Advertise/Affiliate Other Forum Main Page The World Before You Play

Matters of Knowledge (Cobalt) (PM to join) (Memory Alteration trigger warning)

Started by Arthuriel, May 26, 2015, 11:09:16 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Arthuriel

"Have you tried using plants that have regenerative properties?" She sad, pulling open a drawer from her desk and extracting a small potted plant with bark white as snow and leaves like silver.

"It is called the Tree of Angels," She explained as she set the pot down. "It is a most rare thing, growing only under several feet of snow. It is almost impossible to find. It can cure most poisons, never encountered one it couldn't." Dro pushed it towards Zea. "Try it and let me know how it works."

Cobalt

Zea's mind was whirling through the plants she knew of that could regenerate more than the average. Compared to a zombie, all plants had regenerative properties but... the Arbiter had something specific in mind, evidently. She had something specific in mind and it was right here.

That must have been a sturdy plant, to be so happy in a drawer. What about a drawer replicated deep snow, besides the dark? Clearly a full shade plant, so it'd be one for the basement. But... should she?

She leaned forward, paused, and then got up to finish her approach. With the tips of her fingers she carefully rotated the pot to get a better view of the plant. This would be worth trying to graft just to retain a fair supply for personal reasons. Zea was too high-caste to straightforwardly murder under most circumstances, but poison was deniable and could be covered up as an experiment gone wrong. A contingency plan might be worth it.

Still...

"This is a really valuable thing." Zea looked up from it to Dro Thinh, and said gravely, "But there is risk of damage to it, regeneration or no. I can take care of a plant but it's only fair to let you know that not all plant tissue responds well to all kinds of magic. If you're relying on this, I just want you to know the drawbacks to lending it for research."

Arthuriel

Dro pushed the plant towards Zea. "I trust you will take care of it to the best of your ability, Zea. But I won't lie to you-- I cannot lie to you. My relationship with you is because of the House of Justice. I cannot explain why, but I believe it imperative the priest and priestesses have a good relationship with my House." She took a sip of her wine. "I hope you do not believe me shallow and that I am attempting to buy your friendship." Of course, the Arbiter didn't worry about whether or not the priestess would think her shallow; she'd welcome the help regardless.

And if she didn't, Dro always did have her Ace. "It isn't my intention, you must know."

Cobalt

As long as Dro Thinh knew Zea would do her best, that should be doable. She just didn't want the Arbiter to assume that her research was completely risk free and everything was definitely going to pay off with no drawbacks. Sometimes people who weren't researchers themselves assumed that identifying a problem meant the solution was immediate and sure.

"That wasn't really what I was getting at, but that's... good to know, too?"

Why would anybody want Zea's friendship badly enough to barter for it? Something about that just did not follow from what Zea knew about the universe and the creatures which inhabited it. Maybe it was just because she was a priestess, but Arbiters didn't need priests and priestesses for friends. The gap was so wide that while their organizational areas ought to be professionally cooperative... Zea wasn't sure if anybody else actually... talked to people that far up, aside from social climber types who aspired to a lifetime of tedious paperwork and even worse conversation, obviously.

One thing was sure, however obvious Zea's genius probably was, she was not a particularly useful friend and had no intentions of becoming one. But... well... Arbiters. They were all a little weird anyway.

Arthuriel

"It isn't that I wish to barter your friendship, Zea." Dro explained with an understanding smile. "Merely that I have found that helping one with their pursuits, or even trying to help, can go a long way in forming a friendship. I.." She frowned, searching for the words that best fit. "I have been informed that there has been a change of status regarding the innocence of the House of Judgment. I fear an uprising and would like to be prepared if such a thing happens." Inwardly, the demoness was laughing wildly. An uprising, indeed!

The House of Judgment would fall soon and after that, who else could stop Justice?

Cobalt

It wasn't that Dro Thinh wanted to barter for Zea's friendship. She just wanted to make sure they had enough of a working relationship that if Zea chose some kind of political allegiance... she'd have some reason to believe Dro Thinh was the one who'd value her and her work the most.

Fucking politics. Fucking terrible terrible politics.

Obviously it was good to know that there was some kind of friction going on between the Houses, but all Zea wanted to do was stay out from under their giant clumsy clomping psychic feet. She had work to do, and her work emphatically did not have anything to do with the pathological need of her betters to jockey for position forever.

"Duly noted," she replied, hoping that if she kept her tone light enough it would forestall further discussion of Zea playing some kind of part in a coming Thanati House kerfuffle. "I'm sure if you all do enough psychic rummaging you'll have it sorted out in a blink. It is your job, after all, and I have every confidence in you."

If there was a slight emphasis on your job, it was only as much as would have been polite. If Dro Thinh could do her job, and Koda Thanh his, Zea would do her best to do literally anything else in the entire world, and their squabbling would hopefully not bother everybody else overmuch. Sure would be nice. Inima willing, it might even happen.

Arthuriel

Dro stood from her chair, having heard Zea's thoughts as loudly as if she had spoken them. Politics? No, the demoness would never stoop so low as to get mingled in that. Politics was the game of lessers, of fiends who bargain for souls and deal with vile wretches like the Demon's Merchant.

Dro Thinh didn't play politics. She played war and there were none better at her game.

"I speak not of politics, nor of tasteless cold-wars between two houses. I speak of an uprising, of a war that may - who can be sure? - cripple this nation. I cannot express my concerns directly, as I am of Justice but," She leaned forward, bringing her face to be only inches from Zea's. "I am concerned and I will do what I need to protect my House and my nation."

Damn politics. Dro would never stoop so low.

Cobalt

Oh great fucking fuck. Zea'd done it now. She was going to get chewed out by the Arbiter of House Justice and then Dro could just sort of roundabout imply that Zea may potentially have had opportunity to do ghastly things and refuse to defend her, and then Judgment would have her exiled or her soul destroyed and then all of the humans everywhere would die. They wouldn't die immediately, of course, but they would eventually, because Zea couldn't stand politics or politicians.

Zea clenched her jaw, kept very still, and took a long careful breath.

"Begging the Arbiter's indulgence, but this one is only a priestess. This one's duties are individual spirits and individual students. Concerns of uprisings and who may or may not be fated to cause them are for people who were fated to be in a position to do something about it. They are for those of loftier birth and achievement, and it would be presumptuous of this one to even begin to weigh the wisdom of allegiances between Houses."

After all, it wasn't as though one House were significantly different than the other, not as far as Zea could determine. They had different jobs, sure, but in the end they were still the sort of people who occupied themselves micromanaging others. Whether Justice or Judgment got out of line and effectively went rogue, it wasn't Zea's business. Siding with either was the same as siding against either; either was treason.

Zea just plain did not have time for treason. Dro Thinh presumably had plenty. Maybe Dro could get to it and Zea could get back to teaching kids how to make pen nibs out of teeth.

Arthuriel

Dro gnawed her tongue and sat back down. This had been the second time this priestess had gotten her to lose her cool, had made her lose her patience.

How she wanted her! But no, that would not happen. Not anytime soon, anyway.

"It is not my place to have you exiled or your soul destroyed and even so, I wouldn't dream of such actions." She sighed and rubbed her temples. "Influence is a plague, an infection that will spread - sometimes slowly and sometimes quickly. You may be a simple priestess that seeks to fix humanity, but I have no doubt that others would follow you. None can know the extent of corruption that might be in the House."

Dro looked up and stared at Zea for a moment. The demoness' swore that she'd have this priestess and no one would deny her prize. "There is a spark about you, Zea, and people will follow that light."

Cobalt

A deep chasm of revulsion opened up somewhere in Zea's mind at the notion of anybody following her. What a horrifying thing, having a bunch of weak-minded underlings looking to her to make or evaluate all their decisions. It would be like having children, except that these ones would be making far more advanced blunders and giving far more elaborate rationalizations for why they were right and she was wrong while simultaneously demanding her opinion on absolutely literally fucking everything they did. At least with a child, the biggest concerns were things like whether the kid was due for a bowel movement, not whether they were going to irreparably fuck up the entire future of Thanatos.

No, that sounded terrible.

Zea needed to handle this delicately, or else she was going to get pegged as some kind of queenmaker whether she had any interest or not. If she were so designated, it was entirely possible that there'd be nothing she could do. She had to stop it before things went that far.

"If the Arbiter has concerns about the future of her homeland, this humble priestess can only assume that she is availing herself of spiritual counsel which can give glimpses into what Inima has laid out for us all."

Secular authorities. Was it just easier for them to forget how little control they really had? What would happen would happen, and she that was born to be hanged could never be drowned. So it went.

"It is, after all, the limit of a priestess's authority. A priestess can be of no further assistance."

Maybe Dro Thinh would ask Zea to throw some chicken bones and see what was what, and then Zea could leave and pretend that people weren't looking at her as some kind of big player in Thanati politics. Maybe then... maybe then Zea would not ever have to waste her time on something so small and ephemeral as rising and falling nations. She had so much yet to do.

Arthuriel

Dro couldn't help but smile - though whether it was friendly or predatory, she didn't know or care at the time. Over her years she'd learned that to control someone you must be able to deliver what they want, which means you must know what they want.

But sometimes, the demoness knew, it was just as important to know what they didn't want.

"I can make sure that happens or that it doesn't." She explained, having some of her wine. "All you have to do is make sure that if the time comes, and I'm not sure it will, but if it does, you and the other priests will support Justice."

Cobalt

That bitch.

Arbiter Bitch, to be as polite as possible within her own thoughts, but a telepath had to develop a thick enough skin to hear the occasional coarse response, or so Zea reckoned. If not, she would have no further explanations for how this conversation had gone on so long. If Dro Thinh were so sensitive, it stood to reason that Zea would already be dead.

She was still a bitch. Being given responsibility as a punishment was not the kind of thing Zea would ever have considered. Even if it resulted in a pointless pissing match for the rest of Zea's life in which she just escalated the damage she could deal every time Dro lengthened her reach just to irk her, it would waste so very much of Zea's time. The thought did not appeal. Whether she agreed to try to rally the Temple caste on the side of Justice against Judgment or not, Zea would either be choosing politics to avoid politics or being forced into politics because she hadn't chosen it.

Dro Thinh was still insane, but it was a capable sort of insanity. Zea had to concede some grudging respect for the Arbiter's willingness to endanger the future of the entire nation of Thanatos for the sake of getting Zea onside one way or another. It wasn't nice to be wanted, but it was just slightly reassuring to know that Zea was not the only one in the world with absolutely no sense of scale when making sacrifices for a higher goal.

"Fate leads those who are willing but must push those who are not, and each of us land precisely where we are placed," she answered, retreating further into ever more orthodox Iniman doctrine. Every Thanati from the esteemed Arbiter to the least literate child knew that Inima laid the path; pretending otherwise was not only short-sighted but a little tacky and distinctly un-Thanati. "The choices we make to arrive in our places are merely the shadows cast by our future onto our present."

Zea closed her eyes in an outward show of humility, lowering her head in deference to the goddess that ruled believers and unbelievers alike. "This one is Thanati, and would never presume to believe that her choices decide her fate."

Dro was going to do what Dro was going to do, and Zea's involvement would be whatever Zea's involvement would be. All Thanati knew this, even if sometimes it was a comfort to forget. Zea looked back up again. Perhaps the wise and esteemed Arbiter might benefit from some Temple meditation herself, to get back to basics. She could sit with the little children.

Arthuriel

"Yes." Dro answered, simply. "None can escape our fate and we all do as Inima desires." She leaned forward, grinning. "That means whatever I do--either to you personally or politically-- is Inima's will or could not happen.
"So that means I will continue to warn you against what may happen to you until you do as I say and that is what Inima desires. Else I could literally not do it." While Dro could truly never believe in a deity that took responsibility for everything it's followers did, she had to admit it had it's perks.

Cobalt

Finally, the Arbiter was talking sense. If things had kept going as they were, Zea might have had to try and muster an appropriate level of concern for the Arbiter's fate in her next life. Thankfully Inima was merciful and did not appear to be putting Zea into a position that required her to care.

"It is as the Arbiter says," Zea answered gratefully, still hiding too far behind the most excruciating formality to refer to Dro Thinh in the second person. Maybe Dro Thinh would take the hint and join her about thirteen steps away from the very idea of them being peers or--Inima forbid--co-conspirators. "We are placed on the stage if and only if Inima wants us there, and removed at her whim and however she ordained."

Could Zea go yet?

Arthuriel

"Yes, you can." Dro said, beginning the process of removing her own mind from Zea's. "I would like you to know that I am truly not your enemy and so I offer you a token of friendship. There is a certain man--slightly mad--but incredibly useful to your work, I think. He's a wizard, with a very unique spell." The Arbiter smiled slightly, friendly as ever. Psionics were strange, and loosening the bond was like peeling spider's web off your body. It would be over soon, she told herself. 

Cobalt

The Arbiter didn't see herself as Zea's enemy. This was good to know, though it was hard to imagine what kind of friendship they'd have. Their priorities were entirely incompatible and their fundamental values might well be completely incomprehensible to one another. From what Zea had heard about friendship from people who knew, those were typically important areas of commonality.

"Madness is not always any problem. Many people can be mad and yet useful. We all have to contribute somehow."

Mad wizard with good spells. Sure. Zea could add one of those to her collection of temporary hires, depending on what Dro Thinh meant by slightly mad. Worst case scenario he was dangerous and Zea handled it, and then perhaps interrogated his ghost about that spell once death had softened it up a little.

No, madness was certainly not always a problem.

Arthuriel

Had Dro still had her Psionic web in Zea's mind, she would've commented on how this one specific wizard really only had one good spell.

"His spell allows him to, in essence, copy the knowledge of anyone in a ten-mile radius and copy it in a magic book." Dro didn't need Psionics to know how much Zea would enjoy having such an employee. "The knowledge of one topic at a time, to be precise."

Khasm, the wizard, would be furious to hear his spell be described so... blandly, but Dro Thinh was no wizard and didn't understand the subtle intricacies of spell-craft. Still, he had a habit of explosive anger when it came to arcane magic.

Cobalt

Zea blinked hard and then just stared at the Arbiter, mouth open in shock. By the time she could make proper words, all she could put together was, "Fuck me," after which she shook her head and added, "Uh. Begging the Arbiter's pardon."

Anyone?

Anyone.

She was going to travel to magical academies and get nine miles away and just have this person write her an Encyclopedia Necromantica which she could then take home and have copies made of and then she might actually be able to create some kind of respectable community out of all these warped savants she had for colleagues.

She coughed, trying to clear away the astonishment. "No, I think a little madness should be no problem."

Arthuriel

There. It was done. Dro's web of psionic energy was fully disconnected from Zea's incredible mind. Normally, the demoness would just rip out her mental energy, but that tends to damage the victim. Dro Thinh wasn't going to let anything damage Zea.

"I think he'd find you to be of use as well." She said with a nod towards the door, silently dismissing the priestess.

Cobalt

"We can hope," she said, because it was better to hope he wanted to work with her than to invest the necessary effort to find some way to wrench his assistance out of him despite it. People already wanting to do what Zea wanted saved so much effort.

She stood, backed to the door, bowed, and then asked one last question.

"What do I need to know to find him? Do you want to just...?" Zea waggled a finger between the Arbiter and herself, signalling assent to simply receive the information telepathically. Conversation was stupid when people could just know things. Maybe if things worked out with this lab assistant she'd never have to talk to anyone again! Ever!

Tags: