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--- sessions:worldbuilding:2023-05-22 [2023/05/22 01:08] – created shyriath
+++ sessions:worldbuilding:2023-05-22 [2024/02/03 13:08] (current) – shyriath
@@ Line 87: / Line 87: @@
 After a few moments, she continued, "I briefly interviewed the last of the bandits in order to determine the cause of the attack. It was his blade that took Sakuth's life." She thoughtfully tapped a claw against the edge of the divan. "I suppose it would not surprise you at this point to know that the bandit's hand was not the one wielding it."}}
+{{wst>reh|//Able to manipulate space.// What would that even look like? He could probably find out by digging through her memories, but that felt needlessly rude. Still, it wasn't too hard to imagine how such an ability might be useful for self-defense, or be used offensively.
+And then the final piece slotted into place. It wasn't strictly speaking an admission of guilt, but given everything else she'd said, there weren't many plausible alternatives. Anger surged in Teneth's chest, but he simply took a deep breath, wrestling the emotion into calm. "It's good to have my suspicions confirmed. Thank you," he replied, offering a brief, genuine smile tinged with sadness.
+To be honest, he hadn't been entirely certain that she'd killed Sakuth before this point. She could just as easily have simply allowed the bandits to kill him. But either way, she would have had a reason for making it happen.
+There was a long moment of silence as Teneth directed his attention to the floor, one claw idly tracing an abstract pattern in the dust as he considered his next move. "Forgive me if you already know all this, but I would prefer to make it explicit. As you have probably determined by now, I am not here seeking revenge. Nor am I here to bring you to justice, spread word of your secrets, or attempt to blackmail you. You've already made clear what happens to those who oppose you, and I have no intention of testing that.
+"On the other hand," he continued, turning his attention back to Dlyss, "I think you can see why I'm more useful to you as an ally than as an enemy. Any sufficiently clever and well-trained mentalist could have figured out everything you've told me, given the right motivation. You may be able to avoid such attention for a time with your foresight, but that still has its limits -- as evidenced by what happened at Sheathetalon.
+"So, rather than trying to stab each other in the back at the earliest opportunity, causing problems for us both, I would like to work with you to try and ensure that doesn't happen." A cheerful smile crossed Teneth's face, as he shifted his posture into something a bit more relaxed. "Doing so will require a measure of trust, from both of us, which I expect will take some time to earn. Are you amenable to this?"}}
+{{wst>shyriath|Dlyss regarded him thoughtfully. "I believe so," she said. "I should say that, in many ways, it was an approaching //lack// of trust that resulted in Sakuth's end. His death had become necessary, but was, regardless, both a waste of a Chosen life and an unneeded distraction. I would greatly prefer things to be different with my next psycheguard.
+"I can see from the likely futures of this moment that what you say about your intentions is quite likely true. I admit, however, to being interested in what it is that you seek from entering my service. Few indeed would go to one, seeking employment in the duties of his murdered predecessor, promising and evidently truly meaning not to betray or extort, all for the sake of a reasonable contract of payment."}}
+{{wst>reh| Her comments about Sakuth's death -- an approaching lack of trust -- left an unsatisfying taste in Teneth's mouth. He made a mental note to dig more into that -- but for the moment, the conversation was taking a much more interesting turn. //How strange it must be to know someone's future actions without knowing the reasons why! Quite the opposite of what a mentalist could see.// Teneth toyed with the thought a bit longer before setting it aside.
+"It's clear to me that you have a grand plan, of some kind, for the Citadel's future." Even without looking into her thoughts, the clues were all there. "A handful of dead Chosen here and there isn't going to stop you. Your own psycheguard growing suspicious of you isn't going to stop you." //What would, then?// "I want to know the truth: What future are you trying to steer us toward? What is this plan, that's so important that six Chosen died for it?" At //least// six. Privately, Teneth doubted they were the first, or would be the last.
+The Watcher took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, trying to soothe the anger in his chest. "I believe that it will be much easier to find this out if I'm by your side, rather than keeping an eye on you from afar. I believe it will make it //possible// for me to prevent such deaths from... becoming 'necessary', as you put it."}}
+{{wst>shyriath|"Five of them," Dlyss replied mildly, "died because they chose to follow orders intended to result in //my// death. I feel that ascribing their deaths to any plan of mine is somewhat inequitable, especially since I suspect that the one who sent them finds me politically inconvenient regardless of my actual intentions."
+She had failed to say that she didn't think her intentions had played any part at all in their ringleader's descisions. To Teneth, it was clear from the shape of Dlyss' mind that this was a deliberate omission.
+It was also clear that she was considering how to answer Sakuth's question. Observing the workings of her thought processes was interesting and, it had to be said, somewhat unnerving, because it was clear that her usual impassiveness was not an act or any kind of conscious thing. Though her emotions were there for a mentalist to see, they were... not even merely separated from her thoughts, as a person trying to remain impartial might, but //hidden// from herself, routed into a little black box where she would not have to see them. It was not perfect, he suspected; the box could leak or overflow. But for the most part, her feelings were put where they would not trouble her.
+Many Chosen, especially those from outside the Citadel, had psychological scarring. Dlyss' box was //made// of scars. One wondered what she'd gone through to form it.
+At last, she said, "Anyone in the Citadel who knows of me knows of my warnings about the Unchosen that live outside our borders. I have spoken on the subject many times to the public. I have advised the Council. Many have listened. Many more at least find my words reasonable. But I ask you, in answer to your question, to consider: how many really understand? How many truly believe that we are not safe within our walls of mountains, that someday we will be found, that the conflict that they or their ancestors thought to escape will one day follow them here?
+"And resolving it is not merely a matter of time and preparation. Waiting, increasingly, compounds the danger. The longer one sits in a fortress they think impregnable, the harder it becomes to convince oneself to maintain the watch and keep the weapons sharp."}}
+{{wst>reh|The claim that those five were killed purely in self-defense, and had nothing to do with Dlyss's own plans, certainly felt like a deliberate reinterpretation of the facts -- though whether Dlyss was trying to mislead Teneth or merely herself wasn't entirely clear. "A valid interpretation, I suppose," he replied with a noncommital shrug.
+The structure of her mind was fascinating, though. Emotions were present, certainly, but she simply deliberately ignored them, funneling them all off to a corner hidden away from her conscious thought. If he were a mentalist of a less scrupulous persuasion, the temptation to turn that tiny box of trauma inside-out just to see what would happen would be nearly overwhelming. He made a mental note to keep a close eye on it, should Dlyss accept his offer -- putting traumatic stimuli into a box didn't really make them go //away//.
+//Interesting, though, that she would categorize her emotions in the same manner as trauma. Does she not know how to process them?//
+Her thoughts were so fascinating that when she finally spoke again, it came as a mild shock, and it took Teneth a moment to switch back to the conversation. "... It is quite a puzzle, isn't it?" he replied, mentally prodding at the perspective Dlyss had shared. "How being too successful at repelling outside attention can end up backfiring, that is." After a lengthy pause, he concluded: "So you believe our current protections are merely delaying the inevitable?"}}
+{{wst>shyriath|"And worsening its effect," Dlyss added meticulously. "And neither the Council nor the general population seem moved enough to seriously address this. And yet, something must be done; and if no one else is willing to direct that effort, then it falls upon those of us who take it seriously. I believe that what Sakuth saw in me was a determination to take... independent action."
+She watched Teneth's face closely. "What constitutes that is a complicated question, because I am investing in various lines of approach. I have recently hired a lifegiver-alchemist in an effort to develop biologically-based defenses around the Citadel. One of my employees is a Writer of linking books, and-" There was a faint twitch in expression as some uneasiness leaked from her emotion-box. "-somewhat against my better judgment, we have been investigating the possibilities present in other worlds. Some of the Friends of the Future who are trustworthy and able to camouflage themselves seek opportunities to alter the political landscape among the Unchosen. And so on."}}