The God Diversion
- Thread starter Birdsie
- Start date
- Original
GildedSergeant
Tarnished Gold and Rattling Bones
- Location
- Over There
- Pronouns
- They/Them
[X] Submit [+15 Will]
-[X] Use Outlined Tactics
Immediate murder may call to many of us, but I think compliance (at least temporarily) will give us a far better chance to learn more about this place. Both about how we might resolve whatever 'curse' this land is under, and new magics like an aspect or technique.
@_brightwing would you be amenable to adding a condition that our friends will be given the same fair treatment? GenericName's post and the fact that Penelope may have also defiled their Abyss have me a bit worried they'll give her a harsher punishment.
-[X] Use Outlined Tactics
Immediate murder may call to many of us, but I think compliance (at least temporarily) will give us a far better chance to learn more about this place. Both about how we might resolve whatever 'curse' this land is under, and new magics like an aspect or technique.
@_brightwing would you be amenable to adding a condition that our friends will be given the same fair treatment? GenericName's post and the fact that Penelope may have also defiled their Abyss have me a bit worried they'll give her a harsher punishment.
[X] Submit [+15 Will]
-[X] Use Outlined Tactics
-[X] Use Outlined Tactics
- Location
- washington
It doesn't really work for friendly relations in real life at least.
- Location
- 𐌂 ̢͎̩̤̲̙͓̑̀͂͒̀͆̏𐋏 ̛͏̫̚𐌀 ̛͉̥̩̤̰͈̂̅͒͊͟𐍈 ̣͛𐍃 ̡̅̈́
We are not going to have friendship there anyway. 
Into the Darkness
Birdsie
Sharp Talons Cleave The Worthy
- Location
- Poland
Into the Darkness
Predictive magical senses extruded in confirmation of the objective truth. It seemed cooperation here ensured no more immediate harm, either to himself or his companions, and it'd earn credit with the government of these abyssal witches. Like a river of futures, strands of light originating from the present snaked out through Solomon's awareness. Now, like a godly ferryman, he'd need to navigate the currents and ensure the complete safety of his team, avoiding sections where the boat drowned.
An easy task, as long as he didn't draw anyone's ire.
"Alright," said Solomon, "I'll come along with you."
Chain nodded and settled down minimally. The umbral chains wrapped around Penelope and Harrison remained, but slacked minimally and repositioned so as to only limit their range of motion, rather than completely disabling them. Solomon offered them both a grin.
"Good news! I've negotiated our safety."
"Then why are we still bound?" asked Harrison, coughing and sputtering as faint, nearly invisible trails of violet smoke came out of his mouth. He shot a glare at the scepter's wielder, who actually looked slightly contrite and glanced away in discomfort. Penelope stood ramrod straight, but utterly calm. Like an animal awaiting an opportunity.
"That's the bad news," continued Solomon, unabashed and still grinning. "We're being taken to court."
"Are we under arrest?" asked Penelope, simple words of English smoothly translated via Solomon's intercession into the local dialect - more Hellenic than Germanic.
"Yes," answered Chain. "Which means, I suppose I owe you an introduction. I'm Elder Sister Lunne. Those are my subordinates; Viola,"- the scepter witch nodded, -"Jastara, and Amara." Sword and Book held their implements cautiously.
"You mentioned a conclave," Solomon said, as he stepped forward - symbiotic tendrils falling away, releasing their avaricious hold on the darkness - and proffered both wrists, which Lunne soon bound with the chain. It was uncomfortably cold and seemed to drain away at his power: sucking deep and fast on his soul, exhuming every mote of magical energy. One by one, Solomon's spellcrafts shut down. He smiled a little, retaining insight on the Architecture, as well as precise and abiding control over the Connections that made up everything. A single twitch of desire would disconnect the chains on his wrists, allowing him to slip away.
A Magician always had a few extra tricks up his sleeve, as he was slowly learning.
"I'm afraid I am not here to answer your questions," said Lunne, and then pulled on the chains to set the Enrolled to a steady walk. Into the darkness they marched, flanked by an escort of three witches and led by Lunne herself. Her voice carried a weary grain of caution; a hint of painful experience in revealing too much information. She'd done that before, only to find her hand bitten. "I'll take you to the Eldest. If she sees fit to answer your questions, she will. Otherwise, you won't learn anything from me."
The darkness was a cold and unrelenting storm, almost vengeful, as if Solomon's momentary supposition of control had personally offended it. Deeper and deeper, it seemed a nearly sapient force, crushing and vengeful tendrils swimming past their thighs and occasionally pulsing with flashes of warning, that a single misstep would see them reduced to nothing but a bloody smear. Slowly, more so by connecting the dots, Solomon realized they were entering something akin to a Sanctum, not unlike his own.
Fascinating, if unfortunate - it was highly probable a Sanctum of this scope not only improved the influence of its masters, but reduced the strength of the opposition. He considered it likely that Lunne's chain carried a sliver of this property, crystallized and crowned into a natural apex: a tool of office, perhaps? If she was something like a policewoman, it'd only make sense to equip her with the best implements to carry out those duties.
"So," he said, addressing Viola. Her iron scepter buzzed with a resonance that drew on the abyss. As Solomon spoke, its holder gave him a curious glance. "You ladies practice sorcery based on implements?"
She didn't answer, as if pointedly disinterested, looking at Lunne's back.
"Call this something of an educated guess - you draw on the ambient Abyss and infuse your magic items with it," he said. "That makes your arts incredibly powerful and easy to sustain, but means you'd have difficulties outside of this valley. No way to recharge easily."
"How do you..." Viola started, then snapped her mouth shut. When no rebuke or call to silence came from the Elder Sister, her eyes started to narrow. She looked at Solomon once more with suspicion. "What is this?"
"I've disconnected our conversation from the overall social context of this situation," he answered. "It's relatively difficult, but I can about barely focus on doing it and talking at the same time. And I've got talent for it, too. I suppose you could say I've lived my entire life with such a disconnection."
"S-Stop doing that, then," Viola stuttered, showing a sudden look of worry.
"Nah," he said dismissively. "Come on, no harm in small talk, is there?" He understood, as deeply and intricately as a bank-teller recognized the shape of a coin or banknote by touch, that Viola wouldn't report an intercession such as this, and the Abyss was too acutely sentient a force to react either, in possession of something resembling shards or splinters of free will: otherwise, Solomon wouldn't have done this for the almost inevitable risk of further getting himself into trouble.
Fortunately, it seemed this Viola didn't mind flouting the rules if it served to fulfill her burning curiosity with the outside world. Unlike most Enrolled, all of her interaction with the Architecture was one-sided, and as a result, she wasn't invisible to his senses. He could read her life's story and future like an open book. Even if he lacked the deeper context for some of that future, he could substitute for certain ideas with close equivalents. She'd be almost laughably easy to subvert, as long as no familiar authority was allowed to intercede. A single reminder of her oath could strike any hopes of further interaction down, stirring up too much guilt.
"I guess..." Viola didn't look comfortable or reassured. "As long as Elder Sister doesn't find out, it's fine, I suppose. Where did you all come from?"
There, that ineffably smoldering curiosity again. If Solomon wanted information from Viola, all it would take was stoking its passions, like a blacksmith's fan on a divine flame. To ensure a feeling of fairness, in which no one was cheated and trust was established, all he'd need would be to offer an exchange of information, data for data. For someone as curious and simple as Viola, it'd be a golden ingot on a silver platter; a heart's desire for cheap.
For a second, Solomon hesitated to speak based on ethical grounds. He'd once promised himself not to abuse the keen social instinct he was gifted with for selfish reasons. This felt dangerously close to manipulation - and yet, the last couple of months have done nothing if not taught him a precious nugget of pragmatism.
Given they were being nearly frogmarched into potentially hostile territory, where death was very much a distant possibility on the horizon if not managed now, didn't he owe it to Penelope and Harrison to attempt?
"Outside," he said mysteriously.
"What kind of answer is that?" she whinged in complaint.
"How about you?" Solomon asked. "Let's do an exchange. I'll tell you more about the outside, and you tell me about this place. I mean, we came here to explore in the first place, so we could kill two birds with one stone."
Her eyes narrowed at him, suspicion lifted, producing caution and cleverness; from those, an overambitious yearning for more. He stared at her, as she said, "Fine, but I get two questions for each one of yours."
"How's that fair?"
"It's not," she said with a smirk. "But you don't have anyone else you can talk to, can you?"
"Neither do you," he pointed out.
"Outsiders come and go," she rebuffed. After a second of heated, focused contemplation, she finally said, "Fine. But I get the first question, and you have to actually answer. And, like, you better make the answer good, or I won't answer what you ask."
"Alright, fine," he said. "What's your question?"
"Tell me about the outside world."
"That's not a question," he objected.
"What's the outside world like?"
He couldn't object to that one.
As a result of the back-and-forth inquisition, he learned a couple of useful factoids about the Witch's Land, both in political and historical terms, as well as the capabilities of its defenders. The Eldest Sister was apparently something called a Chosen, and the Abyss was indeed an existence analogous to a Sanctum - and furthermore, Solomon's educated guess turned out to be right on the money. Most of the local witches weren't as strong as the squad that captured them; a tremendous relief. The Eldest sent Lunne and her subordinates specifically because they were among the best of the best.
If anything Viola claimed was true - and Solomon sensed no dishonesty from her - then it didn't seem that letting themselves be arrested was too bad a mistake. It seemed like an ordinary society, if extremely isolationist and a little matriarchal. Once this whole issue was explained, they'd likely have some favor out of cooperation.
All that remained was the mystery of the visions he'd seen on arrival. None of Viola's explanations seemed to reach that far back. Solomon decided to keep the visions close to his chest for now, in case of mind readers: his mind was durable and wouldn't yield easily to questing magics even without access to his own.
Soon, a valley of sloping streets and quaint half-timbered houses was revealed and Solomon ended the conversation, ceasing the maintenance of their privacy effect.
Now, he needed to consider their approach to this situation...
---
Will: 65
Credit: 8.0
XP: 457
[ ] Straightforward Honesty - Admit to Enrollment, explain terminology the Eldest isn't familiar with. Give full disclosure of your abilities and hope this'll net you additional points with the locals, hopefully allowing you to reach some gently coterminous state.
[ ] Reserved Outsiders - Don't mention Enrollment, falsify your identity to a small extent, and keep your abilities vague; you're a traveling magician from the east, Harrison's a knight on your retainer, and Penelope's a celestial spirit you called down from the heavens.
If your understanding of their magical capabilities is correct, they shouldn't have the truth-detection to refute this; the opposite if anything.
[ ] Write-in
Predictive magical senses extruded in confirmation of the objective truth. It seemed cooperation here ensured no more immediate harm, either to himself or his companions, and it'd earn credit with the government of these abyssal witches. Like a river of futures, strands of light originating from the present snaked out through Solomon's awareness. Now, like a godly ferryman, he'd need to navigate the currents and ensure the complete safety of his team, avoiding sections where the boat drowned.
An easy task, as long as he didn't draw anyone's ire.
"Alright," said Solomon, "I'll come along with you."
Chain nodded and settled down minimally. The umbral chains wrapped around Penelope and Harrison remained, but slacked minimally and repositioned so as to only limit their range of motion, rather than completely disabling them. Solomon offered them both a grin.
"Good news! I've negotiated our safety."
"Then why are we still bound?" asked Harrison, coughing and sputtering as faint, nearly invisible trails of violet smoke came out of his mouth. He shot a glare at the scepter's wielder, who actually looked slightly contrite and glanced away in discomfort. Penelope stood ramrod straight, but utterly calm. Like an animal awaiting an opportunity.
"That's the bad news," continued Solomon, unabashed and still grinning. "We're being taken to court."
"Are we under arrest?" asked Penelope, simple words of English smoothly translated via Solomon's intercession into the local dialect - more Hellenic than Germanic.
"Yes," answered Chain. "Which means, I suppose I owe you an introduction. I'm Elder Sister Lunne. Those are my subordinates; Viola,"- the scepter witch nodded, -"Jastara, and Amara." Sword and Book held their implements cautiously.
"You mentioned a conclave," Solomon said, as he stepped forward - symbiotic tendrils falling away, releasing their avaricious hold on the darkness - and proffered both wrists, which Lunne soon bound with the chain. It was uncomfortably cold and seemed to drain away at his power: sucking deep and fast on his soul, exhuming every mote of magical energy. One by one, Solomon's spellcrafts shut down. He smiled a little, retaining insight on the Architecture, as well as precise and abiding control over the Connections that made up everything. A single twitch of desire would disconnect the chains on his wrists, allowing him to slip away.
A Magician always had a few extra tricks up his sleeve, as he was slowly learning.
"I'm afraid I am not here to answer your questions," said Lunne, and then pulled on the chains to set the Enrolled to a steady walk. Into the darkness they marched, flanked by an escort of three witches and led by Lunne herself. Her voice carried a weary grain of caution; a hint of painful experience in revealing too much information. She'd done that before, only to find her hand bitten. "I'll take you to the Eldest. If she sees fit to answer your questions, she will. Otherwise, you won't learn anything from me."
The darkness was a cold and unrelenting storm, almost vengeful, as if Solomon's momentary supposition of control had personally offended it. Deeper and deeper, it seemed a nearly sapient force, crushing and vengeful tendrils swimming past their thighs and occasionally pulsing with flashes of warning, that a single misstep would see them reduced to nothing but a bloody smear. Slowly, more so by connecting the dots, Solomon realized they were entering something akin to a Sanctum, not unlike his own.
Fascinating, if unfortunate - it was highly probable a Sanctum of this scope not only improved the influence of its masters, but reduced the strength of the opposition. He considered it likely that Lunne's chain carried a sliver of this property, crystallized and crowned into a natural apex: a tool of office, perhaps? If she was something like a policewoman, it'd only make sense to equip her with the best implements to carry out those duties.
"So," he said, addressing Viola. Her iron scepter buzzed with a resonance that drew on the abyss. As Solomon spoke, its holder gave him a curious glance. "You ladies practice sorcery based on implements?"
She didn't answer, as if pointedly disinterested, looking at Lunne's back.
"Call this something of an educated guess - you draw on the ambient Abyss and infuse your magic items with it," he said. "That makes your arts incredibly powerful and easy to sustain, but means you'd have difficulties outside of this valley. No way to recharge easily."
"How do you..." Viola started, then snapped her mouth shut. When no rebuke or call to silence came from the Elder Sister, her eyes started to narrow. She looked at Solomon once more with suspicion. "What is this?"
"I've disconnected our conversation from the overall social context of this situation," he answered. "It's relatively difficult, but I can about barely focus on doing it and talking at the same time. And I've got talent for it, too. I suppose you could say I've lived my entire life with such a disconnection."
"S-Stop doing that, then," Viola stuttered, showing a sudden look of worry.
"Nah," he said dismissively. "Come on, no harm in small talk, is there?" He understood, as deeply and intricately as a bank-teller recognized the shape of a coin or banknote by touch, that Viola wouldn't report an intercession such as this, and the Abyss was too acutely sentient a force to react either, in possession of something resembling shards or splinters of free will: otherwise, Solomon wouldn't have done this for the almost inevitable risk of further getting himself into trouble.
Fortunately, it seemed this Viola didn't mind flouting the rules if it served to fulfill her burning curiosity with the outside world. Unlike most Enrolled, all of her interaction with the Architecture was one-sided, and as a result, she wasn't invisible to his senses. He could read her life's story and future like an open book. Even if he lacked the deeper context for some of that future, he could substitute for certain ideas with close equivalents. She'd be almost laughably easy to subvert, as long as no familiar authority was allowed to intercede. A single reminder of her oath could strike any hopes of further interaction down, stirring up too much guilt.
"I guess..." Viola didn't look comfortable or reassured. "As long as Elder Sister doesn't find out, it's fine, I suppose. Where did you all come from?"
There, that ineffably smoldering curiosity again. If Solomon wanted information from Viola, all it would take was stoking its passions, like a blacksmith's fan on a divine flame. To ensure a feeling of fairness, in which no one was cheated and trust was established, all he'd need would be to offer an exchange of information, data for data. For someone as curious and simple as Viola, it'd be a golden ingot on a silver platter; a heart's desire for cheap.
For a second, Solomon hesitated to speak based on ethical grounds. He'd once promised himself not to abuse the keen social instinct he was gifted with for selfish reasons. This felt dangerously close to manipulation - and yet, the last couple of months have done nothing if not taught him a precious nugget of pragmatism.
Given they were being nearly frogmarched into potentially hostile territory, where death was very much a distant possibility on the horizon if not managed now, didn't he owe it to Penelope and Harrison to attempt?
"Outside," he said mysteriously.
"What kind of answer is that?" she whinged in complaint.
"How about you?" Solomon asked. "Let's do an exchange. I'll tell you more about the outside, and you tell me about this place. I mean, we came here to explore in the first place, so we could kill two birds with one stone."
Her eyes narrowed at him, suspicion lifted, producing caution and cleverness; from those, an overambitious yearning for more. He stared at her, as she said, "Fine, but I get two questions for each one of yours."
"How's that fair?"
"It's not," she said with a smirk. "But you don't have anyone else you can talk to, can you?"
"Neither do you," he pointed out.
"Outsiders come and go," she rebuffed. After a second of heated, focused contemplation, she finally said, "Fine. But I get the first question, and you have to actually answer. And, like, you better make the answer good, or I won't answer what you ask."
"Alright, fine," he said. "What's your question?"
"Tell me about the outside world."
"That's not a question," he objected.
"What's the outside world like?"
He couldn't object to that one.
As a result of the back-and-forth inquisition, he learned a couple of useful factoids about the Witch's Land, both in political and historical terms, as well as the capabilities of its defenders. The Eldest Sister was apparently something called a Chosen, and the Abyss was indeed an existence analogous to a Sanctum - and furthermore, Solomon's educated guess turned out to be right on the money. Most of the local witches weren't as strong as the squad that captured them; a tremendous relief. The Eldest sent Lunne and her subordinates specifically because they were among the best of the best.
If anything Viola claimed was true - and Solomon sensed no dishonesty from her - then it didn't seem that letting themselves be arrested was too bad a mistake. It seemed like an ordinary society, if extremely isolationist and a little matriarchal. Once this whole issue was explained, they'd likely have some favor out of cooperation.
All that remained was the mystery of the visions he'd seen on arrival. None of Viola's explanations seemed to reach that far back. Solomon decided to keep the visions close to his chest for now, in case of mind readers: his mind was durable and wouldn't yield easily to questing magics even without access to his own.
Soon, a valley of sloping streets and quaint half-timbered houses was revealed and Solomon ended the conversation, ceasing the maintenance of their privacy effect.
Now, he needed to consider their approach to this situation...
---
Will: 65
Credit: 8.0
XP: 457
[ ] Straightforward Honesty - Admit to Enrollment, explain terminology the Eldest isn't familiar with. Give full disclosure of your abilities and hope this'll net you additional points with the locals, hopefully allowing you to reach some gently coterminous state.
[ ] Reserved Outsiders - Don't mention Enrollment, falsify your identity to a small extent, and keep your abilities vague; you're a traveling magician from the east, Harrison's a knight on your retainer, and Penelope's a celestial spirit you called down from the heavens.
If your understanding of their magical capabilities is correct, they shouldn't have the truth-detection to refute this; the opposite if anything.
[ ] Write-in
- Location
- Louisiana
[X] Straightforward Honesty
I'm leaning towards this. We've gone this far with submitting to trial, I'd rather not burden cooperation with lies that may be exposed during the trial or at a later date. Even without truth detection, it's possible we say or do something that contradicts our given story. Lies have a way of building up and being found out. As strange and unique as our story is, if we can prove it somehow that might be of benefit for us in this trial. Unique circumstances might lead to further leniency, especially with open and honest communication.
I'm leaning towards this. We've gone this far with submitting to trial, I'd rather not burden cooperation with lies that may be exposed during the trial or at a later date. Even without truth detection, it's possible we say or do something that contradicts our given story. Lies have a way of building up and being found out. As strange and unique as our story is, if we can prove it somehow that might be of benefit for us in this trial. Unique circumstances might lead to further leniency, especially with open and honest communication.
[X] Straightforward Honesty
If we cannot be truthful in court, then when will we ever my friends? We must continue our good habit of Honesty
If we cannot be truthful in court, then when will we ever my friends? We must continue our good habit of Honesty
- Location
- 1
[X] Write in: Omit (but don't lie about) at least one ability you can use to escape if needed; probably Connections. You may also wish to omit mention of your Architectural insight. And, if you believe some part of the truth would backfire on you substantially- such as the witches not believing in Earth or that the Educator made their world- gloss over or talk around it if you can do so cleanly.
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Magical_Duck
The One Who Quacks
- Location
- A Pond
- Pronouns
- Duck
[X] Straightforward Honesty
"Quack qu Qua Quack"
"Quack qu Qua Quack"
[X] Straightforward Honesty
Penny likely never thought she'd get arrested. Also the Hellenic language and Witch stuff gives me Hecate vibes.
Connections is some really scary bullshit and I look forward to seeing Solomon abuse it more in the future. Also the last line was really awesome, it feels like he's stepping in the mastermind role.
That makes sense they're really powerful but at a cost.
Sol is really scary both power wise and socially.
Times like these are when I remember Sol could've ended up becoming a sociopathic manipulator of the highest level and hasn't done so due to his morals.
Nice to see that Sol got some good information out of that conversation, also nice that my Sanctum guess was right. The squad that captured them being a top tier squad makes sense.
[X] Straightforward Honesty - Admit to Enrollment, explain terminology the Eldest isn't familiar with. Give full disclosure of your abilities and hope this'll net you additional points with the locals, hopefully allowing you to reach some gently coterminous state.
Sol doesn't like lying and I want to build a relationship with these people in the long term.
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Tyrant_Rayne
Probably Not Evil… Maybe
- Location
- Canada
[X] Straightforward Honesty
Telling the truth and playing the other side like a fiddle are not mutually exclusive.
Telling the truth and playing the other side like a fiddle are not mutually exclusive.
Ahh the classic isekai scenario. Red pill or Blue Pill? What are the consequences that would arise from the choice?
If the witches learn about the true nature of their existence they might want to become a real boy after the three years are up, before Night descends on the realm. Normally I am an advocate of that, but last time I brought this up there was a lot of opposition on the idea.
Blue pill lets them continue their narrative none the wiser. Red pill gives us the chance to build something for the future, bring additional magic onto the real world from immigration for our efforts.
And also cause I love Viola already. I vote for Red Pill.
[X] Straightforward Honesty
If the witches learn about the true nature of their existence they might want to become a real boy after the three years are up, before Night descends on the realm. Normally I am an advocate of that, but last time I brought this up there was a lot of opposition on the idea.
Blue pill lets them continue their narrative none the wiser. Red pill gives us the chance to build something for the future, bring additional magic onto the real world from immigration for our efforts.
And also cause I love Viola already. I vote for Red Pill.
[X] Straightforward Honesty
When you get down to it, a sufficiently powerful connection manipulation would allow you to straight-up disintegrate things, find the full shape anything you have a piece of (from objects to organizations to probably ideas) and make go-anywhere portal door. Semantic superpowers are always broken, please don't nerf.
- Location
- Where Jokes Die
[X] Straightforward Honesty
OctarineShrike
Avatar of Mandos
[X] Straightforward Honesty
- Location
- Poland
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Straightforward Honesty
- Location
- washington
God diversion is at 69 thousand words so obligatory nice.