A Dream of Quiet (IC)

[Tavar]

"So, you're going to look after their superficial needs, while the rest of us go off into mortal danger in order to protect them?"

Wing can't quite keep the stunned look off his face.

[Recaiden]

"I don't think you really understand what you're up against, cult leader? Here, let me show you."
Masque stands, almost hiding that she's angry (Raziel might miss it) and tries to set a hand on him.

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Should he not get out of the way, he should start to hear/feel something at the back of his mind.

[Drascin]

Drake is going to get in the middle quick, though. An Infernal with a sometimes tenuous grasp on sanity getting a "direct show" of the Neverborn, whatever the hell Masque means by that, doesn't strike him as a good idea under any circumstance.

"Whoa, hey, easy there. I may be overstepping here, but from what he tells me I'd say Raziel's head is probably overbooked enough already. That said" he turns to Raziel "Wing is completely right here. If that ship gets completed I kinda think there's not going to be a Gem for you to have your cult in.

And on the useless in the Underworld thing... We're all going to be screwed down there, but we're all going nonetheless. We're trying to steal from the First and goddamn Forsaken Lion, after all. This isn't going to exactly be a smooth and easy operation here. All the help we can get is useful."

[Leliel]

"Could I get a word in-"

It was at that point that Drake stood between him and the hand, and Raziel jumped back a little.

"Could I get a word in edgewise, please!?

...Thank you."

He took a deep breath and a moment to collect what he was about to say.

"Look. I can understand. Hell, I even agree with all that.

"But...the Stewards are my family. I'm their adopted father, in a since-almost none of them could speak a word of Flametongue, so they couldn't even get jobs here. I gave them a place to stay, a place to make themselves home in.

"But...over the last month or so, it feels like I've abandoned them. I can't leave them behind now. What kind of father would I be then?

<...probably like my dad, but who's asking...>"

[Tavar]

"What kind of father decides to stay with his family while they die, rather than attempt to prevent their deaths?"

Wing gestures around the table, while looking squarely at the Infernal's eyes.

"Everyone at this table has great power, and we can either chose to make sacrifices in how we use that power, or we can be selfish.

Well, that's not true: the selfish move on your part would be to take the Stewards and leave this place, to get them out of danger. You're not even willing to do that much, though."

At this Wing's eyes leave Raziel's face as he looks away.

[Leliel]

"But this way, I can keep an eye on Gem-!"

Don't bother. There's no way you can convince them otherwise, and besides, they have a point. Better to head the problem off at the source, rather than hunker down here.

"...."

"...Fine. You win, I'll come."

[Recaiden]

Masque draws away. "As you say. I will let him alone with only words. It's good that you were able to convince him. You will be needed, Raziel."

"I have my own preparations to make. I'll be back tomorrow, just before night, and we will go."

If not stopped, the deathknight will walk away.

[Rhyvurg]

"Well, I'm pretty much ready to go whenever the others are. I assume a day or so to prepare, and then we head into the Underworld?

Pyrus, you have any suggestions?"

"I don't know much about the Underworld, but we should try to learn as much as we can so we can prepare ourselves."

"Could I get a word in-"

It was at that point that Drake stood between him and the hand, and Raziel jumped back a little.

"Could I get a word in edgewise, please!?

...Thank you."

He took a deep breath and a moment to collect what he was about to say.

"Look. I can understand. Hell, I even agree with all that.

"But...the Stewards are my family. I'm their adopted father, in a since-almost none of them could speak a word of Flametongue, so they couldn't even get jobs here. I gave them a place to stay, a place to make themselves home in.

"But...over the last month or so, it feels like I've abandoned them. I can't leave them behind now. What kind of father would I be then?

<...probably like my dad, but who's asking...>"

"I understand you have obligations, so if I understand your needs correctly, while we're gone I'll assign my soldiers to protect your people. It's better than nothing, but a fang of Imperial heavy infantry can go a long way."

"What kind of father decides to stay with his family while they die, rather than attempt to prevent their deaths?"

Wing gestures around the table, while looking squarely at the Infernal's eyes.

"Everyone at this table has great power, and we can either chose to make sacrifices in how we use that power, or we can be selfish.

Well, that's not true: the selfish move on your part would be to take the Stewards and leave this place, to get them out of danger. You're not even willing to do that much, though."

At this Wing's eyes leave Raziel's face as he looks away.

"You're right of course, but that does not mean we should rush in blindly. But the ship is the easiest target, both to attack and to escape. If it can fly, we steal it. If not, we destroy it."

[Drascin]

"Oh, by the way, on that." Drake pipes up at the last of Pyrus's sentences. "About stealing it. Any of us know how to pilot one of these things, by the way? Piloting giant destroyers wasn't quite in the bard curriculum, you know"

He then scratches his chin. "Also... what size is the Maelstrom, Masque? Because I'm thinking of how in blazes we're going to hide it to stop other people from doing the same to us if we steal it - or from finding out we have it and suddenly we have the Realm and Lookshy and the Bull and Heaven knows who else at our doors to take it from us."

[Scarlet Dragon]

"Ah, I had not thought to hear it spoken since coming here either. What has brought you so far East?" The chef speaks it, he can tell, with an accent(one near enough to the area, though I doubt Dancer knows it well enough to tell exactly where.)

"I was hunting the raksha in the mountains and I kind of lost track of time." Dancer replies with an embarrassed expression. "So I ended up on this side of the mountain range. But do tell me your accent is familiar, what tribe did you hail from? My own tribe was the Hidden Circle." This last bit is tinged with sadness as if speaking his tribe's name was somehow painful.

[Tavar]

"Not sure we can hide it: we lack a place to store it, especially one that wouldn't leave it vulnerable to getting re-stolen. Might be best to just destroy it if it's going to be that much of a problem."

[Rhyvurg]

"That really depends on the condition of the ship. If it will not be feasible to operate it ourselves, by virtue of lack of knowledge, incomplete construction, or lack of armament, we scavenge anything from it we can, be it information, materials or artifacts, and destroy it. The most important thing is to deny the Lion the chance to use it, all else is secondary."

[Drascin]

Drake nods.

"Sounds fine by me. Take everything we can, and then run for the hills.

I'm kinda thinking though... if it comes to that, how do we blow it up?" He looks around the table. "I mean, we all probably have seen enough artifacts to know most of the buggers are damn near indestructible. And somehow I don't think a giant battleship painstakingly created by one of the greatest powers in the Underworld is going to be easier to break than a random artifact knife, if you catch my drift" He looks at Masque. "Does it have some sort of core or engine we can overload or something?"

[Recaiden]

"I don't know much about the Underworld, but we should try to learn as much as we can so we can prepare ourselves."

"Perfectly right you are. Raziel should be able to tell you the basics, and I will give you anything else I think most important about my world. A most central fact is. even the lowliest creature there is a spirit, with some grasp of Essence."

"Oh, by the way, on that." Drake pipes up at the last of Pyrus's sentences. "About stealing it. Any of us know how to pilot one of these things, by the way? Piloting giant destroyers wasn't quite in the bard curriculum, you know"

He then scratches his chin. "Also... what size is the Maelstrom, Masque? Because I'm thinking of how in blazes we're going to hide it to stop other people from doing the same to us if we steal it - or from finding out we have it and suddenly we have the Realm and Lookshy and the Bull and Heaven knows who else at our doors to take it from us."

"I have...some slight idea of it's operation. The Lion was trying to avoid the naval ship metaphors in its construction. As for hiding it, that might not be feasible. The ship is...well over a mile long, maybe two. It does not take a massive crew; ghosts are very vulnerable, you understand, against such foes as he has."

"I was hunting the raksha in the mountains and I kind of lost track of time." Dancer replies with an embarrassed expression. "So I ended up on this side of the mountain range. But do tell me your accent is familiar, what tribe did you hail from? My own tribe was the Hidden Circle." This last bit is tinged with sadness as if speaking his tribe's name was somehow painful.

"I was, am, from the Sky Shield people, in the foothills of the mountains. It has been a long time since I left my homeland. There was all a world to see. I am only recently arrived to Gem from what they call the Inland Sea, myself. The harshness of these places is odd. Both like and unlike the Crescent."
"You truly would hunt those monsters as prey? It was all we could do to fend them off with salt and iron. You are a braver man than most I know."

The cook makes a short, respectful bow to Dancer.

"That really depends on the condition of the ship. If it will not be feasible to operate it ourselves, by virtue of lack of knowledge, incomplete construction, or lack of armament, we scavenge anything from it we can, be it information, materials or artifacts, and destroy it. The most important thing is to deny the Lion the chance to use it, all else is secondary."

Drake nods.

"Sounds fine by me. Take everything we can, and then run for the hills.

I'm kinda thinking though... if it comes to that, how do we blow it up?" He looks around the table. "I mean, we all probably have seen enough artifacts to know most of the buggers are damn near indestructible. And somehow I don't think a giant battleship painstakingly created by one of the greatest powers in the Underworld is going to be easier to break than a random artifact knife, if you catch my drift" He looks at Masque. "Does it have some sort of core or engine we can overload or something?"

Masque nods again to Pyrus. "Right. The possible gain of the warship would be, if anything, a bonus. It's core is a sort of direct connection to the Maw that no one but the Lion understands. It's proof against manse-failure and I don't know that it could be physically broken. The energy of the Wyld might break the link, and I think the sun's 'holy' magic could as well; there are shields installed against such things. That, and I'm speculating, should leave it as disassemblable as any other object. And even if we don't manage that, Crucible or I might be able to come up with something. Abyssals are good at destruction."

[Rhyvurg]

"If it was built, it can be dismantled. If we can get it out of the Underworld we fly it into the sun or the Wyld, if we can't we send it into the Maw. The solutions for ultimate destruction are many, if you're willing to take the extra step. But there's another possibility. What do you guys think about keeping it, operational or not, as bait to draw in the Lion's agents so we can dispose of them? His army is legion, his elite servants are not. Sooner or alter, he will run out. At the least, we force him to start over with a crop of rookie Abyssals rather than his current experienced soldiers."

[Drascin]

"Hmmmmm... kinda risky, but it could work. Extra so if we manage to dismantle the core off and just use the inoperational ship as bait - you know, just in case. Nobody ever died from too many precautions. Probably better to use it as a lure well away from Gem, though - I wouldn't put it past the Lion's agents to start a zombie apocalypse in the middle of the city as a distraction.

If we're going to do that, though, we have to have most of what we need for the trap ready before we go. Because after the disappearance of his flagship, I kind of doubt Faffles is going to be all that willing to wait. We'll have Abyssals all up in our business before we can say "Doom" - I'm betting on like, at most a week before we start getting probed. Two tops. We're not going to get a lot of prep time. Better to ready it up before going.

Also... there's the ritual Crucible was using. How many of the knights under the Lion could do that whole sorcerous shebang, Masque, do you think? Because we might have a chance against his knights, but if they manage to make a portal and start pouring the Lion's legions in, that's game over right there."

[Rhyvurg]

"As long as we get to call him Faffles to his face, it's worth the risk."

[Tavar]

"Judging from what Cruicible was saying, I doubt many of them could do so, and even if they could it is certain that he's running out of active abyssals.

And, I imagine that this ritual was somewhat risky. Otherwise, why didn't he do it years ago?"

[Rhyvurg]

"If I had to guess, it's because he needed more Abyssals skilled in sorcery and he hasn't had enough of them, or servants with sufficient power before. All the more reason to use the ship as bait, if we kill even one of his necromancers we set him back years, if not decades."

[Drascin]

Drake thinks for a second "...well, if I had the ability to do THAT kind of thing I'd only pop it when I was perfectly positioned to take a very important target. Once other people know you can do that, it loses a fair deal of its power, which is surprise. So you only pop it up when there's someplace you need to take quickly and decisively for something. That's the kind of thing you absolutely don't use until there's something you really, really want. A hidden hand is worth twice the points.

Now, the best thing would have been sending several sorcerers to different points to perform the ritual simultaneously for redundancy, but Pyrus is probably right that a lack of sorcerers might have forced it. Or maybe it was the ritual components being hard to get - I wonder if Crucible expected to have an Unshaped inside that stone instead of a Lunar, from the way they spoke? Unshaped are pretty dangerous and slippery buggers. Though have to give it to them, without the monkey wrench it'd have worked. If that ritual had gone through, Gem would be Thorns New Edition by now, buried under so many ghosts you couldn't see for all the ectoplasm, which I imagine was the plan. Appear suddenly, and take the place within hours, then start working for the Gates. And he'd have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you meddling Exalts!" Drake chuckles. "But yeah. I could perfectly well see him not using it at all until there was something he really, really wanted to get. The way he went about it, though, means you guys are probably right"

[Rhyvurg]

"There's another thing. He wants Gem primarily because it's isolated. The mineral wealth here doesn't mean much to him, it's just a conveniently-placed population center he can turn into a shadowland without anyone finding out while he fortifies his position. What if we changed that, made Gem more connected to the outside world? We could arrange for a major road to be built in the mountains and connect Gem more directly with the Lap and An-Teng. The more problems we create for his plans here, the more likely he is to simply abandon Gem altogether."

[Recaiden]

"Hmmmmm... kinda risky, but it could work. Extra so if we manage to dismantle the core off and just use the inoperational ship as bait - you know, just in case. Nobody ever died from too many precautions. Probably better to use it as a lure well away from Gem, though - I wouldn't put it past the Lion's agents to start a zombie apocalypse in the middle of the city as a distraction. "

"It would certainly cause him to redouble his efforts if we took the ship to Gem, yes. Though if he could start a 'zombie apocalypse' just as a distraction, he would start one to get at the city to begin with. You can't just bring up zombies wherever you wish without being there, and providing a good number of corpses.*"

"Also... there's the ritual Crucible was using. How many of the knights under the Lion could do that whole sorcerous shebang, Masque, do you think?"

"Judging from what Cruicible was saying, I doubt many of them could do so, and even if they could it is certain that he's running out of active abyssals.
And, I imagine that this ritual was somewhat risky. Otherwise, why didn't he do it years ago?"

"That I can say. Only Crucible knew how, and the Lion himself. I would probably be able to learn it given time. The Lion does not trust sorcerers if he can avoid them. He could probably teach Owl to do it as well, but it would take at least weeks. The other requirements are not easy either. Many sacrifices, exactingly constructed mechanisms, and if it does not work properly the accumulated essence can actually strengthen the barrier between worlds."

"As long as we get to call him Faffles to his face, it's worth the risk."

Masque gives a confused laugh. "I will guess that comes from your otherworld tongue? I like the sentiment, though."

"There's another thing. He wants Gem primarily because it's isolated. The mineral wealth here doesn't mean much to him, it's just a conveniently-placed population center he can turn into a shadowland without anyone finding out while he fortifies his position. What if we changed that, made Gem more connected to the outside world? We could arrange for a major road to be built in the mountains and connect Gem more directly with the Lap and An-Teng. The more problems we create for his plans here, the more likely he is to simply abandon Gem altogether."

"Anything that will slow him down. Tough, I won't be able to help with anything like that, you know. The Fallen Ones would not approve. I never heard the suggestion." which means it's probably a good idea.

*As far as they know.

[Leliel]

"Also, it should be noted that there's more than one reason the Lion doesn't make a major military operation more often-he tried that once, it was called the Balorian Crusade. He literally walked up to Balor and gave him the go-ahead.

"Since the mutations caused by the Crusade included a more-or-less universal immunity to the Great Contagion, the Neverborn decided to voice their displeasure with him by forcefully soulforging him into his own armor. He's afraid of what might happen if he fails again, so part of his tactical weakness is that he's an overly-paranoid planner. The reason he hasn't attacked Gem yet is probably because he's afraid of something backfiring.

"But I'd like to hear Masque's plan first."

[Drascin]

"It would certainly cause him to redouble his efforts if we took the ship to Gem, yes. Though if he could start a 'zombie apocalypse' just as a distraction, he would start one to get at the city to begin with. You can't just bring up zombies wherever you wish without being there, and providing a good number of corpses.*"

Uh. Well, thank Heaven for small mercies. Drake kind of had expected some of the Lion's necrosurgeons to have figured out infectious zombies by now, so that one single Abyssal could whip up a roomful of zombies quietly in a basement and then just let them loose while the rest of the squad advanced elsewhere. It's quite a blessing at times that they're fighting the Lion and not, say, the Dowager. At least he's a straightforward guy.

"Noted. Afraid my knowledge of necromancy is a bit spotty" he smirks, with a hat bob.

"That I can say. Only Crucible knew how, and the Lion himself. I would probably be able to learn it given time. The Lion does not trust sorcerers if he can avoid them. He could probably teach Owl to do it as well, but it would take at least weeks. The other requirements are not easy either. Many sacrifices, exactingly constructed mechanisms, and if it does not work properly the accumulated essence can actually strengthen the barrier between worlds."

"Hmmm. That's good, at least. Though it probably means that he'll be much more careful next time, if he manages to prepare another ritual. Still, gives us a breather"

"There's another thing. He wants Gem primarily because it's isolated. The mineral wealth here doesn't mean much to him, it's just a conveniently-placed population center he can turn into a shadowland without anyone finding out while he fortifies his position. What if we changed that, made Gem more connected to the outside world? We could arrange for a major road to be built in the mountains and connect Gem more directly with the Lap and An-Teng. The more problems we create for his plans here, the more likely he is to simply abandon Gem altogether."

"If we're doing that... I'd suggest connecting with places other than the Lap. Gem already depends far too much on it. As of now, anything happens in the road there, and half the food trade in the city goes *bomf* and unless we develop an ability to eat rocks we starve. Whiiiiich, on second thought, also makes those routes a beautiful target for any of our enemies. Anyway, probably should branch out a bit, you know?" and Drake reminds everyone, as subtly as possible, of the whole detail he mentioned a couple months back, that reports indicate chances are before a couple years pass the place where Gem gets most of its food is likely to go up in civil war. They need to make commerce agreements with other places, stat.

[Rhyvurg]

"I don't see a problem with that, the road could also serve as bait. Bait without thousands of civilians."

[Leliel]

"True. As little collateral damage as possible is good if we want to avoid the formation of...a....shadow......

"....

....Drake? Masque? Where is the Lion's base in relation to us? And are there any shadowlands close to it?"

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I figure demonic infiltration tactics of other layers are much the same way-you make a portal from one area to the next and take it over from the inside out, which is why Raziel just figured out the Lion's strategy.

[Recaiden]

Uh. Well, thank Heaven for small mercies. Drake kind of had expected some of the Lion's necrosurgeons to have figured out infectious zombies by now, so that one single Abyssal could whip up a roomful of zombies quietly in a basement and then just let them loose while the rest of the squad advanced elsewhere. It's quite a blessing at times that they're fighting the Lion and not, say, the Dowager. At least he's a straightforward guy.

"Noted. Afraid my knowledge of necromancy is a bit spotty" he smirks, with a hat bob.

Meanwhile, near the banks of the Sandy River...

"...know what that is?"

"Obsidian circle necromancy in a vial. Yes. I do thank you for, ultimately, delivering it to me. With this, I-"

"The bottle is cracked! It's been reanimating contagious zombies ever since it left the Cold House! If we don't do something, the whole Republic could be overrun, and there won't be a strongman alive to protect you."

---

1

"They need to make commerce agreements with other places, stat.

"The country of the City of Dead flowers...An-Teng? That may work, if routes can be found through the mountains."

"I don't see a problem with that, the road could also serve as bait. Bait without thousands of civilians."

"A slow death to the city might not serve his plans. But then...it probably could, given how desperate even the Necropolis can be. If real Death were on the line..."

"Also, it should be noted that there's more than one reason the Lion doesn't make a major military operation more often-he tried that once, it was called the Balorian Crusade. He literally walked up to Balor and gave him the go-ahead.

"Since the mutations caused by the Crusade included a more-or-less universal immunity to the Great Contagion, the Neverborn decided to voice their displeasure with him by forcefully soulforging him into his own armor. He's afraid of what might happen if he fails again, so part of his tactical weakness is that he's an overly-paranoid planner. The reason he hasn't attacked Gem yet is probably because he's afraid of something backfiring.

"But I'd like to hear Masque's plan first."

"True. As little collateral damage as possible is good if we want to avoid the formation of...a....shadow......

"....

....Drake? Masque? Where is the Lion's base in relation to us? And are there any shadowlands close to it?"

"His fortress, which we call Merciless, is in the mountains to the northwest. We call them The Thousand; I think the living name is something to do with Fire. Regardless, he is hundreds of miles from any shadowland. When he was sent there, in a position of relative uselessness, that was the second half of his punishment, which, if you don't know, was considered a moderate rebuke."
"I would plan to strike as quickly as we can at his airship, giving time only to prepare and set our allies to more long-term strategies. He will soon learn of Crucible's failure, and shortly thereafter of his betrayal. We would be well served to act before his response to that can come.

[Leliel]

"His fortress, which we call Merciless, is in the mountains to the northwest. We call them The Thousand; I think the living name is something to do with Fire. Regardless, he is hundreds of miles from any shadowland. When he was sent there, in a position of relative uselessness, that was the second half of his punishment, which, if you don't know, was considered a moderate rebuke."

"....God. Fracking. Dammit.

"I just figured out what the Lion is trying to do.

Excuse me, I need a napkin..."

A couple minutes later, there's a small space in front of Raziel, covered in an unfolded napkin and his Key and its greenish water serving as pen and ink.

"Okay. Let's say this dot, here, is Gem. Let's say this spiky evil thing is Merciless, here. Let these squiggles be the mountains. Let my drawing ability be ignored, because it is embarrassing.

"Okay, so shadowlands are portals to the Underworld, right? Unfortunately for the Lion, all of the nearby shadowlands *arrow pointing off the napkin* are all over here someplace. That's not so bad for a lone Abyssal or five, but everything I've read about the Lion suggests he thinks of himself of as a warlord of the dead, so his main agents aren't Abyssals, they're *skulls around merciless* war ghosts. Now, soldier ghosts are pretty damn good soldiers, they wouldn't have put the breaks on reincarnation if they didn't like war in some way, so they're brave, ready and eager, not the mention the fact they don't need supplies like food or water. The problem is that *dismayed looking skull* you have to interest them, or they'll lose coherence and either wander off to fight ghostly bandits *skull vs. skull in bandanna* or lose their passions and succumb to Lethe *skull with angel wings and halo* or the Whispers *skull with devil horns*. So, no dice with those shadowlands if the Lion wants to conquer Creation.

"On the other hand, Gem *line from Merciless to Gem* is a lot closer *happy skull* and being in Creation allows the ghosts to feel like they're making process. Of course, as of yet, Gem isn't a shadowland. However, if say, *skull with TNT* the volcano were to erupt, or *skull pointing bony finger leading way for Navi* the Fair Folk were to attack, or *skull with bloody chainsaw and Dusk symbol* a massacre occurred, Gem *cartoon of a ghost rising up over Gem* would become a shadowland. Which the Lion could then use *skulls going from Merciless to Gem* to marshal his forces, then as a *skulls with arrows leading outwards* staging area for larger invasions.

"You see it in basic Malfean infiltration tactics. Transport from one layer to the next is accomplished by portals as well as sailing, so if you can create a portal in your opponent's heartland, you can sneak an entire army there and begin to flank your enemy's entire domain and conquer from the inside out. Octavian does it all the time when running resource rackets for his attempts to expand the Principality.

"In other words, to the Lion, Gem's value isn't in isolation, it's in convenience. The Lion plans to destroy the city in order to blow a hole in the veil his forces can use as a relatively easy path back on to the moral coil and allow them to retain interest and morale. And the thing is, he doesn't have to stick to one plan. Stop the airship, he tries to entice the Fae, or maybe trigger the volcano. Stop those, he tries something else.

"...oh crap.

"I just remembered. Corona told me once that the First Age had digging machines they used to excavate mines when I was scouting the caverns.

What if he's going to try collapsing the city? What if the cult could be in danger? Oh crap, oh crap, oh cra-

*SMACK*

"Thanks. I needed that."

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No, not metagame knowledge, just Raziel being paranoid. He doesn't believe it now that a character of your choice has snapped him out of it and will not act as such, its that protective instinct again combined with paranoia.

Also, Navi the Fairy, not Na'vi.

[Recaiden]

"Gem wouldn't be enough just as a proving would it? If he had such a shadowland, and yes, they're all far to the west of Merciless, he would have too much of an opportunity not to continue. Gem would, could only ever be the first step."

Masque smacks Raziel lightly, refraining, as Drake recommended, from using any mind-altering charms, and smiles.

"Don't you worry. While the Lion has such tunnelling machines, they remain firmly in the Underworld."

[Leliel]

"Okay. So, I vote for the airship. Even if the Lion immediately switches tactics, we've at least gotten rid of a weapon and improved Creation's chances, however slightly."