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Post by shinzo on Sept 18, 2017 5:02:39 GMT
I nod along with that. "It would make sense, though I would also imagine that it would be a stopgap measure until the Loom itself could be properly adjusted...if only for the purpose of sheer size. there is only room for so many pattern spiders, especially to work on the single, massively tangled knots that tend to result from superlative essence use within a confined area. It stands to reason that were there a way to shunt essence across a greater area, if the release of the charm or artifact were to be spread out over a large area, equidistant over a Solar's domain, as an example, the spiders would be better able to clean it up quickly and efficiently rather than get bunched up and spending time undoing a harsh tangle. If you could design an artifact such as that, it would be worth a shot, at least...though it's, again, just another stopgap until eventually someone can convince Autocthon to end his exile." He sighs a bit. "I hope that day comes soon. The history that led to the Maker's departure was...sad. He's someone that deserves happiness, however a being like him can find it." He smiles. "But that might be the caste talking, I don't know. But I'm sure that if we made greater effort to understand the mind of the Primordial, to communicate what he fails to grasp in his magnitude...I think it could truly have been avoided, and Creation better as a result." It had tied into his view of the Solar Exalted he had engendered, and one of the arguments presented by the Bronze Faction. That the exodus of Autocthon was just the reaction of the most supreme intellect in Creation to the frightening abuses of a corrupted branch of Exalted gone mad with power.
Still...her reaction to his annoyance at the comparison was so genuine, so apologetic, that he almost felt sorry for it in the first place. What was more surprising was that he detected no harmony of charm use, that while she was socially...inept wasn't the right word, she was Exalted, but unrefined perhaps, she was simply using her own words, her own genuineness. It wasn't something that he'd expected, that he thought could be possible from the woman, so arrogant at times, but at the same time, it seemed to fit her like a glove. She had even used a bow of apology, something likely taught by a Sidereal sifu. To remember that...well, if her social graces with words weren't great, her memory of etiquette was much better. "Ah, don't worry, it's fine, it's fine. We all have our specializations, right?" It was...mind-boggling how easy it was. His mind had been filled with his experiences with Solars, grumbling, resistant, arrogant...and then there was this. If simply taking greater effort to talk to them produced results like this...but other Sidereal diplomats attempted them and met utter failure...I'd been in the Deliberative with the Five-Score Fellowship, seen our advice ignored and banned...this individual was just strange, far too strange. That was all that could be the explanation.
I blinked. "She...that damned bitch. Interfering with Bureau of Fate business outside of her damned broad job description?!" It was infuriating. To say that I hated her, that most every Sidereal hated her, was an understatement. She was a constant thorn in our side, but usually, she kept her antagonism aboveboard, through things that were at least supposedly legitimate. If she was redirecting official correspondence from a Solar Exalted, no less...that might be enough to get the Starmetal that was needed for what I'd suggested...or, it would be, if the Deliberative still existed. I was about to mention something related to potential issues with such a device before my mind was assaulted by the image of what she'd suggested. I couldn't help but grow ill, though I managed to keep the sickness at bay. "Ah, Kishar, I'm not sure how I'd say this, but...well, Sidereals have a charm to redirect the fate of afflictions that we would gain and transmit them to other people. Now, with that charm in effect, I still don't think I would recover by pressing myself that close to anything related to her." I shudder. "Maybe other people think differently, but..." I shudder again, more forcefully.
Her explanation...made sense. Surely the Games were pleasurable, but she wasn't lying when she said that to say that the Incarnae were addicted to them was utter blasphemy. It was something that was swimming around the back of my head, but...it was shunted back there when the Bronze Faction gave their demonstration of how the Unconquered Sun turned his back from the Solars out of distaste for what they became, how the Maidens stood back as they made their plans...Did that all have such a basic alternate explanation? I couldn't show just how much that was affecting me, so I laugh. "Right, right, don't worry, your thoughts are safe with me. I'll need to think about it, though...I'm not too sure how comfortable I am with blasphemy personally just yet."
Furthermore...she was also right about the Raksha, the Yozi, the Neverborn...if problems came from them...would Dragon-Blooded be enough to preserve Creation? Surely they could, given sufficient numbers. After all, Dragonblooded and Sidereal oversight of them were toppling the Solar Exalted as we spoke. What could be more difficult than that? But it was a problem, one that the Bronze Faction ignored...and the Gold Faction failed to bring up with any sort of directness, with real argument. Argh... I laugh again, trying to get myself off this train of thought. "Well, I'm glad you think so. Of course, it's all theoretical, we only have record of Charms that existed during the Primordial War. I always found it so restrictive how they limited our freedom, but I'm sure if I do have the freedom, I'll make things beautiful enough to impress you, don't worry about that."
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Post by Kishar on Sept 18, 2017 6:02:38 GMT
I listened to what he had said about the loom, and the artifact that he had proposed. Such a thing was theoretically possible, though I would need to work on a rather large network with lots of resources and get a bit more knowledge of fate to do it probably. "Such a thing might be possible with a bit of knowledge on how to work with Fate, I would need to know how it directly interacted with fate to figure out how to disperse that interaction over a large area, let alone to have the means to do it with crafting. Hopefully such a thing will be possible when I get back, though I will need a rather large amount of orichalcum and starmetal likely to do it, possibly with a bit of moonsilver to take advantage of its amorphous nature to spread out the essence for lack of a better word. It likely would need to be incorporated into the local geomancy as well, so I can't do much beyond come up with basic designs without a direct place I would be working on," I said with a shrug, I needed more information to say more than that, that much was for sure. I half listened to what he was saying about Autochthon as I thought about the rest of what I might be able to do, and considered some other designs, but I tossed the ideas as a whole. None of them were as good as the original, though I did take a few concepts here and there to make it work better. Combining different designs often came out with the best result, especially if you started from scratch for each of them. "Ah yes, probably so. Poor communication causes a lot of problems, that much is for sure. It probably would be better if we had delegated a group of Eclipse and Zeniths to that," I said, taking what I gathered from the end of what he said to reply at least somewhat coherently.
"That is true, but there's no excuse for letting my enthusiasm get in the way of thinking about my words," I said with a sigh as I was a bit disappointed in myself, "It's a vice of mine I just seem to be unable to kick, really. It doesn't help that it gets fed into whenever I am around other Solars with how dismissive of others they tend to be. Especially since you get looked down on by the others if you don't act like that, it's rather annoying really. I hate the way that they expect me to treat my mate like an inferior just because he is a Lunar and I am a Solar. I envy the way that Gaheris and his Wife get away with that without many repercussions, but I suppose that is just how things are for Golden Hero Vassals who once fought against the Primordials themselves," I said, giving a bit of a sigh as I shrugged, a bit unhappy with the situation but mostly resigned to it having to be the way it was. After all, it made sense that those who still were around since the war got some sort of privileges from it, they had made the entire Realm possible by their efforts, so such a thing made some sort of sense. It was an earned merit, not something that had just been given to them.
"Calling her a bitch is an insult to female dogs everywhere, Shinzo. Be more careful who you might offend by saying something like that," I said, deadpanning a little bit but my smirk giving me away as joking a bit. After all, I had just decided to drop the matter. Too much of a hassle to actually get the concrete proof that it was her and I didn't want to go through the damned paperwork for that kind of thing. His reaction to what I had suggested was also a tad amusing, though I did manage to keep it to myself since he did seem genuinely sickened by the prospect. "I figure, though maybe it would be better to drop it in the middle of a village and let them use it or something. Might be amusing to see how she reacts to such a thing with mortals," I said with a shrug, "It's mostly shelved since I have other things to do, but I always am baffled why people forget that its possible to make people into artifacts and thus its a bad idea to piss off a skilled craftsman. Its rather silly to me, especially since the Twilights are the masters of Sorcery as well. Its like they are asking to meet a terrible fate."
"I figured, all of your kind are priests of some sort to your respective maidens, so I understand being a bit more careful about that sort of thing. It just doesn't really sit well with me, it's all sorts of superstitious and wrapped up in a hierarchy that just is begging to make the people under them chafe much like they chafed and caused us to be made to get rid of them. I don't intend to do it myself, but I can see why some might have that sort of idea," I said with a shrug and added, "It doesn't matter how good and virtuous you are if you do not show it and use it to help those under you. If you don't nasty rumors can start." I found it a bit odd that he dodged the line of thought about the other things that were outside of fate, but I just let it drop. I didn't want to pry too deeply into his matters. They were his own after all, and we were just enjoying our time. "That sounds lovely, I could always use a bit more input on the aesthetics of things, I've always been more concerned with their utility unless the beauty was part of it, then I just ran variations on basic aesthetic concepts and shuffled things around to fit the fashions. I figure someone like yourself can design a beautiful appearance from sctach, after all, you are a Chosen of Venus," I said, giving him a smile as I bent down and tapped the ground. "Here we are, this is probably the closest thing. I'll figure some stuff out about how to make it viable later. Until then, I suppose temporary shelter will probably be the best we can do."
To that end, I focused on my own power, substituting the patterns of my will for similar ones conjured by my amulet as reality began to crackle around me as I began to sing of the beauties of the East, of the orchids of ivory and the terraces of foliage that could be found in the deeper forests. I sung of homes, of places that were luxurious, of places sculpted from the very essence of wood. As that happened, my anima began to leak out of me, but not in the same way as a flare. Instead, it leaked out of me in several places, bringing with it deep blue strands of essence that curled around me like vines, going so far as to seem to look like flowers as I focused on the shaping of the essence into a gleaming white orchid bud in my hands and I began to sing the last stanza of 'Welcome to the Highest'. As the song ended, I clapped my hands above my head and reality cracked and shifted under my sorcerous might, and the Essence rushed out, creating a large palace that could easily entertain a thousand guests in high style. It was ornately carved from translucent ivory, through which natural light would diffuse and light the place, and it was ornately decorated with unlimited food and posh furniture. "I hope this is to your liking, it should feel much like Yu-Shan, and the amenities are at least suitable for short term use. It should be better for us to chat in than just the middle of a field, don't you think?"
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Post by shinzo on Sept 18, 2017 6:39:52 GMT
I shrug as she requests that need. While she seemed to be suggesting things that didn't matter, things that would occur in a nonsense future where we went back to Creation and found nothing change...something only possible if the Usurpation failed, I shrug. Either way, answering affirmatively wouldn't hurt me. "I'd be happy to show you what I know about it. It's complex, but not something too impossible to figure out. Having a Solar available to help with astrology is always a help for those in the Bureau, the acceptance makes it more rigid and powerful. I wince as she suggests that a large amount of Starmetal would be required...that was always a problem, wasn't it? "Are you sure Starmetal is required for the spreading of Essence? I would think Orichalcum and Moonsilver would be the best materials for such a thing...Orichalcum best transmits essence, and Moonsilver adapts and moves essence.
I noted that she probably wasn't listening to me talk about my opinion on the Great Maker, but that was fine. That was more about me getting things off my own chest anyway, though perhaps I might chide her on it. "You know, if you want to improve your social talents, paying full attention to people is the quickest way to do that, I find. It's amazing what you can pick up when you just listen to people talk with undivided attention, even if their own attention is divided. I've learned enough to make a Chosen of Secrets jealous just in my time working the other half of the Cerulean Lute. As for Eclipses and Zeniths, I'd actually suggest Waxing Moons over Zeniths, in all honesty. Zeniths have a tendency to be rigid and inflexible too often, which isn't the best way to approach a Primordial who likely dealt with rigid and inflexible existences far too often." I would, of course, think Chosen of Serenity would be an asset too, but I didn't want to be too prideful, and the first two had more to offer in that specific circumstance.
Gets fed to around other Solars, hrm? Perhaps that sort of mob mentality was one of their chief problems? If Solar Exalt were directly harmed by groupthink and arrangement...if that was the case, what about other Exalts? Surely Terrestrials weren't that, so that was out, they were by far at their most effecive, and even most stable, in groups and heirarchies. But...Sidereals? I found myself questioning things much more when I was away from others, as this had shown. That was definitely something to file away for later. "It's quite unfortunate. It's always a gamble when Solar Exalted come to try and learn Sidereal Martial Arts, if they just do so to take knowledge and then spite you later, or if they genuinely care." I laugh. "I've taught the art to one Solar Exalt, and denied two dozen. It's a rather cute story, really. I told all of them "no," and the one who didn't shout at me and tried to pull rank I agreed to teach. Unfortunately, he died in a mistake summoning a Third Circle demon of some sort, if I remember correctly...quite the shame." I shrug. "But such things happen. As for Gaheris, well, I believe it's less to do with benefits from being in the Primordial War and more to do with the fact that he's essentially ostracized from Deliberative society, though bless his heart he still votes his mind in spite of it."
I laugh. "I know, I know, but I think, certain Lunars excepted, not many of them would mind." The back and forth was amusing, though perhaps my acting was a bit too realistic on my reaction to her artifact, to the point that I might have convinced myself I was truly ill. "I think that would be an excellent idea...so long as those mortals are assured a favorable reincarnation. Finally, a Mandala bill I can get behind. I think it would be the first one that wasn't just some inconsequential rider the Five-Score Fellowship would back with full force." As to her more serious point, I shrug. "Perhaps they think that they are more powerful than the Crafter, that they might never be in such an unfortunate position. I know better, because I know the few superiors to me that exist in the Chosen of Serenity."
I shrug. "It's just more...something I haven't really considered. After all, the Incarnae are supposed to be more infallible than that. To think of someone like the Unconquered Sun or the Maiden of Journeys addicted to something that might affect lower gods is...well, it's a rather terrifying prospect, if I must be honest. It means things are much less stable than I gave them credit for." As she requests my help to come up with beautiful aesthetics, I nod. "Of course, I'd be happy to do what I can. Beauty is, unfortunately, always in the eye of the beholder...but I find focusing on what could best bring people joy and happiness is the best way to find what beauty is."
As she shapes her essence, her sorcery, from her power as a Solar Exalted, I recognize the spell and simply wait, waiting for the blessed end to my troubles to come. When the magnificent abode shapes itself, I run inside eagerly. "Thank the Maidens, civilization! I never thought I'd see a proper building for months, not until I returned!" Roughing it was fun in moderation...but I'd had enough of that already considering the time I had to wait in Sanctuary.
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Post by Kishar on Sept 18, 2017 7:16:42 GMT
"Complexity is something I do rather well, after all, I am one of the foremost scholars on both Magitech and Genesis, so it I figure between my affinity for crafting thanks to my caste and the various charms I have learned over the years to help speed up my learning, it shouldn't be too hard, especially with all the latent potential to be gained from the new experiences here," I said, answering his point about the fate crafting. I was sure I would beable to pick it up fairly quickly, after all, it was a craft and I was a member of the Twilight Caste. Such things were our purview after all. As for his points on the crafting,I had already took his point into consideration, but unfortunately for this arrangement, Starmetal was also rather necessary. "Unfortunately yes, though less for the transit conduits which would be made out of Orichalcum, and to spread it out of there there would be arteries made from moonsilver. However, in order to properly shield it from fate as it moved to prevent issues, a starmetal insulator is probably the best bet to make sure it is successful. Otherwise it is likely to not diffuse evenly and only mildly reduce it as most of the tangles would happen at the start point and only slightly spread out from there," I said, articulating my design reasons for the starmetal, "I would need to do more research to figure out exactly how much I would need to shield it, but it is for sure a necessity."
I sighed and shook my head when he said that before I said, "You noticed? I was unfortunately mostly going over design schema in my head for the project we were discussing when you were talking, so I was rather distracted by that. I prefer to get the initial plans out of the way as soon as possible, so I was a bit mentally preoccupied. I have been told things like that before by my mate, but again, it seems to just be an old habit, or perhaps a vice, that I just can't manage to kick. I figure what you say is probably true, but its just a bit of an issue with how my min naturally wanders I suppose." That was just how things were for me. I would immediately go from challenge to challenge, trying to figure it all out and dedicating the full force of my intellect to it to the neglect of other things. I found it a useful trait most of the time, though there were indeed times where it got in the way, just like it did right now. "I suppose that is true, but this is why I am not the one in charge of diplomacy. It's very much not what I do," I said giving a bit of a chuckle at my mistake before adding, "I would also assume your caste would be rather useful as well given that. I suppose my mind just naturally gravitates to throwing solar essence at things until it works. Not the most unreasonable assumption, but it does fail sometimes I guess."
I listened to his story and found it a bit interesting to say the least. "That sounds about right, honestly. It has been quite a long time since I learned the ones I did, but how it happened was more in line with me seeking them and being willing to do just about anything to learn it. The old sifu who taught me must have seen something, because after I had been willing to ask him in several different ways that he told me to without getting frustrated, he agreed to teach me. I'm unsure why he started with Shards, but it isn't something I questioned, it was the style I was most looking for at that time after all, and if I hadn't learned it, this entire expedition likely wouldn't be possible, as it opened my mind to such different things." It was hard to describe to others, but the sort of enlightenment that style gave was really related to the very possibility of worlds like this existing, along with a myriad of other copies of creation. "It is a shame that he died summoning a third circle, quite a bad way to go. Should have invested more heavily in an amulet to help him reduce the amount of motes he needed to even summon the being so he could devote more to making it easier to bind. It is a mistake that many make and pay for, really," I said with a sigh and a shake of my head. So many rookie mistakes, it made me sad to know that sort of thing happened.
"Lucky him, I wish Solar Society would leave me alone as much as they do him. I thought it was just a benefit he got, not something negative. Sure seems like one sweet deal to me," I said with a sigh and a shrug before listening to him talk about lunars and adding, "My mate doesn't mind, but I do. I just can't bring myself to do it, theres...a bit of baggage behind that I would really rather not get into. Its what led me to feel the need to learn martial arts in the first place, so its a story older than you. Though maybe another time when I've had a bit to drink I might tell it to you." My expressions were obviously less cheerful than they had been, and I gave a sigh as I even thought about it. I put the entire thing out of my mind, its what he would have wanted after all, and his reincarnation reminded me of that every time he found me slumped over a bar with my latest concoction to drink away the memories, which just never seemed to work. His joke about the mandala bill managed to lighten my mood a bit, but I just didn't feel quite up to responding yet, just giving him a weak smile as I tried to work myself out of my haze.
As the topic shifts to the Incarnae, I manage to work myself out of the funk I was in somewhat to be able to talk coherently about it. "They may be powerful, but their essence structures are still of the same type as the other gods and were made the same way. It is much like the difference between us and younger Exalts, its entirely possible for us to use our vast powers to be more immune to certain things than others, but if we do not know it is coming before it is too late or if it is tuned to disrupt us in particular, it can still pose us a challenge. I would not be surprised if the Games are a trap laid by the defeated Primordials to curse them to the same fate," I said with a sigh and a shrug, not saying any more as my mood was still rather down from thinking about that entire incident.
As the building finished coming up, I followed along behind him, not nearly as enthused as he was before I went and grabbed one of the strongest drinks known to Creation from the bar and flopped down on a couch before popping open the top and drinking from it. I knew it probably wasn't what was the best idea at the moment, but honestly, this was what I needed right now. I needed some alcohol to help me deal with what was probably the biggest loss in my entire life, the time that had long since engraved upon me that while perfection was attainable for us, it was not something that was automatic nor did it come easy, and it definitely was something that came at a price. After all, it did count as the sacrifice that gave me Solar Sorcery. For the longest time I didn't ever use my full might because of that, but I eventually decided that he would want me to. He always did want to help me after all, and to be able to do so in death probably was something he would be more than willing to do.
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Post by shinzo on Sept 18, 2017 7:57:23 GMT
I sigh. Starmetal was always in short supply, and frankly, I didn't like what tended to require it to happen. Fortunately there weren't all that many Sidereals that needed Starmetal in comparison to the other Exalted, it was the rarest metal to go with the smallest group of Exalted, and we did our best to save through generations each preceding generation's supply, melting and recasting as required. There was a great less demand for it as well, which helped to keep the need for dead gods down. To require Starmetal on the industrial scale that was required for a proof of concept device that would theoretically be something that might be wanted to make the size of Creation, well, that was going to make a lot of gods rather unhappy. "I'm sure you'll take to it rather well. Whether you'll be able to put that knowledge into practice, well, time will tell on that. It's the theory that will likely be the most valuable anyway, so you can work with the knowledge when designing your contraptions, I would imagine.
I laugh easily as she sighs dejectedly, having been found out. "Yes, and frankly, you should look less surprised given how unsubtle you were. Normally I wouldn't have said anything, but you're the one that didn't want me giving you special treatment, so..." I shrug. "It's not a bad thing to have an active mind, but it's also something that you should accept rather than complain about. Working around it rather than trying to beat it, or worse, as you seem to be doing, ignoring it." I can't help but smirk as she says what she does on my comment, outright laughing as it goes on to talk about her solution to problems. "Well, you know what they say. Flattery will get you everywhere. And yes, repeated application of Solar essence will get you quite far, for very obvious reasons. But it won't get you everywhere. Autocthon is a good example of that...there's still one seal left, isn't there?"
I listen to her experience and nod. "Testing humility is something that each master has their own favored tactic on. It's generally not hard to separate wheat from chaff nowadays, with so many not even putting on a facade and leaving without a care." As she mentions her fortuitous circumstances in starting with Shards, I shrug. "It's generally the standard to start with the Prismatic Arrangement of Creation, but Oblivion Shards of Infinity is not an uncommon second, or even starting school. For Twilights, I can imagine it being a common style to teach, considering one of the principle benefits of the Prismatic Arrangement, the expansion of the mind, tends to already be satisfied."
I shrug as she begins to comment on my old student. It wasn't something I cared too much about. He was a good student, but always in a rush, always eager to expand further and faster without internalizing the importance of caution and control. "It is, but his life is his life to have spent how he saw fit. He lived life fast and bright, and eventually it caught up to him." I smile a bit. "I wonder if he reincarnated yet. It would be interesting to see if he is still the wild youth I trained..." That would be a curiosity if I got to experience his reincarnation in the inevitable repeated hunts that would follow...sad as it was. Hopefully he was spared temporary knowledge of the splendor of the age, that he would not die cursing us for betrayal, but instead just be out of simple fear.
I nod. "It sounds like a benefit though, doesn't it? He certainly doesn't seem to mind more than grumbling about people not working with him, but then, the Deliberative doesn't tolerate well people who don't play the game." I was totally lost as she talks about the baggage regarding her mate and lunars in general. Was my joke really that off color? I shook my head, confused, but willing to take advantage of the opportunity. Laying on the charm, I nod. "Of course, Kishar. Whenever you feel comfortable, I'd love to have a drink and talk about whatever you might need to get off your chest." Smiling, I yawn. "Man, busy day..." Not like she felt like talking either, it seems...when she does end up talking, I just give a nod as what she says has the unfortunate ring of possible truth.
Jumping down on the nearest plush couch, I lean back, lying down naturally and casually in a way that an onlooker would likely find seductive without particularly trying. "Ah, I missed this. It just wasn't the same with mundane furniture, it felt different, harder, less comfortable." I shift a bit, finding the perfect spot and just letting my breathing happen, truly resting for the first time since the portal. Seeing her get a drink, I ponder what the best way to get one too would be. To ask her to bring one would be a sign of rudeness and laziness, but I didn't want to just get up yet. I'd just be patient, I figured. Eventually, things would work out the way they were always supposed to.
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Post by Kishar on Sept 18, 2017 21:02:11 GMT
"Its more that it happens without my control that vexes me, really. It happens at the most inconvenient times too, like in the middle of conversations. If it simply came when called I would not have as much of an issue with it," I said with a sigh and a shake of my head, "It's almost as if my powers are exerting themselves without my call, just making themselves known through the very act of thinking even when I don't need to go that deeply into an idea at the moment. It really is rather annoying, really. I've just gotten used to trying to work around it by means of putting together what was going on during the space out by what was said at the end." It really did get awkward sometimes, especially when I was talking with my mate a bit about an idea and I spaced through a caress or a kiss. It was generally something I really did wish I could get fully under control, but honestly all the effort I had put into it had gone to nothing and any more effort would be a distraction from my purpose as a Twilight Caste Solar, so I had to just put up with it if I wanted to do things like I ought to do. "I thought the phrase was 'Flattery will get you nowhere', or do the Chosen of Venus happen to think otherwise?" I said, giving him a bit of a jab back as he said that before considering what he said about the essence and nodding, "Of course, some things take a more complicated approach, but that doesn't help change the baseline assumptions I guess. Oh well, everyone's susceptible to things like that when it comes to areas they don't specialize in," I said with a shrug as I dropped that subject.
I nodded along as he discussed the different methods of testing humility and just left it at that, there wasn't really much to comment on in regards to that. After all, it was rather obvious that most Solars didn't have something they needed that kind of enlightenment for so badly they were willing to do anything for it. So it made sense to me most of them would leave with how used they were to be utterly in control and not denied anything ever. It was just a natural consequence of our power and the way that society was structured. It was an unfortunate thing, but this was a matter of descriptive ethics not prescriptive ones, so value judgments were not useful here. "That is what my Sifu figured, I suppose. I had other reasons for being glad that I could start there, partly pertaining to my research, partly for other, more personal matters," I said with a sigh and a shake of my head, no good going into that now when I wasn't intoxicated enough to go through with talking about it in depth. "I suppose that makes enough sense about your student, but I can't help but think such things are a waste. Just as the sun burns bright but long, so too should it's Exalted. I just wish that more of my kind had more care for at least themselves and the other Celestials," I said with a sigh and a shake of my head. I could frankly not care too much about the large swathes of mundane humans or the numerous dragon-bloods, but there was a bond between the 700 Celestials that really ought to have been better impressed into each of us, I felt, especially the bonds between the Lunars and the Solars.
I rather quickly finished the entire bottle of the rather potent liquor, just wanting to make myself nice and feeling quite out of it right now. Perhaps it was this on top of being separated from my mate, along with just a lot of mental stress from the entire ordeal of getting the portal to work, but I just didn't want to be sober now. I tossed the bottle away, and it shattered on the terrace floor before I went over to get another one and noticed he hadn't gotten a drink yet, so I figured it would be nice to just bring him one and sit over by him instead. And that I did, bringing him a bottle of the same kind of drink before slumping over next to him, folding my wings back in such a way that it wouldn't bother him too much. I offered him it and let him take it before sighing and popping the top off of the bottle and taking a drink of it. "I'm probably going to be less becoming of my position of a Solar for a bit longer, if you don't mind. Right now, I just need to get this off my chest," I said with a sigh as I drank heavily of my bottle. "Back in the Unfurling Horizons Era, which was when I drew the Second Breath, most Lunars committed suicide if their Solars died before them. My mate had been told not to by my last incarnation, who had been a veteran of the Primordial War, along with his mate. So I had a much older, more experienced Lunar bonded to me, and I looked up to him. He was my Steward, but also my lover, my mentor, and almost like a father figure to me. After all, he raised me for much longer than my mortal father did. My time as his wife, learning from him and bearing him children is the moment I would go back to if I could live one moment for all eternity," I said, taking a deep drink from my liqour as I slumped back.
"However, that peace didn't last, as you know what happened during that era. Everyone does. One of the escaped primordials came back and attacked, and we were all forced to fight the old enemy we had thought defeated once again," I said, seemingly looking off into the distance at something completely different for a moment, "The battles were...grueling. I lost many people in them, friends, colleagues, children. And in the final battle I lost my Mate, and that loss catalyzed my ability to use Solar Sorcery. We were holding out against a horde of demons, and he sacrificed himself to save my life. Even though he was more valuable to the battle at that point than me. In my sadness and anger, I came to the final soul-crushing realizations that are necessary to wield these arts, and I wiped the demons from the battle, my holy might channeled through the spell I had been studying that required the final initiation to cast." I swirled the bottle before drinking even more heavily from it and sighing, "It might be hard to understand for someone who hasn't had to face the great enemy themselves in their current incarnation, but such a thing leaves a person different I guess. Understanding of just why we exist and why our powers are necessary."
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Post by shinzo on Sept 18, 2017 21:44:15 GMT
"When in life do our discomforts, our inadequacies, our failings come when they're called? If people could defer their faux-pas to the point it's most convenient with them...well, there really isn't a way to avoid that in any real capacity. Would it really be a weakness, if it could never be exploited?" Then again, Solar Exalted were probably accustomed to believe they should be perfect in all things, without weakness or deficiency, when it was very easy to see that was not the case. Perhaps the whole Deliberative might, ideally and not in reality, be that way, perhaps even a Circle might be that way, but individuals? It felt too absurd to even think of. As she pokes back at my own statement, I flash a cocky grin and laugh. "Of course! We know better than anyone else how many doors flattery can open up. If an untruth is able to masquerade as truth, shouldn't it be exposed and the way things really are be exposed?"
I note the same melancholy that came into her voice as she mentioned the personal matters that led to her taking up the Sidereal Martial Arts. I thought about taking it into my own hands, but with the fact that she was a Solar and this was potentially a situation she might be very protective of, I don't decide to swip the surface thought in the situation. After all, I was doubtlessly more socially graceful than she was, and I could probably uncover that for myself just continuing to talk to her. As she talks about my erstwhile student, I just shrug. "I agree with you, frankly. It's astounding how we were supposed to have such close-knit, interconnected roles with each other, and yet we have grown so far apart and distant. Unfortunately, as long as the Deliberative continues as it is, I don't see much hope of rectifying that rift." And, of course, hope might have just died eternally with the success of the Bronze Faction, but that is simply how it is. 'Everything has an ending,' Saturn would love to say.
I raise an eyebrow as she downs liquor designed to overwhelm even the potent Resistance charms the Solar Exalted might hold down in several quaffs, before throwing it, letting it shatter on the floor. Presumably she would have some automaton clean it up. As she takes me a bottle, I smile as she hands one to me...and says something that I long since understood just from the way she'd been acting in general. "Believe me, when a long day is done, I feel like acting just about that way." I say, keeping the mood light, but obviously letting her steer the conversation however she wants. Which she does, into a rather direct war story and soliloquy about how much her Lunar meant to her. I nod, I knew my history well enough to know where this was going...and the words that come out of my mouth were what I had just been thinking. "'And here I thought it'd last forever, but there's always an ending." I didn't much like that. The truth of Endings. It was very much in contradiction with my own caste, my own desire, for happiness, for love to spring eternal. But...life wasn't that pretty, that beautiful, no matter how much I might fight for that to be the case.
I listen to her war story, and put an arm around her. Despite what many people might insinuate, the Chosen of Serenity were not solely sex-starved junkies out to get a fix of pleasure. Even our work in the Cerulean Lute was often more platonic than otherwise, and that was what I was attempting to provide here. "I can only imagine...but I suppose that would be the case. Still...and I might be simply belaboring the obvious, but I think that's not what's affected you most out of all of this, though it's clearly multiple causation." I leave it at that, really. It was clear that she was remembering her mentor, her lover, her husband, the person that had truly meant the world to her. I take a long swig at that, the time when the Ending eclipsed Serenity was always a moment that brought out the worst side in me, even tangentially. "Hah...but what can you do? There's always an ending, or so those folk at the Violet Bier just love to point out. While remembrance is good...I can't help but recommend that the pursuit of new and greater joys is the best way to honor those endings." I take another swig. "I don't mean to sound insensitive, but I suppose that's just something I might need to deal with more, if you understand. Hard not to preach when Saturn seems to shine bright in the sky, I suppose."
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Post by Kishar on Sept 18, 2017 22:29:52 GMT
I didn't really pay attention to what he had said at the beginning, my mind was still on the story I was telling at that point, but I figured it was just something that played into what I had said so it was probably not anything really of note anyway, just something to smooth the cogs of socialization probably. That was what his kind was good at anyway, so I figured that was what it was. I didn't really mind the bodily contact at all, it was rather nice really. It was something that I didn't often indulge in, I had too much work to do, too much knowledge to acquire. Too many weaknesses to purge with knowledge. Too much pain and suffering to wipe out with the gifts of the Exalted and the knowledge that I had been gifted with, with the life given to me by my mate, who had laid his life down for me. "Of course, but such a war leaves scars on all that it touches. Even with all my power now, I shudder to think what would happen if the Yozi were to be freed or the last Primordial were to return. Perhaps its irrational, but such a thing shakes me to the bone when I think about it. I know it's a weakness, something I shouldn't have, but I doubt any but Merela herself could say that they feel no fear in front of the old enemy. There is a reason we were created with the terrifying powers that we have, and that is because they wield powers that equal or surpass our own," I said, obviously going back to a memory of the war, forgetting about the present for a second as I slipped away into the memory before I shook it off.
"Perhaps that is the natural order of things, but I cannot help but remember and try to overturn it. Perhaps it is the very essence that courses within me that tells me that, but I think that if I were to gain enough knowledge, enough enlightenment, search enough realms, and learn all that there is to know I might get to see him again. It doesn't even have to be something that I can participate in, just seeing him alive and happy with another me somewhere would be enough, to know that he wasn't totally wiped from the cosmos by my inexperience," I said, giving my gauntlet a flick to shape another bottle of more potent alcohol from the ether along with a glass and nevermelting ice to keep it cool. I tossed the now empty second bottle at the same place as the first, causing it to shatter on the ground once more. "I always keep two mementos of him on me, this amulet," I said, putting my hand over my heart, above which rested a moonsilver amulet I had made for him when I was still a young exalt. It was amateurish and full of crudeness unlike the more visible orichalcum ones, but it was something that I had made for him that I had managed to retrieve intact from his body, and so it was precious to me. "And this Metasorcerous Phylactery. He bought it for me when I started to practice Sorcery, he was so proud that I was able to wield those powers much like his old mate did." As I said that, I rolled up my sleeve to show a phylactery that was almost as old as I was, the design very much out of fashion compared to more modern ones, but it was not something I would trade for the world.
"After the war...well I spent a bit of time trying to figure out what to do now. I had depended on him quite a lot, but what saved me from being lost was most likely taking care of his reincarnation. And I knew that I needed to be the strong one now, that I needed to be the teacher and that I needed to never be weak enough to lose anyone or anything ever again, no matter what it took," I said, sighing as I looked into my glass, swirling it around before taking a deep drought from it. "I sought all the knowledge and enlightenment I could, Lore, Medicine, the Occult, and Martial Arts primarily. It spurred me to new heights in search of something, anything that might make his sacrifice worth it, to prove my value as a Twilight so that I could justify my own survival over his. And perhaps, just maybe, be able to use it to meet him again. That's why I was happy to learn that I was learning the Shards of Infinity first, though it wasn't quite what I expected, I took what I learned there to help do...this," I said, gesturing at the world around us to show what I meant by that. "After that, I learned the Border of Logic and moved on from the Arts, as the other ones extant at the time didn't exactly apply to what I was searching for, and I had gained more than enough power to protect myself and my young mate." I sighed and swirled my glass, "I tried being the mother to his children, but it wasn't the same. Things were different, it didn't feel like it once did. Perhaps it was the sorcerous enlightenment, or perhaps it was just the difference in the times, but it just stopped being as satisfying. Not to say that I stopped, but it just...was different."
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Post by shinzo on Sept 19, 2017 0:43:21 GMT
I honestly didn't know what it was really like. It had obviously, like her, been only one Exaltation away, but from what she said, it was like night and day. "Supposedly in the records there existed a Charm from the Old Days that would have allowed perfect recall...but it was sealed with the lock in the Loom. Perhaps I could learn that, to understand what you're telling me about those times. Unfortunately, my last self fell in battle in exactly the conflict that you describe...it's ironic, really, to live through the Primordial War only to die in the resurgence of one Primordial. I know it's far more complicated than that, but...everything has an ending." I shrug. "If the Primordial returns, that's something the world will need to deal with." Without the Solar Exalted, which was again, not a particularly enjoyable thought. "As for the Yozis being freed...well, that's just a matter of making sure their chains remain strong and unyielding. When you seal evil away, part of existing becomes being a jailer. It is a duty that can't be forgotten." As for her concerns about weakness, I just give her shoulder a squeeze. "Relax. You're too tense. You should let me give you a massage sometime, I get a lot of requests for them. Weaknesses are natural...anyone who says they lack them is a liar. Accepting, learning, and reacting to those weaknesses is what makes one truly strong." Sidereals were born with weaknesses imposed by the Maidens for this very reason.
Her desire to comb alternate realms, to do whatever she could to see her original lover once again was...well, rather inspiring really. Perhaps deserving of a song or poem written about them, in remembrance of the glory of the Solar Exalted that once ruled Creation, a testament to a bygone age who's ending had come far too soon. "I suppose if it's possible to anyone, it's possible to the Twilight Caste." It was a direct overturnment of how things were supposed to work, such an invasion would doubtlessly invoke the wrath of the Bureau of Destiny in whatever alternate world where that lunar survived, but I didn't bring that up. I couldn't. Not in the face of someone trying with all the monumental power of the Solar Exalted to achieve a work of the utmost purview of the Maiden of Serenity. "I can't help but think he'd be less than happy with you being so focused over his memory in regards to those efforts, but I think it's a beautiful thing you're trying to do." I couldn't see how it wasn't doomed to failure, but the Exalted made the impossible possible, and the journey was often better than the ending.
I listen to the story of her postwar life, and hum to myself, listening along. Her desire for knowledge was not solely the result of her caste...her pursuit of nostalgia, the memory of the past guided her headlong into a future that would be less than satisfying were it free from their hold. Perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps this was something best suited for the Agents of Saturn, for the ending to become more final, more true, with actual closure to benefit from and set her free. But then, perhaps it was too late for her. After all, she was lost on her goal. "Tell me, do you wonder if your mate had felt that about your previous incarnation? If he was unsatisfied in the same way you were? Do you perhaps wonder if your mate's second exaltation noticed your lack of...shall we say, enthusiasm? You live in the past and the future, but never in the present...I believe that is your wandering mind's source."
But at the end, was the unfortunate truth...it was too late for her. Creation would be a very different place when they were able to return...a thought comes to my head, but for now, I hold it back. Still...it was tough keeping up a charade with all this going on...too tough. Her desire to be strong enough not to lose anyone or anything tugged at my desire for joy, and not to come clean now would be truly betraying who I was...could I do that? For the Bronze Faction's goals? I didn't think so. I wasn't their patsy, though I agreed with them...I sigh. "I can't keep this up anymore. It's all too sad." I look at her, forcing her to look into my eyes. "There's...something quite important I need to tell you. I wanted to wait longer, to make sure you could be trusted properly...but it's unfortunate I am the caste I am, because I can't hear what you said and be fine with delaying any longer." I gulp, looking quite nervous. I was, in effect, the bearer of the worst news possible. "The citation was, in fact, a ruse. I came here to warn you, that there's a conspiracy by over sixty of the once Five Score Fellowship to betray and assassinate the Solar Exalted. Most of those who tried to warn other Solar Exalted died, especially those who tried to stop the Calibration Feast...it was likely the nature of your portal that was the only reason you and I escaped." I sigh. "I would imagine you have questions. I'll do my best to answer everything I can...I wish I didn't have to be the one to tell you."
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Post by Kishar on Sept 19, 2017 1:50:25 GMT
What he said about weaknesses really sounded tempting...but it stood against everything that I knew. I was a Solar Exalt, I was supposed to be perfect! That was what was expected of me! Weakness? Weakness was a failing, it got me snubbed, it got me treated as lesser, so I could show none, not to the other Solars. Not if I wanted access to all the knowledge of the realm, not if I wanted to be respected so that I could gain even more knowledge. No, that was not something I could truly fully accept. "Perhaps for the others, but I cannot abide having them. It is a fault, a crack in what it means to be a Solar. If I were to admit such things to anyone in Creation, I would lose all face in society. I would be unable to gain the knowledge I need..." I said, shaking my head at him before continuing, "What you say makes sense, but it is something antithetical to what it means to be a chosen of the Most High himself. We were gifted with perfection, if we are imperfect it is a personal failing. It is a disgrace on the entire Exaltation, and thus it is something that we must rectify. Otherwise...what are we?" I asked, shaking my head as I simply was confused. Too much was happening right now for me with how much alcohol I had consumed.
"That might be so, I understand that. I understand that he would want me to move on but...why do I have this power if the only things I truly want always slip away from me to be replaced by more useless power and meaningless wealth? Why can't I use this power to ever satisfy the very reasonable things I desire? What is the worth of such things if all it can do is fill in the holes in the heart caused by that which slips away with worthless things that never truly fulfill us?" I said, asking that to myself as much as him. My current power was useless, it couldn't get me that which I truly desired, so that simply meant I needed to get more, to seek more powerful artifacts, more knowledge, and more enlightenment so that I could wrest the all too simple and human desires I had from the Tapestry, be that in my home Creation or in some other realm where he might exist. "Why does something so simple evade me? Why can I create artificial life and raise networks of manses with my will alone, but I cannot even see him again? What use is power like this?" I said, probably repeating myself, but at the moment I truly didn't care. This was all I could think about as I stared into my alcohol, unable to comprehend why this was such a hard prospect, why this evaded me so.
"I don't know, I really don't. He has always tried to be there for me, but its hard to talk to him about it. It might sound silly, but I want him to be his own person and I want to like him for who he is, not for who he was. But every time I look at him I can only see my first Mate, and it breaks my heart as it feels all too unfair to him to project that sort of thing onto him," I said with a sigh and a shake of my head, "I haven't told him everything even after all these years about this. I think he has an idea of what it might be, and bless his heart for continuing to be there for me through it all, but it just feels wrong to me to treat him as someone he is not. It just...feels fundamentally wrong. He never treated me like that, never as a replacement for his lost mate. He treated me as my own person, so it just tears at me that I have trouble doing the same." I drank deeply of my alcohol as I said that, my mind lost on so many things.
I looked him in the eye when he looked at me, and as he talked to me I knew something was completely and utterly wrong. Too nervous, too serious. What did he mean by can be trusted? And then my mind froze, causing me to drop both the bottle and the drink, flowing across my clothing without interacting, as it was made of light and not cloth. No. No no. No no no no no. Nononononononononono. NO! It couldn't be true, it wasn't true. But it was, wasn't it? It was happening again, wasn't it?! My own failures had cost someone I held dear everything, now hadn't they? He wouldn't have mentioned stopping the calibration feast if it hadn't. Confusion. Despair. Self-Loathing. These emotions warped across my face before the rest of my body even moved, only tensing further and further, well on the way to snapping. Why didn't he say anything earlier? He said something about testing my trustworthiness? But that seemed odd. Very odd. Doubt. Suspicion. Anger. As the last one crossed my face, my arm lashed out for his neck as my anima banner flared from nothingness to iconic in an instant. Having grabbed a hold of him, I stood up and held him in the air, and golden solar essence that appeared in the form of a dragon seemed to coil around him, holding him fast as I gripped him by the neck hard enough to let him know I was serious but not impeded his breathing. My face was positively furious, and my form burned with the Terrifying Majestic Presence of the Solar Exalted and I radiated authority as I began to speak, my voice deadly calm compared to my countenance. "The reason I have yet to kill you is that I know it would do no good, and no assassin would enrage a Solar before striking, at least not one as competent as I take you to be. Now, Talk. Tell me. Every. Single. Detail." I stared him down, and waited for him to talk, my grip tightening slightly for every moment he stayed silent.
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Post by shinzo on Sept 19, 2017 2:30:23 GMT
I sigh at what she said. That enforced culture of perfection was likely one of the things that drove the Solars to madness. So too, was the inability to fulfill their true wants and needs in such a culture. It was all so understandable, all so damned, rational, that really, it was all just too heartbreaking, just too sad for someone that had the goals and demands I had. Whether that left Solars as poor, glorious relics of a past age that needed to be set off to a fitting peace, or mentally ill individuals that needed rehabilitation and treatment...whether they were too far gone or not, well, that was the very question of the Factions, wasn't it? Whether there was hope in the Solars, and whether to believe in hope for a bright future, or to act with pragmatism to preserve the present. That was all there was. There was no middle ground. No reasonable compromise. Either you were for the Solars, or you were against them
Or was there?
Right here, right now, there was the chance to see. A Solar that seemed reasonable, seemed all too human, seemed willing to connect with me. This was as good an opportunity as would ever come to test the methodologies, to see if one could truly guide the Solars down the path down an even brighter future than what Creation enjoyed now. A crossroads, if there were. The chance to see if she would simply ignore my counsel and descend further within herself and her myriad issues, or accept guidance and counsel from those who could guide them away from the Prophecy of Darkness. I had the opportunity to see with what came close to a best case scenario, a situation that allowed me to present a test case. And that was what I would do. I was confident in that, somehow more confident than I was with the original plan of assassination. I wasn't sure why or how I felt that way, when I had been so for it before...but that was immaterial. It didn't matter...or did it?
My musings, however, were interrupted as my throat was grabbed. My first instinct was to resist...in a situation like this, with the Martial Arts I had compared to hers, I was doubtlessly the superior. I could reverse this hold and even bring it back to her...but that would defeat the purpose, so I resist that urge and let her hold my neck up in the air. I cough slightly. "I...I understand your emotion, but truly, it was necessary. I'll tell you, if you're willing to listen." I shuffle my limbs a bit. "I could start back with the Prophesies, that would probably be the best idea..." I didn't ask to be let down. It was rather pointless, really.
"The Five-Score Fellowship underwent the prophesy for many different reasons. Rumors that the Unconquered Sun had turned his back on his Exalted. The passage of the laws that restricted our influence in the Deliberative. The increased motonic disruption in the fabric of Creation. But nevertheless, we undertook it as...a way to keep stock of things. To see if things were going normally, if the future would continue to go along the path of progress and good fortune, to see if the Solars were fulfilling their rightful place in the world. What we saw...what we saw changed everything." I shudder. "We saw three visions. Gold. Bronze. And Darkness."
I take a breath, to best put the Prophesies into words. "Three-Hundred golden swords, raised above the heads of men. Cautious star-etched hands must touch the swords, must hold them, must wield them. One slip, and the blades shall cut away those hands, and loose carnage and war. The ringing of blades against blades shatters the palace of glass, bringing darkness. Wielded deftly, the blades of gold uphold the palace of glass forevermore." I take a breath. "The Vision of Gold. The vision that, with Sidereal guidance and Solar acceptance, Creation could be preserved, and could grow to heights unimaginable even to us. What it required was...this. That the Sidereals bring our concerns of Solar megalomania and madness, and that, with cooperation from the Solar Exalted, a system to curb this impulse was instituted, that could preserve Creation adequately, keeping people honorably performing their roles as best they could." I didn't hold this belief. "I hold this belief. I know it's what we need to do...the only way to preserve true happiness and joy in the days to come."
I turn a bit in her hand as I continue. "Whispers in the ears of hounds, a thousand-thousand dragon-hounds bay the hunt. How shall the mighty be dragged, bloodied and furious, from their thrones? Darkness cloaks the hound, and the keeper of the kennel watches beneath five bloodied stars. Weep for the hounds that must put down the mad, and catch up the mad to never again taint the world. Hounds are ill-suited to sit thrones, but in so doing, the estate is preserved." I sigh. "This is the prophecy of those who hold little faith. The Vision of Bronze. The idea that the Solar Exalted were too far gone, that in order to preserve Creation, the Solars needed to be assassinated, through an alliance between the Sidereal Exalted and the Terrestrial Exalted. It's...monstrous. To diminish not only Creation, not only go against the order of Creation...but to even destroy ourselves as we forced ourselves to take on unimaginable roles...it would destroy joy for all of Creation, just to preserve it's continuance. Those who hold this belief are the most numerous, for they hold the continuance of Creation at any cost...as much as it's against my Caste, I understand the argument. After all...that is our job."
And with a shuddering breath, I repeat the final Vision. "Woe. Woe to Humankind, and to all Heaven and Earth. Poison drips from a blinded Sun, and its pestilence taints all things. The wells of the world are made vile, and poison creeps into all things living and dead, until all are rotted from within. Even the Stars drop from the pestilent firmament, cutting a burning swathe through a venom-clouded sky." I sigh. "The Vision of Darkness. The doom that awaits if we did nothing. The doom that awaits us if the Vision of Gold is tried and fails. To see the Wyld, the prison Malfeas, the Neverborn look upon us and laugh, to be happy that they do not share our torment. That was what we saw...what happened later was how we decided to act."
I cough. "Have...have I told you enough to be let down yet? Or should I keep talking? Either's fine with me, though right below your middle finger, my neck is starting to itch a bit..."
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Post by Kishar on Sept 19, 2017 3:08:11 GMT
I growled a little bit as he said what he did, starting with unnecessary things instead of just getting straight to the damned point. "Do so. I thought I already told you to," I said, the fact that my patience was wearing thin very obvious in my voice. The prophecies of the Sidereals were far too vague and mutable for my liking, not to mention the fact that as far as I knew, it was based on the Loom, and thus could not take into account the influence of those from outside fate such as Demons, Raksha, and the Neverborn. Too full of holes, and the fact that such a thing was involved in what had robbed me of my very simple desire to protect those who were close to me enraged me, and that showed with a twitching of my brow. I would listen, however, as it would be necessary to understand just how to punish those who had done such things to me and understand exactly why in Malfeas they decided to upset the order of reality and quite possibly render the entire endeavor meaningless as the forces of those outside fate invaded without the Solar Exalted to be glorious heroes needed to direct and guide the others, as well as be the glorious shining heroes on the front.
And so I listened, and the fact that my grip didn't grow tighter showed that I was considering what he was saying, even if the look on my face and the fact I kept unblinking eye contact on him did not change. The reasons for their undertaking those prophecies was somewhat flawed, but understandable considering the lack of consideration about the Incarnae being affected by the games. I would not begrudge them that, after all, that was their job even if such prophecies were inherently flawed in that they could not show the full picture to say the very least. The names of the three futures they came to were rather ominous, however, and I kept that in mind as my mind raced a mile a minute to calculate exactly what was going on. At least it was far too elaborate to be a lie, that much was for sure. And he had no reason to lie about this, if he was an assassin for other reasons he could have just gone about it rather immediately while I was drunk and not told me anything, killing me without my being any the wiser. Though he likely would have waited until he got a portal back, that much was likely at least, so perhaps not until later.
I twitched as he went into pointless symbolism, explaining what he saw instead of explaining the damn meaning directly, but luckily it wasn't long before he got to explaining it. It sounded like it was a very risky proposition, but again, it seemed to ignore the forces that were outside of fate influencing what they saw one way or another, and that those outcomes were only if nothing from outside creation interfered, which seemed very unlikely given the massive amount of chaos and upheaval that this damned insurrection of theirs would create! Without the Solars around, so many of the works that kept the world in working order and the beings outside fate out would crumble and perish over time, leading to invasions from outside! How could they not see that!? I held my tongue for now and decided that I would only speak after he said all that he was going to.
And I heard one of the other options they had, the one that over half of Sidereals had decided to go with instead of coming to us. The plan where they turned our Vassals against us and used treachery and deception to remove us so that broken remnants of creation could remain until they were consumed by the forces of the underworld, Malfeas, or the Wyld. I saw why he could understand that, but only if he didn't take into account that their damned prophecies were not absolute, and that they might fail. If one discounted that, and thus discounted the threats outside fate, it made the most sense given their duties, but it was absolutely flawed in reality. What in Malfeas's damned name were they thinking!?
The last prophecy was about what I figured it would be from what the other half of the gold prophecy was, so I glossed over it without thinking too hard about the symbolism. It wasn't necessary after all, it explained itself from the name and the vaguely ominous sounding things associated with it. I was so incensed at this point by what had happened that I just gave him a stare as he asked to be put down and had the gall to complain about an itch below my middle finger, to which I just gave him a smile and said, "Sure, I'll put you down. I'll put you down very shortly." And with that, my essence flared once again as my rage caused me to gain temporary instinctual understanding of the Instinct of a Hellraiser and slammed him hard into the ground, which if it hit, would transfer all but enough to leave him a bit bruised into the ground and causing the structure that we were in crumble around us, turning into the ivory orchid petals it was truly shaped from.
Whether or not he used his trickery to avoid such a thing, my answer would remain the same regardless of the scenery around me when it happened. "So you are telling me that my Mate is dead and I have once again lost one of the things that I truly care about," I said, my face curled into a snarl as I stared down at him, "because over half the Sidereals believed more in a damned prophecy that, by its very damned nature, could not account for the actions of beings outside of fate, than they did their own ability to convince some of the more reasonable among us that something was wrong and then our ability to convince the others, and perhaps even our ability to fix whatever was causing it all? Am I understanding this correctly, because right now I am unsure if i overestimated your fellows, or if I am going madder than a Raksha."
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Post by shinzo on Sept 19, 2017 3:38:19 GMT
Well, that was unfortunate. Very unfortunate indeed that she'd go and do something like that. Really, here I was explaining things as best I could in a rather compromised condition and she was letting her anger take things out on me when I was, ostensibly, just a messenger in all of this? And she wondered why there were people that might end up lacking faith in the Solars. As she attempted to throw me so hard into the ground that the entire building would collapse around us, I heard that music very loud and very clear. Essence flew off on my own account, spent to allow me to dodge the fate of being the architect of this building's collapse, instead substituting the fate of "her letting go of me for just a moment, where I was able to gain control and put some distance between us." And such it did, as I was thrown, I was able to recover, and using a martial arts formation, I move a decent but not unacceptable distance away for conversation.
As she sums up her take on it, I nod. I had some points against it, but right now I was the Gold Faction loyalist so it wasn't something I could really bring up. After all, we were all but designed to destroy beings outside Fate, just as we were made to watch and observe those within Fate. Still...it was true that we would be hard pressed to manage a true invasion, but then, with freedom of the earth, the Dragon-Blooded could grow numerous enough to defeat the threats of long-dead Primordials, imprisoned wrecks of their former selves, and foes that were turned away at every turn. Unless something utterly stupid occurred in the implementation of it, the imprisonment and death of the former Primordials should prevent them from being threats, though they would need to be watched with great care. "I know, it's insane! We tried to argue those points, but they just wouldn't listen, just insisted that they would be able to handle it, that between the Sidereals and the Dragon-Blooded with greater numbers than ever, that nothing could prove destructive to he Bronze Vision...as if that wasn't as likely to fail as the Gold Vision..." I scratched my neck. I wasn't lying, after all.
I sigh. "After the Visions were Seen, we discussed what was to be done about them. We seperated into two factions...thirty Sidereals formed the Gold Faction, those who felt the Gold Vision was what should be pursued, with Tamiz Ushun at the helm. They were necessarily cautious, because the Solar Exalted were, at that point, rather unanimously considered quite unreasonable as a general rule. Be honest, you know how most would react to being called...well, let's be frank, mad. There is only so far subtlety will go, when there is that culture of perfection you described yourselves. Compared to the very direct, very frank depiction of things that Chejop Kejak pushed, it was awkward, clumsy, and lacked true direction. I think that's what let it clame seventy of the Sidereals under it's wing...really. The simplicity...as if subtlety and intricacy were not our greatest strengths." I shake my head. "With battle lines drawn where they were...we acted."
Pursing my lips, I continue. "Kejak came up with the idea to use the Calibration Feast, the gathering of most Exalted across Creation in one spot, to turn it into a death trap. Obviously, most of us went to try and warn those at the Feast about what was going to occur...my connection to them made it clear they were slaughtered to a man, Ushun among them. Others, like myself, went as secondary measures, making sure that those that ignored the summons were prepared, for assassins would doubtlessly be sent to them later, and would be caught unawares by full displays of Sidereal Martial Arts on an extensive level. Unfortunately, rather than speaking with you directly, I found the portal, and after divining you were inside, I followed you to make sure that the revelation would be understood rather than ignored or twisted into a way to try and enforce total hegemony...as the Gold Vision foretold might happened if the world would fall to darkness." I sigh. "Or at least, I was...but I couldn't keep quiet anymore. Not after hearing the true affection you had for your mate, not after hearing your fear of losing another. I knew I couldn't hold my tongue anymore...it wouldn't be right, and it would only make the realization later all the harsher. Believe me...I am truly sorry that all this happened..."
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Post by Kishar on Sept 19, 2017 4:22:06 GMT
I stared him down as his trickery landed him outside of my range, and had I wanted to engage further I probably could have rather easily. But I didn't, after all, the throw was simply to remind him that I was not in the mood for sass right about now. I had lost far too much to be in the mood for games or anything but the straight truth with nothing else added. Perhaps it was a bit unreasonable, but I'd be damned if I played along with games and childish right now, it grated on my very soul and mindset that he felt such a thing was appropriate when I was in such fury and grief right now. It was as if he was trying to get me to pick a fight, but right now information was more important, that much was for sure. I would suffer it...for now. If he continued however, I figured I might have to...remind him again that I was not in the mood for such things right now. I was perfectly willing to cooperate as long as he didn't seem to go out of his way to irritate me for now apparent reason, like he seemed to be right now. Perhaps he didn't know what it meant to lose a Mate, as he wasn't a Solar or a Lunar, but perhaps I should enlighten him later.
I rubbed my temples as he said that, obviously frustrated by their incompetence. "And they forget that with us lies the arts of permanence and regeneration, among all sorts of things that the Dragonblooded are simply unable to do. So too would Solar Sorcery, one of the most potent weapons available, would die and so too would the ability to maintain and create powerful artifacts. They would also eliminate or cause the hatred of the Lunar Exalted, who are the most experienced and capable of dealing with the threats of the Wyld. Not only that, but due to their shapeshifting, they would likely be able to try to undermine the societies they create with the Dragonblooded in a vain attempt to replace quality with quantity," I said with an exasperated sigh, it was absolutely insane of them to do things like this. It made no sense, none at all. "The ability to retake parts of creation encroached upon by the Raksha also goes away with us, and as such it becomes a matter of time before reality is eventually chipped away to nothingness by the grind. Not to mention that they would have eliminated or made enemies with the only groups capable of freely creating extreme high essence charms for anything besides Martial Arts. It just is baffling that they thought this was a good idea to try."
"So then you are telling me that they not only were convinced to believe in ways contrary to how your kind normally work, and even act upon said plans in that way. Really, I'm unsure if they have any right to call us mad when they were acting mad themselves in my opinion," I said, giving a sigh and shaking my head. "Sure, calling us mad would have been a bad way to go about it. But I am confident if the Sidereals had managed to snap out of this seeming collective madness you would have damn well figured something out. You are Exalts, it seems as if the Bronze faction believed too little in their own skills and abilities, and decided to cripple creation forever due to it. Doubt through immense towering arrogance thinking that they could rule in our place, how strange." Such a thing was odd to me to say the very least. It just stood out no matter what else there was to say. Something was wrong here, that much was for sure, though I was unsure of what.
"In some cases, Shinzo, apologies just cease to cut it. I understand that you are loyal, but understand my position as well. If you truly insist that we are not perfect and that we are human too, how do you think I could stay calm in a situation like this?" I asked, staring at him straight on, my face not cracking a single inch. "How am I supposed to take this entire thing rationally, when I am told that everything that I worked for, everything that I wanted, everything that I obtained this power for, is gone? How am I supposed to not be enraged when I am told that the only thing left of my Mate is the child that may be growing inside me, as I had laid with him before leaving? Tell me, what kind of being could stay rational in this moment?" I asked, my sadness peeking through my anger, carrying in my voice as a tear ran down from one of my eyes. It just was not right. How could he expect such things from me when he also said that the cult of perfection around us was wrong? "It is not just us who built that culture, it was you. It was everyone. The gods, the mortals, and the Exalted all alike. Just because we were the strongest and brightest, it became lost that we too were people. And that destructive cycle fed into itself until it reached the situation we are in now." With that, I just walked over to the couch and flopped over on it, staring up at the ceiling, contemplating a great number of things, making me reconsider everything. My desire to protect and reunite had left me unaware of the present, and as such I had lost everything. I didn't even care about the slight discomfort that came from how my wings folded, just making it go away with a slight expenditure of essence, a narcotic numb feeling filling me as I conjured up another rather large bottle and brought it to my lips to drink from directly.
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Post by shinzo on Sept 19, 2017 5:07:02 GMT
Noting that she wasn't chasing after me, I felt confident that was a one-time thing. That was good, I didn't want to waste even more time reacting to her growing angry at me out of anger and grief. As much as it made sense she was feeling that way, the way she expresses it is altogether wasteful and if I wasn't as patient as I was, rather quick to lead to problems. While it was obviously true that my simple jape to try and get her to stop thinking, at least slightly, about what she lost had utterly, completely backfired, I would've thought it was obvious it wasn't done out of childishness or malice...but then, what did I know, really? At the end of the day, precious little, it seemed. I didn't know how to get back, I didn't know how to calm her down, something that should be my specialty, I didn't know how to make sure she was listening and not just barely restraining grief. Still...what could I expect from such a situation? It was annoying, but I just had to proceed as best I could and hope things came off better later.
While those two were somewhat accurate, as she pointed out other flaws in the absence of the Solars, that alone wasn't enough to sway me. Arguments like that were made, of course, but after all, many Lunar Exalted were either indifferent, resentful, or downright hated their Solar mates. Things were not all like the relationship between Gaheris and Sera, or even the stilted but sound relationship between Kishar and her mate, not even most, not even a significant minority. Most were dysfunctional, and more than the good were the bad, the ones that would exult in being free from the responsibilities and demands that the Solars placed on them. That much was rather easy to figure out by going around and looking at the way things were, things that Sidereal Exalted were rather talented in. The rest tended to fit the bill of 'diminished but whole,' after all, the only real problem barring some absurd contrivance were the Raksha, and they could be effectively managed. The Lunars could be kept at bay through numbers rather effectively, and as a part of fate, their attempts to infiltrate societies could be mitigated rather effectively. As she mentions the threat of the Raksha, I resist the urge to shake my head. That had been brought up and dismissed, encroachment could be effectively mitigated with Conning Chaos Technique, to the point that, especially if the grandiose expanse of current Creation were allowed to recede, it could efficiently manage a fairly stable border. I didn't like it, but likewise, I couldn't deny it. And that was always the problem, wasn't it?
I shrug. "It's not really against how we work, I'm afraid. It's all too directly how we work. Operating with a single, clear, 'beautiful...'" I spit out the word. "...vision, we advise, counsel, and guide those who are lesser to do greater and even impossible things. That was the plan, to guide the terrestrials against the Solars as we had guided the Solars against the Primordials. It all sounded well and good, but really...what a mess it all is." I sigh, shaking my head. "It...it is madness. It's insanity. It's insanity that rings with that sound of truth in all the worst, most discordant ways." I shudder. "I didn't want this to happen, I didn't want any of this to happen. It's awful, and directly against everything the Chosen of Serenity stand for." But was letting Darkness come something they stood for? "They claimed it was out of necessity, but I'm sure they're blinded by arrogance and hungry for power. It's...it's all so wrong." But isn't it necessary? Isn't it right that our voice should be heard, should be respected? Wasn't that very thing they denied us what we needed for the Vision of Gold to work in the first place?
I sigh, nodding. "I know. I don't expect you to remain calm. I don't expect you to react rationally. I think holding me by the throat was excessive...but I don't hold it against you, not truly. It's an understandable reaction." I walk over, as she continues to grieve. "I don't expect you to be perfect, Kishar. I don't expect anyone to be perfect. I never expected perfection...I just wanted people to work together well enough for people to be happy. That's all I wanted, all I hoped to see...If I expected more than that, I'd be a fool." I glance down. "To work in the Cerulean Lute is to see people at their worst, and try to guide them to find happiness and joy once again, through their fates or directly. I've never run into anything like this before." I walk over towards her, as she slid on over to the couch, staring at the ceiling, and rest a hand on her shoulder once more. "But I'll do my best to help however I can, Kishar. I wouldn't be me if I didn't."
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