[X] To seek what truth I may find, to best heal and protect humanity
changing because I think it fits more with the character
changing because I think it fits more with the character
The Practice War [Complete]
- Thread starter Snowfire
- Start date
- Original Sci-Fi
- Location
- Anchorage, Alaska
[X] "Humanity is in danger. The Shiplords are on their way here, will be here in little more than three years. Much has already been done to prepare, but we cannot leave any stone unturned, and so I have come seeking whatever help you have to offer."
I vote, therefore, I play!
I vote, therefore, I play!
Eh, they're basically the same vote; the "seek" people just want to be all coy and faux-mysterious about the whole thing.
Cecylene
Eternal Idea Engine
- Location
- Massachusetts
- Pronouns
- He/They
When dealing with benevolent forces, binding them with specific wording means that you might lose out on rather valuable knowledge.
- Location
- Anchorage, Alaska
On the other hand, we did come here with a rather specific short term goal at hand, that will have some rather long term consequences. Not being shy about our priorities could potentially yeild more immediately valuable results.
But then, we're going to get some rather nice goodies anyway, probably.
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
Heh.
Anyway.
Vote Tally : Original - Sci-Fi - The Practice War | Page 40 | Sufficient Velocity
##### NetTally 1.7.5
[10] To seek what truth I may find, to best heal and protect humanity
[9] "Humanity is in danger. The Shiplords are on their way here, will be here in little more than three years. Much has already been done to prepare, but we cannot leave any stone unturned, and so I have come seeking whatever help you have to offer."
[2] I have completed my duty to my family. I now come to take you up on your offer and learn how to do my duty to humanity.
[2] "I came here because I want to heal the deepest wounds the Shiplords have left on humanity as a collective. All our accomplishments, all our efforts have revolved around the Shiplords- of how to fight them, how to avoid their notice until the time to strike. Ever since humanity was originally brought down by them- we have been casted in their shadow, made our decisions based around them, lived to spite and defy them. No more, humanity deserves to live for itself, to decide for itself, to get it's own soul back- marred but still whole. And for that I need whatever the First Elders have to offer, in order to heal the wounds humanity earned in the past, we need to guarantee them a future"
[1] Humanity is in danger. I need whatever I can get to protect it.
[1] "Understanding and help. The shiplords sent another Tribute fleet which will arrive latest in three years, and humanity needs any edge it can get to survive it. And what comes after. So, any help you can offer to beat the shiplords, and any help to understand what Practice is would be appreciated."
Total No. of Voters: 25
Voting is Closed
....Patched up the government: Yes.
Helped stop kids from getting screwed up in the head?: Nope.
Amanda picked up the slack there.
So yeah, there is a vast difference between what you consider 'therapy' and what I consider to be 'therapy' - in other words, grand scale sociological reengineering that takes decades.
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
I feel like I've sold the Elder First a bit short if that's your view...
There wasn't much that even Potentials could do with the world they'd been handed. They had to make sure humanity could provide a world for those children, and try to kindle hope. Whilst Amanda certainly created an entity that did a better job, she did it over a much longer amount of time. The Circle grew from something very small over the course of years, but it didn't grow in isolation. Without the foundation of secure stability that the Elder First built, balancing the rage and loss of the rest of the First Awoken against the need for the world to be more than just a weapon, there would have been little place in the world for what Amanda made.
So you're right, they didn't do what Amanda did. That said, they were stuck in an almost impossible situation. Consider that the world didn't collapse in on itself, or let all that wasn't a potential weapon against the Shiplord wither and die. That was the Elder First's doing. It wasn't enough for the world to survive, it had to be able to flourish. They were all old enough that they knew they'd never get to see the seeds they laid bloom, at least not after Prologue failed. Amanda's work has done a huge amount in helping humanity grow back into the lost pieces of itself, but the seeds of that growth weren't planted by her. She shaped the seedling in a different way to what the Elders might have expected, and the speed with which its grown would probably be a shock, but without the work of those before it would have been orders of magnitude harder to plant.
And the ground might not have even been there for it.
>.>
I really hope this is making sense, I'm not the clearest writer when it's late
- Location
- Anchorage, Alaska
"Standing on the shoulder's of Giants" situation here. Those who came after may have done it better, but it wouldn't have been possible without the work of their predecessors.
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
Yes, that's the phrase I knew I was looking for somewhere in that jumble of words xD
Thanks <3
Have another catgirl
- Location
- Anchorage, Alaska
I feel like I've sold the Elder First a bit short if that's your view...
There wasn't much that even Potentials could do with the world they'd been handed. They had to make sure humanity could provide a world for those children, and try to kindle hope. Whilst Amanda certainly created an entity that did a better job, she did it over a much longer amount of time. The Circle grew from something very small over the course of years, but it didn't grow in isolation. Without the foundation of secure stability that the Elder First built, balancing the rage and loss of the rest of the First Awoken against the need for the world to be more than just a weapon, there would have been little place in the world for what Amanda made.
So you're right, they didn't do what Amanda did. That said, they were stuck in an almost impossible situation. Consider that the world didn't collapse in on itself, or let all that wasn't a potential weapon against the Shiplord wither and die. That was the Elder First's doing. It wasn't enough for the world to survive, it had to be able to flourish. They were all old enough that they knew they'd never get to see the seeds they laid bloom, at least not after Prologue failed. Amanda's work has done a huge amount in helping humanity grow back into the lost pieces of itself, but the seeds of that growth weren't planted by her. She shaped the seedling in a different way to what the Elders might have expected, and the speed with which its grown would probably be a shock, but without the work of those before it would have been orders of magnitude harder to plant.
And the ground might not have even been there for it.
>.>
I really hope this is making sense, I'm not the clearest writer when it's late
What I'm hearing is that opening with, "Need gunz NAOW!", might not go over so well with them.
- Location
- Germany
- Pronouns
- He/Him
They laid the foundations for humanity to heal back to more than 'KILL SHIPLORDS' Orc copycats, but that's meaningless if the SL come back to finish the job. And they laid those foundations on a world devastated by the SL, so, telling them 'I want to stop them from doing it again' should tie in with their base impetus.
What I'm hearing is that coming to them for rebuild/recovery advice is going to get us a lot of redundant or ineffective projects. After all, if they had Practiced objects or techniques to help rebuild the world they'd have used them, like they apparently did. The Elder First wouldn't have sealed away objects or knowledge that would have aided the recovery effort, after all. What they would have sealed away were the truly devastating weapons, things that they would have deemed either too dangerous to deploy or simply not useful in the early days when humanity was focusing on rebuilding rather than rearming.
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They sealed them away because they didn't want humanity to become a species of weapons. They presumably still don't. Humanity can beat the Shiplords without these, and even losing doesn't mean the end of humanity. They may decide that in the midst of a decade of desperate total war rearmament may not be a good time to release at least some of them, especially if the most powerful person on earth comes to them leading with same, "Need gunz, kill baddies", attitude that frightened them about the other First.
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We don't know it's a weapons cache. It says "devices", and "secrets". It might mean Secrets. They may be concerned that revealing them will ensure the total destruction or corruption of humanity instead of a mere culling. They may consider them so dangerous that they're uncertain about ever releasing them at all. They may have discovered whatever it is that turned the Shiplords into the Shiplords. They may be concerned about bringing down the wrath of the things even more powerful than the Shiplords which we know are out there. There are worse things than a culling, there are worse things than extinction, and there's a reason that they didn't just set the lock on a timer.
Mini-turn: Requiem for a Dream - Part 3
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
"I came here," you stopped. Part of you wanted to ask where here was, but you'd already asked one question. And this echo, whatever it truly was, resonated with both power and presences you could only barely remember. You'd met a few of the Elder First before they died, all of those involved in Prologue had, and you could feel the same sense of presence they'd carried so effortlessly. As one of those from the Second Awakening who had drawn their concerted interest, you knew that feeling better than most, and also how they had thought. If this creation was indeed their echo, you owed it, owed them, an answer.
You struggled for a moment at the end of the thought chain, trying to find the right words to describe why you'd come. The mounting pressure of an oncoming invasion, that even with everything you'd done you didn't know if you'd be able to stop. The promise of knowledge, of secrets that could help you weather the storm. Devices perhaps, that could help you understand or build. Except those were all things, most of them quite physical. It wasn't that the Elder First would object to that, but they'd always taught to reach deeper. Try to find what was beneath.
What was beneath this, for you?
"I came here to seek what truth I might find, to heal and protect humanity," you said. The words came easily, rushing from your soul with simple grace. You had given decades, almost your entire elapsed life, to that cause. Any echo of the Elder First would know what you'd done to draw their attention, and the device you wore was clearly one designed to bring people together. To talk and be heard, but also to give a voice to whatever they had recognised as so vitally important within your soul that they'd offered you a place beside them. A place you'd rejected, but only because to accept would have destroyed the very thing that had brought you to their attention.
The echo tilted its head to one side, and you sternly told yourself not to fidget. "There is an urgency to your need, Amanda." It said. "Why?" You blinked, everyone knew that the- Everyone out in the world knew. You had no idea where you were right now, but you wouldn't be surprised if the amalgam inside it had no way to connect with the outside world.
"The Shiplords." You replied, the softness of your voice twisted to harshness. "The Week of Sorrows wasn't a one-time process. They take not once, but many times, and they will be here again in little more than three years." The echo moved back sharply, that had to be a surprise, and you tried to give some good news to follow the bad.
"It has been almost fifty years since the Week of Sorrows, and in the seven years since we discovered that the Shiplords were coming back we've done all we can to prepare." You explained. "But we, I," you stopped, shaking your head as you tried to find the right words again. The amalgam stepped closer again, but said nothing, seemingly content to let you work through your own motivations.
"I'm President now," you said at last. "Part of the oath of office is to defend, but that's only part of reason I came here. I know that you, that who made you, laid the foundations for what I've done. We've risen through the wounds and become very close to whole again, but," you gathered yourself for the next words.
"The Shiplords. If we cannot stop them in three years, the fragile blossoms that you entrusted to me will be burnt to ash." You took another breath, and the amalgam stopped you before you could speak again.
"They feared that this might happen," it said, "but never so soon." You blinked, rendered speechless by the apparent admission. The amalgam didn't give you much time to adjust. "Your reason is worthy, Amanda Hawk, and you have shown courage in your choice of artefact." Stepping back, it raised its hands and pulled on the empty air. The power around you flooded into the space between its hands, and the construct shuddered.
"When presented with the unknown, you chose that which would let you speak with it." A door began to form between you, very similar to what you'd stepped through to get here. "That earns you this gate, but also trust." The door snapped into being and the amalgam stepped around it to face you again.
"When the Elder First left this place, they sealed it." It gestured to the portal before you. "Within your soul lies the key to this, something my creators buried or saw within you, I do not know which. I was made to be the test for this place, and you have passed that. The lock they crafted for this will test you too, but in different ways, and I do not know them."
"But as an echo created as a test of words, I can answer some questions." The amalgam held up a hand. "Not more than a handful. This portal draws energy from both of us, keeping it open for long would be harmful to mutual coherence. So ask quickly if at all, and understand the limits of my knowledge. I am only an echo."
You struggled for a moment at the end of the thought chain, trying to find the right words to describe why you'd come. The mounting pressure of an oncoming invasion, that even with everything you'd done you didn't know if you'd be able to stop. The promise of knowledge, of secrets that could help you weather the storm. Devices perhaps, that could help you understand or build. Except those were all things, most of them quite physical. It wasn't that the Elder First would object to that, but they'd always taught to reach deeper. Try to find what was beneath.
What was beneath this, for you?
"I came here to seek what truth I might find, to heal and protect humanity," you said. The words came easily, rushing from your soul with simple grace. You had given decades, almost your entire elapsed life, to that cause. Any echo of the Elder First would know what you'd done to draw their attention, and the device you wore was clearly one designed to bring people together. To talk and be heard, but also to give a voice to whatever they had recognised as so vitally important within your soul that they'd offered you a place beside them. A place you'd rejected, but only because to accept would have destroyed the very thing that had brought you to their attention.
The echo tilted its head to one side, and you sternly told yourself not to fidget. "There is an urgency to your need, Amanda." It said. "Why?" You blinked, everyone knew that the- Everyone out in the world knew. You had no idea where you were right now, but you wouldn't be surprised if the amalgam inside it had no way to connect with the outside world.
"The Shiplords." You replied, the softness of your voice twisted to harshness. "The Week of Sorrows wasn't a one-time process. They take not once, but many times, and they will be here again in little more than three years." The echo moved back sharply, that had to be a surprise, and you tried to give some good news to follow the bad.
"It has been almost fifty years since the Week of Sorrows, and in the seven years since we discovered that the Shiplords were coming back we've done all we can to prepare." You explained. "But we, I," you stopped, shaking your head as you tried to find the right words again. The amalgam stepped closer again, but said nothing, seemingly content to let you work through your own motivations.
"I'm President now," you said at last. "Part of the oath of office is to defend, but that's only part of reason I came here. I know that you, that who made you, laid the foundations for what I've done. We've risen through the wounds and become very close to whole again, but," you gathered yourself for the next words.
"The Shiplords. If we cannot stop them in three years, the fragile blossoms that you entrusted to me will be burnt to ash." You took another breath, and the amalgam stopped you before you could speak again.
"They feared that this might happen," it said, "but never so soon." You blinked, rendered speechless by the apparent admission. The amalgam didn't give you much time to adjust. "Your reason is worthy, Amanda Hawk, and you have shown courage in your choice of artefact." Stepping back, it raised its hands and pulled on the empty air. The power around you flooded into the space between its hands, and the construct shuddered.
"When presented with the unknown, you chose that which would let you speak with it." A door began to form between you, very similar to what you'd stepped through to get here. "That earns you this gate, but also trust." The door snapped into being and the amalgam stepped around it to face you again.
"When the Elder First left this place, they sealed it." It gestured to the portal before you. "Within your soul lies the key to this, something my creators buried or saw within you, I do not know which. I was made to be the test for this place, and you have passed that. The lock they crafted for this will test you too, but in different ways, and I do not know them."
"But as an echo created as a test of words, I can answer some questions." The amalgam held up a hand. "Not more than a handful. This portal draws energy from both of us, keeping it open for long would be harmful to mutual coherence. So ask quickly if at all, and understand the limits of my knowledge. I am only an echo."
[] Ask questions [2d2+1 max]
- [] What did you mean, they feared that this might happen?
- [] What was hidden here?
- [] Will you remain if the vault is opened?
- [] Write-in
[] Step into the portal
- [] What did you mean, they feared that this might happen?
- [] What was hidden here?
- [] Will you remain if the vault is opened?
- [] Write-in
[] Step into the portal
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Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
This was actually somewhat hard to write, given what you're talking to. I also had to work out the mechanics for the questions, as I know that you'd probably like nothing more than to spend ages here asking them. Unfortunately, you have a time limit. Such is life in indeterminable space.
So, time to work out what you'd like to ask, if anything. No requirement to do so, and the knowledge is limited as it's said. But it could help. I will tell you as QM that the right questions will be able to help you in what comes next. The next post will take you into the portal, and then things will become interesting.
So, time to work out what you'd like to ask, if anything. No requirement to do so, and the knowledge is limited as it's said. But it could help. I will tell you as QM that the right questions will be able to help you in what comes next. The next post will take you into the portal, and then things will become interesting.
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- Location
- Anchorage, Alaska
So, we're guaranteed three questions, but we're pushing our luck after that, and can't expect more than five. So, if you have any pressing questions for the Elder First that this copy-paste might have answers for, feel free to ask them now!
Nice talk.
I liked both sides of it.
Will think on questions.
I liked both sides of it.
Will think on questions.
Robinton
Probably petting Schrödinger's cat
- Location
- Scientifically proving a miracle
Thanks as always, Snowfire!
Now, what questions to ask? Brainstorming:
In yet other news, could we keep the Concert Set? Or try a bit more with the Strange Crystal? (...That would be a personal action, wouldn't it?)
Now, what questions to ask? Brainstorming:
- What else did you know/suspect about the Shiplords? (Probably mostly out of date, but could be useful.)
- What do you know about Practice? (We'd need a narrower question than this.)
- How would you bury a key in someone's soul?
- What is the technology/Practice you're based on? (A Miracle / group Trance?)
- How did the Dragons do it...?
- Would we find it easier to pass the next test if we ask you fewer questions? (No, I dearly hope.)
- What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?
In yet other news, could we keep the Concert Set? Or try a bit more with the Strange Crystal? (...That would be a personal action, wouldn't it?)
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
Assuming no mysterious things occur (no promises) you will get to keep everything Mary found for you.