TEXT ✦ un: scion

[shtola]

[Hey, City network! What are you up to today? Having fun exploring the liminal spaces, reliving past memories, getting locked into vaults — or maybe just fucking around? Because apparently someone's in the mood for the latter.]

what's a girl got to do to get a little attention around here? ;)

[A short time after that initial post, a follow-up appears.]

because i certainly wouldn't mind being asked out for a meal and an evening in good company, myself. by someone worthy of the honor, of course; naturally, i'm a lady of discerning tastes.

[And then, a little bit later still: ]

takers must feel the unquenchable thirst of the pursuit of knowledge and be willing to participate in intellectual debate for bells on end. oh, and graciously accept defeat when i inevitably hand it to them. or don't — i'll best you at it whether you accept it or not. i'm ever so brilliant that way. how's that for sharing?

[OOC: If the content of this post sounds suspiciously unlike Y'shtola, that's because it isn't — Thancred (onlythans) and his sticky fingers have "borrowed" her network device for a short time. Responses will come from both Thancred and Y'shtola or possibly just Y'shtola after she murders Thancred in cold blood for this!]

Comments

[onlythans]

[HOLD ON GO BACK TO THE PART ABOUT HOW SHE SUPPOSES???]

[shtola]

Of which I worry might become lax with this newfound information. I imagine the relatively lax consequence in the murder of another might prove to be more encouragement than not.

( hey, listen. she thought she was pretty transparent with that answer. )

'Tis not as complex as I might make it seem. Annoyance aside, there's no other in this current realm that I would trust more. ( but like, anyway. ) But you're free to judge him as you see fit.

text; un: archon

[onlythans]

[As with Kaveh, tragically Y'shtola has already gotten hold of her own account back at this point, SO...]

thou wouldst invite me to a cafe? prithee expand upon where i might find such an establishment?

[TWELVE ABOVE NOW HE'S DOING URIANGER INSTEAD]

[shtola]

[onlythans]

if i make myself sufficient nuisance will it spur you to action any sooner?

what appears to be an impenetrable barrier, frustratingly

my darling mistress, never one to accept inevitability in any form or aspect, remains convinced of her capacity to orchestrate a means free of her own volition
whereas i would gladly accept it should someone simply come and open the godsdamned door

id do it for the bit.

[shtola]

( does she want to discuss history in a cosmic bowling alley though.. )

I am all but certain you will recover.

Should you find it in yourself to behave long enough for a proper discussion, then I'll happily lend you my ear and thoughts.

[nomoresharks]

Ah, the true author reveals themself! Would that it could have been accompanied by an appropriately dramatic moment.

That said, I'm not sure I can bring myself to agree with your conclusion. Mayhap I have been lucky. My world seems... quite different from others, or so I've gathered.

[onlythans]

ordinarily i would offer my dear friend fireworks for such a moment, but in this instance i fear she would recommend i light them beneath myself.

quite different in what way?

[nomoresharks]

I've tried a few of the "sodas" so far and found them quite delightful. The strawberry flavor in particular had a nice taste to it, assuming you prefer something sweet, that is.

I've been eying some of the varieties of alcohol as well, but I haven't a clue where to start. I've never seen so many in one place before.

[And since there's no other Ancients here to get on him for indulging himself, he's going to indulge himself in whatever he finds as much as he likes.]

[nomoresharks]

I suppose the easiest way to answer that would be to start with the murders.

[Luckily for them both, Hythlodaeus quickly realizes how that can be misconstrued]

The frequency, I mean. Which is to say, the fact that they exist with any frequency at all in some places.

[onlythans]

[Oh. Oh, this has the possibility to go real bad real fast.]

are you suggesting those of your homeland were above murder?

[nomoresharks]

I should hope so. I find it difficult to imagine why anyone would ever go so far.

Or I suppose I should say that I could come up with some theoretical reasons behind the act, but the reality is another thing altogether.

[onlythans]

ah, of course, how foolish of me

to constitute murder, the victim needs must be a living creature, isn't that so?
so naturally one might kill as much as he wanted and not be a murderer

so long as he refused to consider those he killed to be alive

[shtola]

( that's confirmation enough to her. arcane it is, then. but where to even begin? it is not as though she's caught even a wisp of evidence that any such spell based on aetherology has been cast in their proximity, let alone the threads that might unravel it. there is always, always a trace, and the fact that she could see none at all makes something deep in her belly twist uncomfortably.

not that she could even say that much with certainty these days, which makes it all the worse for them. so maybe it is well and truly the time to address the other obvious solution: the set of keys, lures with their names - it rules out the possibility for the mechanism to be triggered by thieves. something they did here sealed them to their fate. )

Might I see your box? Our kind benefactors left a note in mine, which I thought to be naught more than a snide taunt. Perhaps yours has the continuation to this riddle. The city is utterly bereft of most other forms of written word, so the fact that this remains strikes me as strange.

[nomoresharks]

[??????????]

I honestly have no idea what in the world you mean.

[Unless... No, it's too extreme a philosophy, even for him. But there are just enough similarities that he has to ask:]

You wouldn't happen to be acquainted with a man by the name of Hermes, would you?

[onlythans]

[Well. If he hadn't already had his suspicions, he certainly does now.]

i've never met anyone by that name

[THIS IS A FACT THAT IS TECHNICALLY TRUE IF YOU CONSIDER IT IN A VERY PARTICULAR WAY.]

why do you ask?

@Alhaitham

[justscribing]

Kaveh here downplays his own intellectual curiosity as an academic. Should you need a tenacious debate partner, I can name no one better who has the persistence to argue for hours on end even after his ungracious loses.

[It's fine(?) they'll just whore each other out.]

[shtola]

( kaveh and alhaitham flirting in front of her? more likely than you think. because this definitely constitutes as flirting in her book. )

I take it you're his other half.

( of the debates, obviously. )

Might I ask the focus of your studies? Both of you, if you don't mind my asking. I have a specialty of my own, of course, but that is not to say I've closed my mind to other subjects.

[shtola]

( she knows you're mostly a tank now but this is one terrible dodge. you literally walked into that one. )

I hadn't realized I named you outright.

( that's not true at all and they both know it. )

It was, of course, hypothetical. I was merely making a point that your remedy for the perceived loneliness on my behalf is as ineffective as it is unnecessary.

[nomoresharks]

Your words remind me of him in a way.

[And though he can't claim to have proof beyond a shadow of a doubt, he's certain that this person, whosoever they may be, is at least somewhat acquainted with his home.

But rather than elaborate, I shall reply in the spirit of debate.

Purely in the technical sense, man does not decide what does and does not decide what can be considered "alive." Any creature whose construction abides by the laws of nature and possesses a soul is considered a living being, whereas those that do not contain one are not. They are instead arcane entities.

However, the technicalities of life don't always take into account the closeness that one can come to feel for another, soul or no. The loss of a familiar can come with the same sadness one might feel for the loss of a friend.

If the hypothetical individual you refer to were to snuff out the lives of all those before him for naught but his own gain, then I would agree with you--that comes quite close to the vision I have of what a murderer might be. But if the goal is to keep another safe--a companion, for instance, or another species that may be wiped from existence should a creation persist on its current path...

Tis a regrettable choice, but a necessary one, I think. And if that act of preservation is an act of murder... that I cannot say.

[onlythans]

...Hm?

[Speaking of things that are a little unlike him: it's certainly unlike Thancred to be distracted in a situation like this. Normally, this sort of crisis would have him honed to a fine edge, hypervigilant; the fact that his attention seems caught elsewhere is curious, to say the least.

Still. There had been a note in the box; he'd glanced at it, but hadn't really touched it, and had left it where it was in his haste to snatch his reward out from the contents. He casually tilts the screen of the network device away from her vantage point as he digs for his key and offers it up to her, stretching his arm so it's within her reach without him having to get up from where he's seated on the floor.]

Oh. If you like. I doubt there's much of interest in it.

[But then, with a sort of creeping swelling apprehension he can't quite seem to swallow back: ]

Was that all there was, in yours? A note?

[onlythans]

[Y'shtola standing three yalms away probably watching Thancred all but vibrate into another dimension right now.]

speaking of names, i notice the one you've chosen to use on this forum is hythlodaeus

that wouldn't perchance happen to be your own name, would it

[nomoresharks]

You would be correct.

Unfamiliar with these devices as I am, I may or may not have thought that that was what it was asking for, rather than the clever pseudonyms everyone else appears to have.

[onlythans]

then permit me just one more question
in the spirit of debate

i suppose you might find it a bit asked and answered
but i would hear you say it even so

do you believe the convocation of fourteen is above murder?

[nomoresharks]

I should hope they would be, yes.

And I cannot help but notice that despite you knowing my name, you have neglected to tell me your own.