<strong>Location:</strong>Upper Platform<br/><strong>Tagging:</strong>Elias, Others<br/><br/><br/><br/>"And of course, she's one of them too," Iori murmurs as the tail end of the crowd emerges from the tunnel, frowning just for a bit as she gets a good look at Anjushri.  It's fleeting, though, and she seems to brush it off with a certain affected pleasant indifference and locates a cushion to lounge on.  The elemental directs a coy look back over her shoulder as she lounges, inviting Elias to join her nearby-- or at hand, if he pleases.<br/><br/>The look lasts long enough for the Bodhisattva to notice their arrival.  She breaks just long enough to offer a more formal bow from the waist.  "Greetings once again to the Court's emissary," Anjushri announces, respectful.  "I'm honored that you and yours would hear me out."<br/><br/>"Times are troubled," Iori answers off-handedly, crossing one leg over the other.  "We aren't in a place where we can ignore you out because of who you are and what you do."<br/><br/>Anjushri smiles wryly, looking to the handsome youth now.  "And this one is...?"<br/><br/>"Elias is his name," the elemental says.<br/><br/>"Elias."  She lingers a moment, then bows again.  Her air is subtly different as she clasps her hands in namaste, an element of acknowledging an equal and a potential rival -- and that he is welcome as a guest within her territory.  "Thank you for coming," Anjushri says solemnly.  "I will hope you find something of value to you in what is to come."<br/><br/>[...]<br/><br/>Over the course of introductions and re-introductions, Anjushri keeps an eye on the tunnel from which the group emerged, as if watching and waiting.  It's a few minutes longer before Howls Skyward pops out of the tunnel at a brisk jog.  "Is that everyone?" she asks him, head canted slightly to the side.<br/><br/>"My fingers work again!" Howls answers delightedly, snapping to demonstrate just that.<br/><br/>"That's very good, Howls," she answers, smiling patiently.  "Is there anyone else downstairs?"<br/><br/>A blink.  "Well, there's Ruli, and Rushti, and Drowned Honor, and Sjuganda, and--"<br/><br/>"Besides my children."<br/><br/>"<em>Oh</em>."  Howls briefly scans the crowd.  "Nope, we're all up.  Kids did a good job."<br/><br/>"...good."<br/><br/>It's only a moment's hesitation from the Bodhisattva, but it's still a moment's hesitation.  She doesn't linger for more than that, though.  "Many of you have noticed the diversity of our gathering here," Anjushri says, now addressing everyone.  "This is not an accident or a quirk of chance; this is because no matter our origins, no matter our beliefs, no matter the source of our strength, there are three things we all have in common.  We all share Creation.  We all are trying, in our own way, to make it a world we want to live in.  And we are all aware that our ability to do either of these is under siege-- from within, as well as from without.<br/><br/>"In Ages past, the powers that governed Creation had the luxury of fighting over who would have authority and control," she goes on, stepping out of her sandals and into the sand pit.  "We all know the stories.  The Realm against the Anathema.  The Shogunate against the Argent Witch-Kings of the Threshold.  The Solar Exalted against themselves.  Creation has always suffered when the Exalted turned against one another.  We have nowhere else to turn to but one another if we intend to see the turning of the next Age."<br/><br/>Beneath Anjushri's feet, the sand begins to ripple, forming hills, rises, and miniature dunes.  "We cannot wait for the world to save itself," she says, pacing the pit slowly; contours and valleys appear in the wake of her steps, none of them shaped like a footprint.  "Some of you I have called here because you are part of where we will need to be.  Others I have called because they have the strength and the insight necessary to fight, or even recruit, those who are pursuing more shorter-sighted goals-- or goals that indirectly strengthen our mutual opponents.  My most optimized plans, however, hinge on a single ridiculous idea."<br/><br/>Having crossed to the other side of the sand pit, Anjushri has left what appears to be a map on the ground scribed in sand.  "Creation is too great for any of us to be able to cross with any speed," she observes, "yet speed will be our greatest ally.  There is a skyship being constructed in the fortress city of Lookshy, in the East-- a project that's been consuming fifty years of their time and resources and has somehow managed to survive a dozen different attempts to de-fund it.  It will be baptized as the Wake of Mercury, faster than any other skyship Lookshy has ever owned or created.  It is a design they have never produced before, from plans I have never been able to trace, using funds I can only guess have not all been legitimately obtained.  They intend to use it to project their reach across the East.  I would use it to get the right people in the right place to save Creation from what is about to happen to it."<br/><br/>The rest of her breath comes out as a puff, blowing at a few hairs travelling down in front of her face.  "Doubtless you all have questions as to why I would ask everyone here to steal a prize project from the Seventh Legion," Anjushri notes wryly.  "Now would be the time to ask them."