Avishraa Reloaded

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sessions:worldbuilding:2017-06-19 [2020/01/11 18:41] – created shyriathsessions:worldbuilding:2017-06-19 [2024/01/06 19:46] (current) – pinkgothic
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 The business of the Council seemed to revolve around issues that were either very large and general or annoyingly specific: the things that needed to be agreed on, but were either big enough to demand some kind of majority opinion, or small and personal enough that an arbiter was needed to decide them. The business of the Council seemed to revolve around issues that were either very large and general or annoyingly specific: the things that needed to be agreed on, but were either big enough to demand some kind of majority opinion, or small and personal enough that an arbiter was needed to decide them.
  
-Much of the meeting seemed to be concerned with the latter category, and their sheer pettiness appeared to exasperate the Council members. One involved a petition to rescind the ban on playing boulder-ball in the outer market, on the grounds that it provided useful employment for elementalists to repair the structures and lifegivers to repair the bystanders; the Council denied it, noting that it was the third session in a row where they had felt compelled to do so, and threatened the petitioner with being involuntarily shapeshifted //into// a boulder for a sixth-turn if he persisted. There was that about the meeting; for all the pomp and formality of the setting, the actual business of the Council was conducted with little decorum.+Much of the meeting seemed to be concerned with the latter category, and their sheer pettiness appeared to exasperate the Council members. One involved a petition to rescind the ban on playing boulder-ball in the outer market, on the grounds that it provided useful employment for elementalists to repair the structures and lifegivers to repair the bystanders; the Council denied it, noting that it was the third session in a row where they had felt compelled to do so, and threatened the petitioner with being involuntarily shapeshifted //into// a boulder for a sixth-turn if he persisted. There was that about the meeting; for all the pomp and formality of the setting, the actual business of the Council was conducted with little decorum.}}
  
-At last, the session turned to weightier matters, particularly the need for more mentalists to monitor the Citadel's borders in the event of Unchosen incursion.+{{wst>shyriath|At last, the session turned to weightier matters, particularly the need for more mentalists to monitor the Citadel's borders in the event of Unchosen incursion.
  
 "Scouts report that more and more Unchosen have been wandering into these mountains lately," grumbled one councilor. "They are deflected, of course, but the current guardians are increasingly overworked by the task. Some recruitment is in order." "Scouts report that more and more Unchosen have been wandering into these mountains lately," grumbled one councilor. "They are deflected, of course, but the current guardians are increasingly overworked by the task. Some recruitment is in order."
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 One of the councilors, a blood-red female in sheer green robes, stood up. "Good Oracle, you //have// said this before. And to you I say what //I// have said before: deflecting attention has its disadvantages, but picking fights with the Unchosen will actively invite it. No scouting party returning to their homeland will announce us to the world more effectively than that same party disappearing without a trace; better to steer a small group wrong than to have an army on our threshold." One of the councilors, a blood-red female in sheer green robes, stood up. "Good Oracle, you //have// said this before. And to you I say what //I// have said before: deflecting attention has its disadvantages, but picking fights with the Unchosen will actively invite it. No scouting party returning to their homeland will announce us to the world more effectively than that same party disappearing without a trace; better to steer a small group wrong than to have an army on our threshold."
  
-"Armies will come nonetheless, Councilor Jorith," Dlyss replied sternly. "They can be fought now, wile they are small and far, or later, when they are large and near. But they will come. I have seen it."+"Armies will come nonetheless, Councilor Jorith," Dlyss replied sternly. "They can be fought now, while they are small and far, or later, when they are large and near. But they will come. I have seen it."
  
 "So you keep saying," snapped Jorith. "But we have only your word for it. None of us are eager for the company of Unchosen, but your aversion to them is well-known-" "So you keep saying," snapped Jorith. "But we have only your word for it. None of us are eager for the company of Unchosen, but your aversion to them is well-known-"
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 {{wst>shyriath|Dlyss' expression, as usual, did not change much, but there was a satisfied glitter in her eyes. {{wst>shyriath|Dlyss' expression, as usual, did not change much, but there was a satisfied glitter in her eyes.
  
-"Some of the answer," she replied, "comes from uncertainty. I do not seethe one future that will be; I see the many futures that may be, and how likely each is at the time I look. They know this, or should; I have explained it to them enough. Knowing, therefore, that the scenario I describe is not certain, they are not wrong to be cautious; but in this instance caution is reinforced by political considerations, which should have no bearing on deciding a matter of life and death for our kind.+"Some of the answer," she replied, "comes from uncertainty. I do not see the one future that will be; I see the many futures that may be, and how likely each is at the time I look. They know this, or should; I have explained it to them enough. Knowing, therefore, that the scenario I describe is not certain, they are not wrong to be cautious; but in this instance caution is reinforced by political considerations, which should have no bearing on deciding a matter of life and death for our kind.
  
 "And then," she added more stiffly, "Their attitudes toward me are not uniform, which makes up the other part of the answer to your question. Most feel I tell the truth, or at least believe what I say; but others consider, if they are generous, that I may be mistaken in how I interpret what I see. The less generous, like Jorith, believe that I deliberately exaggerate or lie about my visions for my own ends. They cannot prove me guilty of this without subjecting me to a mentalist's probing." They made for the stairs that led back up to the Third Level. "Having done nothing wrong," she added, "I have not deigned to allow it, and they cannot compel me to do so."}} "And then," she added more stiffly, "Their attitudes toward me are not uniform, which makes up the other part of the answer to your question. Most feel I tell the truth, or at least believe what I say; but others consider, if they are generous, that I may be mistaken in how I interpret what I see. The less generous, like Jorith, believe that I deliberately exaggerate or lie about my visions for my own ends. They cannot prove me guilty of this without subjecting me to a mentalist's probing." They made for the stairs that led back up to the Third Level. "Having done nothing wrong," she added, "I have not deigned to allow it, and they cannot compel me to do so."}}
  
-{{wst>pinkgothic|Einriss considered her explanations for a moment, unsure if he was quite willing to accept it as a coherent image. That said, it seemed to fit the data, which was more than he could really say of his fleeting intuition that 'they're just inconsistent and haven't thought things through' - while that served to superficially explain things, he couldn't claim it would have helped him predict the situation as he observed it. It made sense Dhe couldn't claim it would have helped him predict the situation as he observed it. It made sense Dlyss would be more aware of the dynamics at work, of course.+{{wst>pinkgothic|Einriss considered her explanations for a moment, unsure if he was quite willing to accept it as a coherent image. That said, it seemed to fit the data, which was more than he could really say of his fleeting intuition that 'they're just inconsistent and haven't thought things through' - while that served to superficially explain things, he couldn't claim it would have helped him predict the situation as he observed it. It made sense Dlyss would be more aware of the dynamics at work, of course.
  
 Her remark about the mentalist made him pause, though, if thankfully not outwardly. Then: "Why not grant them that insight? It would surely serve as a lasting rebuke to Jorith and lend credence to you." But as he spoke it, he realised that the burden of proof would simply shift to the mentalist. Still, perhaps...}} Her remark about the mentalist made him pause, though, if thankfully not outwardly. Then: "Why not grant them that insight? It would surely serve as a lasting rebuke to Jorith and lend credence to you." But as he spoke it, he realised that the burden of proof would simply shift to the mentalist. Still, perhaps...}}
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 She paused, still staring at nothing, leaving the second thing unsaid.}} She paused, still staring at nothing, leaving the second thing unsaid.}}
  
-{{wst>pinkgothic|The reaction was predictable even to someone not an Oracle, were the ypaying attention. "And the other thing?" Einriss asked, even as his mind started working on the task, pondering his options and whether a plant would do for the constraints given, or if something at least fractionally more mobile was necessary.}}+{{wst>pinkgothic|The reaction was predictable even to someone not an Oracle, were they paying attention. "And the other thing?" Einriss asked, even as his mind started working on the task, pondering his options and whether a plant would do for the constraints given, or if something at least fractionally more mobile was necessary.}}
  
 {{wst>shyriath|"It will be difficult," she murmured in a dreamy voice, "but necessary. Chosen can sense the presence of other Chosen, unless they are deliberately hiding. Therefore there is a faculty that exists that allows one to distinguish between a living thing that is Chosen and  one that is not. This must be isolated, and a way found to incorporate this faculty into other organisms."}} {{wst>shyriath|"It will be difficult," she murmured in a dreamy voice, "but necessary. Chosen can sense the presence of other Chosen, unless they are deliberately hiding. Therefore there is a faculty that exists that allows one to distinguish between a living thing that is Chosen and  one that is not. This must be isolated, and a way found to incorporate this faculty into other organisms."}}
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