BoG'r OOC.

Imagine if Ii were still 100% loyalist/Ascendant, and not some god-slave of Nerull. How would she respond to Pale's words and actions in that case?

The dead deity Nergal is the power in question is it not?

I got that from the various curses Ii uses in battle like Nerghak etc.

yea, it took you guys a while to comment on that one though, and besides, Bladedancer is "the newby" and had to read all to catch up, so might have seen more to it then the initial players did..

She doesn't venerate him, Nergal, as a priest normally does to a god... and yes, very interesting.. lol.

Tiamat and Nergal are from the same Pantheon, but real life info conflicts with planescape:
From wiki:
Nergal actually seems to be in part a solar deity, sometimes identified with Shamash, but only a representative of a certain phase of the sun. Portrayed in hymns and myths as a god of war and pestilence, Nergal seems to represent the sun of noontime and of the summer solstice that brings destruction, high summer being the dead season in the Mesopotamian annual cycle.

Nergal was also the deity who presides over the netherworld, and who stands at the head of the special pantheon assigned to the government of the dead.
Standard iconography pictured Nergal as a lion, and boundary-stone monuments symbolise him with a mace surmounted by the head of a lion.
In the late Babylonian astral-theological system Nergal is related to the planet Mars. As a fiery god of destruction and war. In Babylonian ecclesiastical art the great lion-headed colossi serving as guardians to the temples and palaces seem to symbolise Nergal.

and:
Being a deity of the desert, and a god of fire, the negative aspects of the sun, and the underworld, and also being a god of one of the religions who rivalled Christianity and Judaism, Nergal was sometimes called a demon and even being identified with Satan. According to Collin de Plancy and Johann Weyer, Nergal was said to be the chief of Hell's "secret police", and said to be "an honorary spy in the service of Beelzebub".

From planescape:
Nergal is the god of plague, the underworld, and the dead in the Babylonian pantheon. His realm in Oinos, Nergaltos, is dark and gray, made of black basalt and swirling mists. It is laid out in rings, with seven concentric domes filled with the shades of the dead. At the god's side is his wife Ereshkigal. Nergal always manifests as a dark-skinned human carrying a night-black shield made from the pure substance of Death.

Nergal bound Enki of the Sumerian pantheon while Anshar killed him with his sword. Enki's father Enlil has sworn vengeance on both Nergal and Anshar.

Kirath suspects that Pale plans on consolidating the power of the githyanki under himself (or is it really Mist-of-the Mind running the show).Kirath has no desire seeing his people serving a barmy wanna-be lich or a ghost psion for that matter.

Notrhing regarding Ahl'zet, Azure?

Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it

yes.. and? , remember she might have ulterior motives...

lol, nice one for you Azure.. was the email address i sent it to still in use?

Well, now is y'r chance, so get it!

What are the reactions of Pale's sub-commanders of Pale's and Kirath's conversation?

I do hope that the party isn't looking to Ya'shenn for tactical planning right now. I'd like to think that she's fairly good at negotiation and extracting information, but...

That said, I want to reiterate the following question:

Ya'shenn certainly wouldn't put it past Mist-of-the-Mind to turn Ii's wyvern into eyes and ears for the undead psion. (She might even have done something similar with the Jade psi-warrior, though as the latter is a githyanki it's necessarily more delicate...) I ask because it could certainly matter if the PCs decide to turn on Pale at this time.

If the PCs turn on Pale...sending out someone to 'scout' Starmantle beforehand (and feel out/warn the githyanki pirates/graith) might be an option. In terms of overt mutiny, N'ach't/other undead pilots would need to be dealt with, and Kirath and his troops aren't in ideal positions at the moment.

All of which assumes the PCs/party NPCs don't end up fighting each other, since at least a few of them lean toward the Ascendancy.

With regard to Ya'shenn's own motivations, not only does she loathe the Ascendancy in general (and Pale in particular), she would definitely balk at fighting other githyanki for Pale's cause. (Barbarians are another story.)

In Ya'shenn's own case, it's not that she believes that Pale will necessarily send the party on suicide missions, and she definitely doesn't feel much concern for the graith.

She definitely takes issue with the prospect of slaughtering other githyanki for the Ascendancy's cause. (During Kirath's meeting, I was hoping that Ya'shenn could ask Pale/Mist more about the githyanki captains, possibly even asking in effect "So are you going to slay them if they refuse?" I was distracted by turkey yesterday...)

Mist(/Pale) seems obviously to be using a divide and conquer strategy, even using impressed troops to subdue other githyanki. Ya'shenn will be very uncomfortable with this situation. (I have doubts about how long she's willing to allow herself to be used this way to serve the ends of the Ascendancy, and even the threat of death/being turned into a zombie only goes so far with githyanki fanatics.)

Double Posty Goodness

but would Ii rushing forward not put a bullseye on her forehead also?

Staying a healthy and alive Sociopath is high on her list..

Yeah I guess she isn't and you are right survival seems to be her forte.