Chosen by the Dragon God
- Thread starter Chandagnac
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Same. Liked the interactions, and especially liked Elys's idea for increasing Mishrak's influence, but I have no ideas.
Alright, Moridan and Bellona both sound like good allies for this mission! I guess, we'll talk to them and ask if they want to join next. First though, as long as we're talking to Mishrak, bring up the rejuvenating Yslena plan like she asked us to on her behalf, and then talk about all of our various ideas for increasing his power and influence (becoming a god of the depths of the earth and now of healing, for instance).
Oh, and before bringing him up specifically, make sure to ask Moridan if he wants his scars healed, first. Healing aging is one thing; old age means both weakness, and mortality via time. Healing scars though, unless they are a kind that results in constant pain or discomfort, there's no real direct negative effects from it, it's just a matter of how people react to them, so there are plenty of reasons that someone might want to keep them. Wanting to keep them as a reminder of the event, or because you prefer the way you are treated with those scars than without, for instance.
Oh, and before bringing him up specifically, make sure to ask Moridan if he wants his scars healed, first. Healing aging is one thing; old age means both weakness, and mortality via time. Healing scars though, unless they are a kind that results in constant pain or discomfort, there's no real direct negative effects from it, it's just a matter of how people react to them, so there are plenty of reasons that someone might want to keep them. Wanting to keep them as a reminder of the event, or because you prefer the way you are treated with those scars than without, for instance.
Flashkannon
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Oh no, did we school the sass out of her?
"I just happen to like curling up like this, runs in the family"
What I am saying is, maybe Mishrak catloafs too.
Hahahaha, what a response. "Rivayne? I've heard of it."
Not a name I have heard for some time.
Definitely in favor of this, 100%. It's convenient to ask him about Yslena now, and that can then resolve itself.
As for bringing Sir Moridan and Bellona along, I am usually the more the merrier, but maybe mot this time. Bellona, at least, has Chosen duties she's busy with, as I recall. I am not sure what impact drawing her away for a weekend would have.
Flashkannon
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Perhaps a touching of bases is worthwhile, given that we have been more active as his advocate.
Something Rotten in Rivayne (Part Three)
Chandagnac
Broken Robot
- Location
- Nowhere
I'm going on holiday next week, starting tomorrow, so it may be a while before I can update again. I hope that this latest offering will keep you satisfied until then (or at least for the time being). 
*
Something Rotten in Rivayne (Part Three)
Something Rotten in Rivayne (Part Three)
"Bellona and Moridan worked together with your parents when they started investigating the peculiar happenings in Rivayne's royal court," says Mishrak, slowly and meditatively, as if contemplating each word individually. "After so much frustration and perplexity, I'm sure they'd be pleased to have the chance to be involved in finding answers – and bringing the culprits to justice – at long last." He gives a fanged grin at the thought of that.
"I haven't seen Belle recently," you say. "Um, where is she?"
"She's been working with the victims of the Sea Ghouls, in the hospital I set aside for them," he explains. "I believe she's recently made something of a breakthrough."
You smile delightedly at him. "I take it she's managed to cure them?"
"Some of them. Most of them, I think." He pauses to consider for a moment. "The others died."
"Well, that's…" Rather less heartening than you'd been hoping, actually. "I should congratulate her. Or console her." You give a helpless shrug. "Whichever she would prefer."
Jana gives you a cynical glance. "Sure, and when I do that, it's called 'invading her personal space' or 'making unwanted advances'."
"I hope that's not true," you reply, glaring at her. "You promised you wouldn't."
"I'm joking, of course," she says, with a dismissive wave. "She's your sister, so… Do what you think is best."
"Maybe tomorrow," says Catharne. "It's late and I'm sure she'll be getting ready for bed if she's not already asleep. If it was me, I wouldn't want to be disturbed right now. Would you?"
"Belle has always kept very odd hours," you point out. "She probably won't even notice how late it is."
"Ah, but dare you take that chance?" asks Jana, waggling a teasing finger at you. "What if she's terribly offended and disappointed in you?"
"Har har har, you're so funny!" You give a derisive snort. "You should be on the stage, Jana! Then at least I could throw rotten fruit at you!"
"Hey, I'm not stopping you." She puts on an expression of unbelievable innocence. "If that's how you like to treat your friends, be my guest, princess."
"Perhaps you're all getting overtired?" Mishrak suggests, gazing down at you from his draconic vantage point: in his sea dragon form, he towers above you and your friends, but most of the time he is such a gentle old softy that you don't even notice. "You've already mentioned how late it is, so… is that why you're bickering so much, which you wouldn't normally do?"
"Don't you try to psychoanalyze me, sir," says Jana, brandishing her finger at him.
"Yes, thank you for making my point," is his sardonic reply.
"All right, maybe we should get some sleep," you admit. "We can sort all of this out tomorrow."
"I'll show you where to find Sir Moridan's temple," says Jana. "If you want to get him involved, you'll need to pay him a visit. And… well, I've been there before and you haven't. How about it?"
"Thank you, Jana," you say, smiling sweetly at her. "That would be very helpful of you."
"Aw, it's fine. What are friends for, eh?" she replies, sheepishly scratching the back of her neck. "Goodnight, both of you. Pleasant dreams and so on."
"Yes, have a good night," says Catharne, shifting into human form so that she can run over to you and give you a hug.
"You're very cute." You smile down at her. "I feel almost as if I could eat you up."
"Please don't," says Mishrak. "In my experience, people frown on that sort of thing."
"Everyone's a comedian today," you say, shaking your head. "It's a good thing I love you all, isn't it?"
That night, after you go to bed, you dream of the Riddling Knight. You are riding with her through golden fields of barley, as the sun beams down overhead, and you are bathed in soothing warmth and light. She is clad in elegant plate armour, which gleams as if it were made of pure silver, and her face resembles your mother's to such an extent that there is no doubt in your mind that they must be related: they could be sisters, you think, or – well, the Riddling Knight is the mask of an immortal goddess, so she could be much older – she could be your grandmother, you think, with flawless dream logic.
You may have said that out loud. Afterwards, you can't recall. The Riddling Knight laughs uproariously and whirls you around as if you were a very young child being held aloft in her arms. She plants a kiss upon your cheek, a soothing benediction, and begins to speak in a teasing, singsong voice.
This is what she says:
"What showers blessings from above
But feels no pain and has no love
So all who walk beneath its sight
Avert their eyes and fear its might?"
"Oh, you and your riddles," you say, with a fond smile, rolling your eyes at her.
"Yes, but what's the answer?" she asks, with a meaningful smirk.
After the above riddle, the Riddling Knight will go on to ask two more riddles. They're not exactly difficult (everyone I tested them out on was able to come up with the correct answer in just a few seconds), but I'm quite proud of them because I came up with them myself and they fit the 'iambic tetrameter' poetic meter.
These are the other two riddles:
1.
"As soft as cloth, as sharp as steel;
Beside the path, my blades you'll feel.
I am a swathe of endless green;
In balmy days and nights serene,
A place for ovine, bovine beasts
To rest their heels or stand and feast."
2.
"A silver coin that none may hold
Encircled by the endless cold,
Where darkness shrouds what's all around
And what is lost may ne'er be found.
By day, it's gone; each night, it's changed;
Its shining face is rearranged."
I predict that someone will have solved those riddles by the time I've gone to bed. (Uhh, I should have gone to bed over an hour ago. Oh well.)
These are the other two riddles:
1.
"As soft as cloth, as sharp as steel;
Beside the path, my blades you'll feel.
I am a swathe of endless green;
In balmy days and nights serene,
A place for ovine, bovine beasts
To rest their heels or stand and feast."
2.
"A silver coin that none may hold
Encircled by the endless cold,
Where darkness shrouds what's all around
And what is lost may ne'er be found.
By day, it's gone; each night, it's changed;
Its shining face is rearranged."
I predict that someone will have solved those riddles by the time I've gone to bed. (Uhh, I should have gone to bed over an hour ago. Oh well.)
What will Elys say to the Riddling Knight? What do you want to talk to her about?
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Have a good vacation!
Those riddles sound like: the Sun, grass, and the Moon.
I guess we should talk to her about those cultists coming to murder her, and maybe about the gonne.
Those riddles sound like: the Sun, grass, and the Moon.
I guess we should talk to her about those cultists coming to murder her, and maybe about the gonne.
Is it just me, or did the dialog in the first part of the chapter seem a bit... awkward?
Glad that Bellona is finally finishing up her ongoing Sea Ghoul victim hospital plot. Successfully even, for most of them. For the others... well, I suppose even death is better than the state they were in before... they're in The Forgotten God's hands now...
Typo here, by the way:
Anyway, yeah, Sun, grass, Moon. Heck, the second riddle could be cut down to just the first two lines and still be answerable without too much trouble.
Interesting and kinda sad that even she describes the Sun like that though, considering that Astran is her son. Totally justifed, considering the kinda guy Astran is now, but sad. Unless she's thinking about the previous Sun god, her husband Telthalus, but then the riddle wouldn't fit him at all.
Glad that Bellona is finally finishing up her ongoing Sea Ghoul victim hospital plot. Successfully even, for most of them. For the others... well, I suppose even death is better than the state they were in before... they're in The Forgotten God's hands now...
Typo here, by the way:
Missing "show", presumably.
Anyway, yeah, Sun, grass, Moon. Heck, the second riddle could be cut down to just the first two lines and still be answerable without too much trouble.
Interesting and kinda sad that even she describes the Sun like that though, considering that Astran is her son. Totally justifed, considering the kinda guy Astran is now, but sad. Unless she's thinking about the previous Sun god, her husband Telthalus, but then the riddle wouldn't fit him at all.
Flashkannon
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Probably the ones whose souls had already been gnawed on in sufficient amount to not have soul enough to live.
Tired Elys says what we're all thinking!
Agreed, Sun, Grass, Moon. The sun and moon are connected to her, via Telthalus, Astran, and herself, but the grass... hm. Seems like the odd one out. Is she trying to tell us something obliquely?
I wonder how he's doing in this newer, better timeline. Probably not good, but maybe better.
...aside from the fact that changing events too much too early is problematic even for a time god, so changing Astran too far back would presumably get straight up blocked... I tracked this down from School of Sorcery:
...so uh, no, Astran's explicitly already in full genocidal zealot mode, even in this timeline. Though, since the worst of his successful genociding is already done, he may have a chance to get cured/split somewhat earlier now, presumably as an extremely indirect result of something Elys does, as long as he doesn't instantly try to make up for his atrocities just yet.
Chandagnac
Broken Robot
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- Nowhere
Like I said, they weren't intended to be difficult riddles. I tried them out on my parents, who got the correct answers more-or-less instantly.
Sorry, what are you voting for?
Probably important things to talk about, yeah.
Probably because I tried to fix it and ended up making it even more awkward, as I so often do. Ugh, I've made another attempt. Please let me know if it's any better.
Thank you.
Technically, the answer to the second riddle is 'a meadow', not just 'grass'.
Well, her daughters are Lissa (spring) and Nyssa (autumn), both of whom tend to be connected with nature fairly often. Maybe not to grassy meadows in particular, but certainly to nature in general.
Indeed. Or the sun.
(The sun/son pun is quite important, at least as far as Zora Alishanda's mindset is concerned.)
So far, not much has happened to alter Astran's personal timeline.
Anyway, I'll try to update again by the end of today, but after that I'll be gone for at least a week. Be seeing you!
"A silver coin that none may holdSorry, what are you voting for?
Encircled by the endless cold,
Where darkness shrouds what's all around
And what is lost may ne'er be found.
By day, it's gone; each night, it's changed;
Its shining face is rearranged."
Something Rotten in Rivayne (Part Four)
Chandagnac
Broken Robot
- Location
- Nowhere
I'm sorry if my last post was confusing at all. I wasn't asking you to vote for anything, only to figure out the answers to the three riddles.
*
Something Rotten in Rivayne (Part Four)
Something Rotten in Rivayne (Part Four)
"The sun," you say, after considering the riddle for a few moments. "I can't see how it could be anything else."
"Yes, the sun," says the Riddling Knight, with a pleased nod. "Oh, my son. It has been so long since I last saw him…"
"You have two sons," you remind her.
"I don't worry about my eldest," she replies. "He is strong and confident and has surrounded himself with many friends and allies. I don't agree with every choice he has made, but they were his choices to make, no one else's. He has the life he wants and I am pleased for him. But my younger son…" She shakes her head sorrowfully. "He is so lost, frightened, and alone. I wish I could help him."
"He has caused… tremendous suffering," you say, tentatively: on the one hand, you don't want to upset her; but on the other, you refuse to shy away from the truth of what Astran has done. "Massacres. Genocides. The slaughter of a great many people who refused to worship him in the way that he wanted them to."
"But how much of that was his fault and how much was the fault of his worshippers who put words in his mouth and used him to…?" The Riddling Knight's voice trails off. She looks confused, as if her thoughts slipped away from her before she could give voice to them. "I'll see my sons again," she says, at last. "Both of them. Perhaps they won't be glad to see me, but still…"
In a conspiratorial whisper, you tell her, "Some of your other children – the goblins of Tyrepheum – have a plan to rescue you. They're building a giant gunpowder weapon and they're going to use it to shoot a hollow bullet at the moon! And, uh… there will be people riding inside that bullet and they will get out onto the moon and… do whatever they need to do to free you."
"How very brave and bold of them!" cries the Riddling Knight, grinning from ear to ear. "But have they thought it through? Does their plan have any chance of success?"
"Yes, I'm sure it does," you say, with as much confidence as you can muster. "They've been working on it for years."
She gives you an appraising glance, as if she can't be sure whether to believe you or not. "Well then, I hope they've considered everything they need to. And that they won't suffer too many casualties along the way."
"Melphior's worshippers have been trying to ambush and murder them," you warn her. "I think they're planning to sabotage the goblins' attempts to rescue you so that their demonic master can take over the realm of dreams instead!"
"They will try," says the Riddling Knight, grasping the hilt of her sword, as if to reassure herself that it is still sheathed at her belt. "And I will do my best to oppose them. That is what I am for."
From time to time, you find it difficult to talk to the Riddling Knight because you are unsure of whether you are talking to Zora Alishanda or to her 'mask', the dream-construct who acts as her stand-in. On this occasion, you frown and ask her for clarification: "What do you mean by that?"
"The Riddling Knight guards the Dreaming World," she replies. "That is her purpose. Always has been."
Because you've informed Zora Alishanda of Melphior's evil plans, I'm going to extend the timer before events in Tyrepheum come to a boil. Previously, I said you had "7 months before things go to hell." I'm now going to extend that to 9 months (which will be reduced to 8 months at the end of the 'Something Rotten in Rivayne' story arc). You've bought yourselves a little more time.
You ride on, past the fields, over a hill, and through a grassy meadow. You hear the pleasant humming of insects and the twittering of songbirds. The air is heavy with wistful memories and the sweet smell of wildflowers. Gazing off into the distance, the Riddling Knight speaks in the same singsong voice as before.
"As soft as cloth, as sharp as steel;
Beside the path, my blades you'll feel.
I am a swathe of endless green;
In balmy days and nights serene,
A place for ovine, bovine beasts
To rest their heels or stand and feast."
"Grass," you say, offering the answer almost as soon as she's finished posing the riddle. "That was an easy one."
"A meadow, to be precise," she says. "This place, in riddle form. My riddles aren't supposed to be difficult; rather, they are a way of identifying something – of knowing and understanding it on a deeper level than if you only know its name – like the 'Nine Mysteries' that some Quellonian knights dedicate their lives to contemplating, they reflect my understanding of myself and the world around me. A fun game I use to amuse myself, to make an immortal life and endless imprisonment a little more bearable."
"Well, I hope it won't be endless," you murmur. Then, you consider what she just said and a thought occurs to you: "Are you saying that you were meant as a deliberate parody of a Quellonian knight?"
"I should have thought that was obvious," she replies, striking a jokingly heroic pose. "Oh, I always liked the Queli who visited my realm in search of the deeper meaning of life, the universe, and everything else. So earnest! So introspective! There was much about them that was ridiculous – and they didn't mind my showing them so!"
You raise an eyebrow at that. "They didn't mind?"
"They seemed to think it was a trial they had to overcome," the Riddling Knight explains. "Which rather took the fun out of it, really."
Getting down from the horse – at least, it occurs to you that you must have been riding the horse a few moments ago, but then you find yourself standing as if your feet had always been planted firmly on the ground – you bend to examine the bright flowers beneath your feet. "I suppose I'll need to wake up soon."
"Remember this meeting," says the Riddling Knight. "Remember me."
Then, in her usual singsong voice, she recites another riddle:
"A silver coin that none may hold
Encircled by the endless cold,
Where darkness shrouds what's all around
And what is lost may ne'er be found.
By day, it's gone; each night, it's changed;
Its shining face is rearranged."
Even before she's finished speaking, you have the answer: "The moon. That's you."
"Yes. My domain." She nods. "That's where you'll find me."
"Gods are their domains," you point out. "Or so I've heard, many times."
She laughs, but it is edged with bitterness. "I've been imprisoned for more than six thousand years. Just imagine what has happened to the moon during that time!"
"Well, um... I'm sure that I could take a look, if I had a telescope. I'm sure they have one at the academy in Tyrepheum."
"Yes, you do that," she says, with another firm nod. "You might as well know what you're getting into."
"Next time we meet, I hope you will have been freed," you say, gazing earnestly up at her. "Until then, farewell. Thank you for your many kindnesses – for saving me from Panegyrek – and everything else!"
"It was my pleasure," she says, with a sadly wistful smile. "Have a good life, Lis…" She blinks, shakes her head and tries again: "Elys, I mean."
Next, Elys will wake up and start the new day. What do you want her to do after that? What's the plan?
I'll see you in about a week's time. Goodbye for now!
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Dang, that chapter was particularly good. More than made up for the awkwardness in the previous one.
It's lucky that Zora Alishanda was more lucid than usual this time around, for her own sake. Gives a lot of insight into what the real her is like, beneath all the various masks.
Also, this bit here is especially interesting:
It's lucky that Zora Alishanda was more lucid than usual this time around, for her own sake. Gives a lot of insight into what the real her is like, beneath all the various masks.
Also, this bit here is especially interesting:
I had assumed that the Demon Lords'/Mystic Path's corruption of Astran and the Rhuzadi was done from the top down... but considering the nature of the gods in this setting, this implies it might have been done from the bottom up. Nice to finally have some potential hint about how exactly they drove him to insanity, though this possible answer does raise many further questions.
Hmm. Is she hinting that the problem with the gonne is that the habitat on the moon is inhospitable? The sun/son, a being that has killed many, though it wasn't his fault. The meadow, the area where they are, The moon, it changed when she was asleep.
The area where she is has changed while she was asleep, and it's dangerous to be now.
We should probably talk to Mishrak about that, and what the gonne riders will need to be on the moon safely.
The area where she is has changed while she was asleep, and it's dangerous to be now.
We should probably talk to Mishrak about that, and what the gonne riders will need to be on the moon safely.
Flashkannon
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Well, RIP to them, then. I think perhaps once we are done with the Aspitis, Astran is our next step? Or, major overarching goal, at least. Having his mother around would certainly help.
</3 poor Zora Alishandra. I hope at least Strashan is glad to see her. She deserves that much after six thousand years.
Wooo! \○/
Doom counter extended.
Wait are you telling me that Zora Alishandra is a jokester? A fun-loving fun-having witty gal? Explains why she liked Telthalus, but goodness gracious imprisonment must have been awful for her, unless the moon is full of shenanigans.
Uh. That's concerning. Very concerning, actually. We should make sure to do that soon-ish.
Talks with Zora and her masks are usually half fun half tragic but she is taking a lot of cakes this time.
Well, the question I would have is - if it was bottom-up, why didn't he split instead of changing?
Definitely. I hope it's not like our moon. Maybe it is full of spiders, or the moon in the sky is a illusion and the real moon is in the dream realm, or it's some kind of supermassive crystalline information storage structure.
As for what to do next... stare decisis I think - talk to some stablehands incognito in the day, break into the office with dear old dad in the evening.
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...wait, hold on, thanks to Indivisible, I just had a thought. The Moon is inhospitable... but, as people living in a world where people have actually travelled to our moon and back, we the readers should be like, yeah no shit of course it's inhospitable. We were kinda just assuming that the makers of the Space Gonne had taken lack of atmosphere into account, and that there is some other problem going on... but what if it really is as simple as just, the goblins building the Gonne don't know about the vacuum of space? They are after all a pseudo-medieval society (even if it is apparently medieval only in the same way that Final Fantasy 1 is... which is to say, all the advanced societies got blown up by apocalypse demons), so how would they know about the conditions of space? Unless you count the experiments of Agon Hurondus, who doesn't share his findings with anyone... as far as we or they know, the Space Gonne is the world's first non-Elder-God-related thing capable of leaving the planet.
Ironically though, despite being the god of a different region that humans are unable to breathe in, I'm not sure Mishrak would be much help here. His go-to solution to let someone breathe in his own realm would be to alter their biology to breathe water, but that doesn't really work for vacuum. You'd need someone who can make an actual airtight suit of some sort, magical or otherwise. Hmm... who might be good for that...
Ironically though, despite being the god of a different region that humans are unable to breathe in, I'm not sure Mishrak would be much help here. His go-to solution to let someone breathe in his own realm would be to alter their biology to breathe water, but that doesn't really work for vacuum. You'd need someone who can make an actual airtight suit of some sort, magical or otherwise. Hmm... who might be good for that...
Because it takes a lot to split a god, especially if they're really powerful. As shown in AHMIY, Astran is explicitly on the verge of it anyway... but he still hasn't quite gone over the edge yet, sadly.
Flashkannon
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We'd be going to him more for his long memory and experience than any practical solutions - not only is he old enough to have seen the moon before Zora Alishandra was trapped there, he's been around in the intervening time to observe it.
As I recall, it was not a favorable split. If we want to effect a solution, we may need to go bottom-up too.
- Location
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Testing the gonne should likely involve actually test fires with plants and animals.
Also, what's the plan for getting back? Free Zora Alishandra or die trying?
Oddly enough, there's a potentially "easy" to get back: portal magic.
I think that option will fail though, for non-obvious reasons in setting of the distances involved. That made me think of another option though, the mirror world. Use the gonne to send a mirror to the moon and then make an expedition though and back with another mirror.
Anyway, isn't the next step setting out for the place of mystery and murder? I didn't think there were other preparations to be made. Well, maybe letting Mishrak know the expected time frame for Yselena's interest in healing.
Also, what's the plan for getting back? Free Zora Alishandra or die trying?
Oddly enough, there's a potentially "easy" to get back: portal magic.
I think that option will fail though, for non-obvious reasons in setting of the distances involved. That made me think of another option though, the mirror world. Use the gonne to send a mirror to the moon and then make an expedition though and back with another mirror.
Anyway, isn't the next step setting out for the place of mystery and murder? I didn't think there were other preparations to be made. Well, maybe letting Mishrak know the expected time frame for Yselena's interest in healing.
Flashkannon
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I like this idea a lot! I am imagining, though, that the more we get those mirrors involved in important events, the more likely it is that the Mystic Path will reassert their ownership of them at the worst possible moment.
...in some ways, it might actually be better if that were the case; remember, the reason the Mystic Path doesn't use them is because, they're obsolete. They have no reason to reassert their ownership of them (at least not unless "destroying them so no one else can use them" counts), because Hurondus can just set up portals anywhere, whenever he wants. Yes, including portals to the moon... or the sun, or just space in general.