The Althing Infernal - Chapter 5
- Location
- The sixth circle of Hell (second on weekends)
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Heh. This week's Kerisgame is actually topical here. Keris undoubtedly had intent to deceive when she - successfully - avoided letting Sasi know the full contents of her talk with Salina, and then later kept the existence of her inner world from Ligier. She did not, at any point, tell any outright falsehoods - indeed, she was honest and upfront about other things, which is how Keris tends to lie in general; volunteering sacrificial information around the thing she's concealing and lying her ass off by omission. Part of that is personality, and part of it is that she is usually around Sasi, who has the SWLIHN lie detector.
So, should Keris be unable to lie to a Solar like this? What's the difference between a falsehood, a half-truth and a lie of omission? Which should JET be able to pick up on? Certainly, Keris's way of hiding things is very hard to pick up on, and frankly it would essentially make it 100% impossible to betray a Solar who had JET if it let you pick up on lies of omission like that unless you just never spoke to them, in which case it's not really a betrayal because you're a complete stranger.
... and on another note, we've taken much amusement in Keris's apparent Dynast fetish, and Haneyl's little imperialistic princess traits and a few other quirks of Keris's personality that have never really been explained in where the hell they came from. Perhaps, then, this mini-biography might shed a little light on the matter.
So, should Keris be unable to lie to a Solar like this? What's the difference between a falsehood, a half-truth and a lie of omission? Which should JET be able to pick up on? Certainly, Keris's way of hiding things is very hard to pick up on, and frankly it would essentially make it 100% impossible to betray a Solar who had JET if it let you pick up on lies of omission like that unless you just never spoke to them, in which case it's not really a betrayal because you're a complete stranger.
... and on another note, we've taken much amusement in Keris's apparent Dynast fetish, and Haneyl's little imperialistic princess traits and a few other quirks of Keris's personality that have never really been explained in where the hell they came from. Perhaps, then, this mini-biography might shed a little light on the matter.
Nellens Murenu was born in RY702; the third son of a minor family in one of the Great Houses on the Blessed Isles. He had two older brothers, one elder sister and one younger sister, and his family was prosperous; if sadly unblessed by the Dragons. His closest Dragonblooded relative was a Water Aspect; his maternal grandfather's brother. Inspired by the man, he joined the military after finishing his education - his eldest brother followed in his father's footsteps in the running of the family, while the second-eldest became an Immaculate monk; now retired and living in the Lap.
Murenu was not an outstanding hero or exceptional genius, but he was solid, efficient and reliable. He rose quickly to an officer rank, and was given command of a talon in the legions. Those who didn't know him well might have been surprised at his dabbling in poetry - he had an eloquent and passionate depth of feeling beneath his outward straightforward demeanour, and while he wasn't widely published, his work survives in a few local anthologies from his home precinct.
In the late 730s, Murenu's talon - with him still leading it - was assigned to the retinue of the Dowager Emperor as he continued to campaign in the Threshold after handing over the Scarlet Throne to his successor. While this brought moderate wealth and success to his family and had him considered for a promotion to winglord, it was ultimately not to be. During a campaign in the northern Scavenger Lands in RY746, Nellens Murenu's position was fired on by an enemy siege engine, and he was killed. He was survived by a wife and three children.
His story doesn't quite end there, though. Never one to dawdle, the hun soul of the man once born to House Nellens travelled rapidly through Lethe; drifting on the currents of reincarnation for a little under two years as its memories and experiences were washed clean. Almost nothing remained of who he once was by the time it was reborn, amidst the low buildings of a little river village a thousand miles south of where it had been freed from the mortal coil. Reborn in the body of a baby girl.
Of course, there is a difference between "nothing" and "almost nothing". And traces of a life once lived will leave their mark...
Murenu was not an outstanding hero or exceptional genius, but he was solid, efficient and reliable. He rose quickly to an officer rank, and was given command of a talon in the legions. Those who didn't know him well might have been surprised at his dabbling in poetry - he had an eloquent and passionate depth of feeling beneath his outward straightforward demeanour, and while he wasn't widely published, his work survives in a few local anthologies from his home precinct.
In the late 730s, Murenu's talon - with him still leading it - was assigned to the retinue of the Dowager Emperor as he continued to campaign in the Threshold after handing over the Scarlet Throne to his successor. While this brought moderate wealth and success to his family and had him considered for a promotion to winglord, it was ultimately not to be. During a campaign in the northern Scavenger Lands in RY746, Nellens Murenu's position was fired on by an enemy siege engine, and he was killed. He was survived by a wife and three children.
His story doesn't quite end there, though. Never one to dawdle, the hun soul of the man once born to House Nellens travelled rapidly through Lethe; drifting on the currents of reincarnation for a little under two years as its memories and experiences were washed clean. Almost nothing remained of who he once was by the time it was reborn, amidst the low buildings of a little river village a thousand miles south of where it had been freed from the mortal coil. Reborn in the body of a baby girl.
Of course, there is a difference between "nothing" and "almost nothing". And traces of a life once lived will leave their mark...
Last edited:
