Toirasa Ravenswood

The Confrontation

Into the pool she went once more -- into that darkness, that comforting embrace of Thalassa. While normally meetings with the Mother of the Seas were easy, soothing and gentle to the soul, today Toirasa felt the meeting was...different. Even Thalassa was agitated by the goings on -- and it showed in the feeling of the water around her. As her feet met a semblance of solid ground, the entire realm of the sea seemed to reverberate with tension.

My child. The goddess was there at once, perched on her throne of the tides. Today she could not hold a shape -- ever-changing, shifting through forms like the waves of the sea. Anxiety echoed through the halls. Toirasa had never seen the Mother in such a state -- it was slightly terrifying, to watch her prowl from the throne towards her Priestess. In some ways, it was easy to see what her goddess could become when pressed. Like a storm slowly building, her physical presence was nearly palpable. Toirasa wondered what Thalassa could do when pressed. What power she could unleash on Azeroth.

“Thalassa.” Toirasa nodded, bending slightly at the waist -- before being caught up in the goddess’s arms, feeling the sudden shock of power surge through her at the contact with her mortal form. “Oof!”

My beloved Toirasa, it isn’t safe for you in Azeroth any longer. The goddess was anxious, examining her priestess as if she were assessing injury both physical and emotional. Has He harmed you in any way? Are you safe? Have you evacuated the acolytes and the Felclars to the Isle? Her words were rushed, a stream of consciousness that Toirasa had trouble following for a moment.

“Mother, I have evacuated those that would go. The Felclars must make up their own minds. I think Cindra would be the one to make that decision, and she was meeting with Bexila...today.”

Bexila? Why?

The words shook the firmament. Toirasa rolled her shoulders, standing firm despite the onslaught of anger. “They are threatening to kill the Dynasty. Mother, Asar has entered into Azeroth. I know that you know this. We need to even the playing field. We need you to agree to enter into Azeroth as well, through an avatar, so you can manifest your power! So you can fight him before he kills our friends!”

Thalassa seemed deeply disturbed by the thought. Watery fingers gripped Toirasa’s wrists, a mother begging her child not to do some terrible thing. Please, dear one. Don’t fight him. I will fight him when I am ready, but I could not bear to lose you!

“Mother, you will never be ready!” Her voice was louder than she intended, and Toirasa tugged her wrists back towards her body, trying to break the goddess’s hold. She had never disagreed with Thalassa before. They had always been in accord in all things -- but now, now was a time of action. And although Thalassa could certainly wait eons before being ready to move in deliberation and pensive motion, Asar would give her no such time. Toirasa knew that He acted fast partially out of his own nature, but part of her did firmly believe that Asar moved so swiftly because he knew it would take only the most monumental of emotions to sway Thalassa to move before she was ready. And though everyone had forbidden the sea witch from sacrificing herself on those dark shores in order to spur anger in the Mother of the Seas, no one had forbidden her from confrontation with the Mother herself. While she was certain it was among the more reckless things she had done, arguing wholesale with a god, she did not let that deter her. After all, the world needed Thalassa. If Toirasa could offer the Dynasty that much, then she would do so happily and without regret.

“You will never be ready, Mother, because you move too slowly! Asar is out there — cursing my friends, hurting people!” She finally wrenched her wrists away from the goddess, but stood her ground, staring up into that ever-shifting face. Momentum gained, she did not stop her diatribe yet, words spilling from her lips both truthful and painful in turn. “They will come for us. They will come for Sindorel first, with all his flashy magic. Sindorel and his entire family. But they will come for me too. And I will rise to meet them, with or without you by my side.”

My child, I would never ask you to do such a thing for me—

Thalassa moved to embrace Toirasa, but the sea witch shied away from the gesture. She felt so small, compared to the power of a goddess. Fragile, in the way only mortal things could be. Every word she yelled at the deity seemed to cause even more agitation in the water around her; even the floor itself was trembling with building frustration and anger. But in that connection with the goddess, Toirasa knew that it wasn’t enough. Thalassa would still be content to stay here. She had to try harder.

I have already agreed to help in my own way, with other sources. Please take them, all of them, far away from the upcoming conflict, for I could not bear to lose—

Toirasa would not let her finish.

"I would take up arms, and— and call on friends, friends who know nothing of you and have never met you. I would make myself into an instrument of war to defend you!” The goddess seemed to flinch as Toirasa turned over her hands to reveal freshly callused palms. There was something severe in the sea witch’s expression. Something in the lines of her cheeks and the stubborn set of her jaw that frightened even the calm goddess before her. Perhaps she could become a monster, after all. Perhaps she would, before this was all over and done with, fall into those dark shadows of the sea like the tidesages of Stormsong. “I am learning to fight. I’m learning to play these games the other humans enjoy so much. Because you are worth it. I was born here in the depths of the sea to speak for you. I hear the tides in my blood because I was blessed by you. And I know, I know that it pains you to go to war; it pains me too. Your blessing was always meant for peace...But people need us. They need you. So please, Mother of the Seas. Please help us.”

The goddess took a step back; though she rightly should fear none of what the human woman in front of her was saying -- and indeed, Toirasa felt no real fear from her at the idea of fighting -- she clearly disliked the aggression with which it was said. My dear child.Why would you do so many things for me?

“Because I love you. And you need us to help you.”

They were the only words that were completely truthful and sincere. Thalassa paused for a moment far longer than any human mother would have contemplated -- a time that seemed to stretch on for hours to her mortal senses. Toirasa simply took a step back and waited. She waited for her words to sink in, for the goddess to understand that the mortals who loved her and worshipped her would stand up for her whether or not she aided them -- and that without her, they stood little chance against a diety. Against a power that could flatten the Dynasty with a thought.

...Alright, Toirasa. I will do this thing for you. She emboldened; filling with resolve, the goddess seemed to settle within the shape of a warrior-maiden, not so dissimilar from Toirasa herself. The woman was nearly flattered. I will enter the mortal realm. And I will send my husband back to the depths from which he came, for once and all.