the future queen couldn't help but agree. “Liivi’s right. Even if we catch those murderers on your behalf, we'll have no way to tell where they’re from or if they're truely one of us. I don’t know if there’s even an expert that can sniff the outsiders on the spot just from analyzing their behaviour directly, is there?” What on Lancea’s heavens is she digesting at all? First she gets kidnapped, then she struggles to stomach Paulis’ betrayal against the rebellion, the preparations for her conquest to being Queen of Lancea and now this… was this what her mother warned her about bearing the Queen’s weight? “It’s what Alek said just now: Good or evil, any being that can think for themselves is a person. If you intend on launching what I presume is mass genocide over some small incident that would’ve been easily, please think this through with us. I know I’m not in a position to challenge your idea of thinking but, is it really worth the risk turning ourselves into the monsters? Is it really more feasible than actually standing as one to defend our homeland when the day comes? When the world can still be saved in spite of the rumours of destruction bestowed upon it and the world population?” 

Renar

This entire time, my tail remained stiffer than a cold okonomiyaki on a camping stick. I can’t believe that everyone here would depict my kind as the barbaric ones on the spot, without any further judgement. Like, clearly you guys are just blindsided by all the murdering and whatnot that you can’t even at least differentiate Lanceans and otherworldly people as the same being, even when the latter is all but a person looking for peace. You people are no different to my kind; You’re just worse off than they are. Kitsunes like me have already had it rough over in the two planets that I call home, and now you insist on repeating the past that we as a whole race, have had to endure for centuries? Unbelievable…

My thoughts were surging. There was static electricity sparking faintly around my disguise, a sign that my anger is steadily losing its grip on me as I responded to this ruckus. “That… T-that sounds… unrealistic, trying to murder billions of invaders on their home planets. L-l-like, just because you depict those invaders from another planet, your own, barbaric… stereotype doesn’t mean that… that doesn’t mean they’re any different from us either. A galactic crusade like this is not worth every resource spent, even if the world has enough to expend. What, the whole world is gonna set their hostilities upon each other aside just for this? Is that… i-is that the whole idea? How are you so sure that the odds will be in our favour?” I hesitated for a moment, wondering what else I can add without inadvertently triggering everyone else in the room. I hope Okaa-san is thinking this thoroughly too, because one single mistake can easily cost us everything we treasure… especially all the hard-won people that rely on us kitsunes. “And… this sounds paradoxical but, even if you’re able to enact it, you’re already risking the lives of what… millions of ‘our’ own warriors? Doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose of defining what people are? Of your vows to prevent murder? What if this truth you’re talking about is suggesting something greater than… like…” I stop there, because even I don’t hold the answer to this at all. No point going deep into something I’ve got zero knowledge about, I learnt that the hard way. Glancing towards Alek who blurts his piece, which I don’t find any reason to object to, I then turn back to the kobold. “I don’t see why this mission you’re entrusting us is no big deal, but why keep it to ourselves? I really need to know one way or another. We've already had a rogue Fire Genasi who's not only associated with this Adelaide we needed to take down but also already committed malicious atrocities as what you said, including summoning and manipulating some demon from another dimension just to get rid of us... I don't want to know what you're putting us up against and whether this is worth the risk or not."

Noticing Liivi-san and Mira-san getting angsty about the invaders, I thought about something to say to ease them slightly… well, I had one train of thought layered out if only my mouth hadn’t beat me to it first… “I know someone who can identify who’s one of us and who’s not though… Sure, she may be an odd one in the bunch but…” My eyes briefly tilt to my mother, and then back. “...I'm sure her talents would help 'our' planet in the long run. She’s right here.” Well, that’s probably a white lie; I don't think Okaa-san can easily identify if they’re from our place or not… If those killers are part of the Cult of Dragons though, I’ll slit them on the spot, turn their corrupt souls into my essence, maybe. If they’re from that… Golarion place though… I just hope it’s not one of my allies, especially from the Lord’s Alliance.

“Is there anything else we need to know? Because if not…” I get out of my seat and turn my back on the starry kobold (who reminds me of Tenebris) and that stupid birdbrain. “We have a private, important matter to attend to.” If everyone else decides to, I leave the ominous room without speaking a word. If not, I continue to stay and even sit back down if they need me to, but I’d hate for us to get sidetracked at such a crucial moment, where we need to promote someone in our mini alliance to Queen.

Either way, there was this one thought surging in sync with the several thousand volts that coursed through my fur, especially after everything I digested…

I won’t let you touch the Sword Coast or Japan. Not those two!