[ john has been busy in the time since they all returned from their ordeal with the Oracle even though he should technically have less work to do now with the Blight sorted out.
in truth, he's had more to work off of since he'd died, and he can't complain when he's happy to be back in his area of expertise.
right now, he's making wards or, more specifically, tweaking them to be more efficient in kenos. it's tedious work because he has essentially rendered months of prior calculations irrelevant since they all take Meridian into account. still, he can cherrypick what's useful and save some time, at least. it's easier to do in sprints.
he won't admit there has been a layer of awkward tension in the air within the Garden because john prefers uncomfortable things to stay buried and forgotten. he assumes it's one strike, and you're out for everyone because it only takes someone to doubt you once before you've lost them. that's what he's always believed; why stop now? ]
[ Akua is very much different than John. Perhaps it is that she has not been god for several millennia, or perhaps it is the fact that she has had to explicitly address and deal with those awkward and uncomfortable things that make one want to shirk away from confrontation. She has looked her killer in the eye, and tempted her, teased her, and kissed her, before she slayed her yet again. It is a thing Akua Sahelian knows of, because she has made the mistakes that are damning, and knows how one can still...cooperate, despite them.
Or perhaps it is because of them.
She is there as well, though she has less focus on the wards, and more on the leftover traces of what the former occupant once left. She could do the wards all well enough -- but John had been so focused on them, and she had thought that interrupting would be... unwelcome.
So she studied, instead, her fingers trailed against the leftover magic tracks, as if she could pull the very nature of their magic from them -- as though she could see the ghost of calculations beneath them. She cannot, but it's like it's nearly there, almost out of her sight.
Though... perhaps... She looked up, and tipped her head at the ward. ]
John, dear, how do are the wards? [ A beat. ]
You need only ask, if you would like an addition of...opposing energy, as it were.
[ avoidant as he is, john never assumes he's safe forever. he has not missed that unsettling anticipation while he's been in kenos. he looks up from his notes, but his expression is as unreadable as ever. ]
Ours are fine, for now. [ especially the areas and items he likes to keep private; he checks those regularly. ] I adapted a few for my experiment with Set, so I decided to start working through the others.
[ he idly plays with his pen without looking at it, needing an outlet for his discomfort. he liked the old dread better because at least he didn't have to talk to anyone. ]
I've been planning to test that, actually. Doesn't it make sense? You worked on the cure.
[ the experiments applying one energy or the other often had severe reactions. too much Meridian would cause rapid ageing or abnormal growths or cancers. multiplying organs. fascinating, but horrible. as one might expect, applications of pure Zenith had the opposite effect. those were not unfamiliar outcomes to john, very similar to the thanergy mutants he'd observed on "flipped" planets. it was only when they had figured out how to combine both Meridian and Zenith that things actually started looking like a cure. ]
[ She says simply. Of course the wards are fine -- she can only guess that John's are, but the guess is founded in the fact that the man is some measure of genius -- but she has made her own as well, and well. She knows her own work is exemplary. Never ask Akua Sahelian to show modesty, one is bound to be incredibly disappointed.
She eyed him, and watched his hand play with the pen, idly. Boredom, or displacement activity, she cannot tell, but it's not idle, his motions, it seems... there's something that drives it, and though she does not know what it is, she is no mind reader, but she was someone who once wanted to be Dread Empress, and therefore can watch and observe well enough.
She does not, however, draw attention to it. Not yet. ]
The Blight reflects the method that we use for Discord. The joining of forces means that there is... something to be said for the balance of forces. Mixing them together makes sense. A weave cannot be powerful without a joining of multiple elements and factors, and the forces of this world are similar.
[ It was... so often like this, that she could not believe it. Why was it that balance seemed to be inevitable? ]
It makes you wonder how it can all be true, doesn't it?
[ how can Meridian and Zenith have been in opposition for generations while everything else seems to desire them to coexist in balance? that's the truth he wants to find in all this. obsession is not new to him; it's just taken different forms in his life. ]
Did you need something?
[ it occurs to john that if akua wanted to ask about wards, she could've done so via Communion and saved herself the trip. since she's here in person, he can't help but wonder why. ]
[ She said, with the tone of someone who can question these things readily and accept them all in one. She will never stop searching for new information or new avenues. She can accept them as a theory of course, even a law, but laws and theories can change with new information.
She'd circumvented some herself in her life, what was a few more? ]
Well, I was here to work on my own projects, but there's no reason why I cannot talk to you while I'm here, is there?
[ That's trite, and not wholly true, either. ]
Well, perhaps... How are you, John? We have not really spoken much since the Blight cure.
[ which isn't untrue, but it's also a non-answer. the pen tricks persist for a few more twirls before he sets it down and folds his arms. ]
I've learned not to assume I know where I stand with people.
[ that sounds a lot more pathetic now than it did in his head, but it's too late to take it back. ]
It's your job to pass judgment on those who choose wrong anyway, right?
[ he could've made it sound more petty if he wanted to, but that isn't really the intent. it's what john isn't saying that matters because her showing up doesn't align with his expectations โ people don't come back once you've lost them. he stayed with the Zenith and even represented them; it's not that big of a leap to imagine that choice had cost him. ]
[ She scoffed. ] No, my Role was to serve as an intermediary between the Gods Below and Mortals, and keep villains from making the same mistake I once made.
And if they persist, I kill them. [ Was to be her role, anyway. The Guide to help usher in a new era of evil. ]
It is not exactly something I can enforce here, with no will of the Gods Below to back my authority, is there?
[ She neared him, instead of staying away, and leaned a hip on his desk, arms crossed. ]
I do not think of choosing our factions as wrong, or right, regardless. Perhaps... I may not agree with the logic, but...
[ But... ]
Well. You made your choice, did you not? It is not the end all things, for you to change whom you support.
[ john isn't sure what he was thinking. how he'd interpreted her Role probably felt much worse at the time โ as everything had while they were suffering in that place โ and had stuck in his mind all wrong. he hates what it says about him and all the ways he feels exposed by people knowing too much. ]
The logic is a bit different now, anyway. Death was eye-opening.
[ better to pivot to something easier. ]
Maybe questioning what we believed was the point. I would still be wasting my time pursuing a useless territory dispute otherwise.
[ and he has already directly undermined his own efforts in that dispute at this point. ]
[ It also doesn't help that Akua describes things like her world, her Role, and Names as if they are something that exists here, baked into the fabric of every reality, instead of simply hers. It's a fundamental logic to her, the same that her magic is, and the same that breathing, or gravity is. It simply is, and that it is not a building block to reality is... difficult to separate from the world at large. ]
I think it was. Perhaps to... challenge our convictions, to perhaps challenge where we had ended as inevitabilities.
I know that I chose the same as you, without events in my past. Perhaps the weight of yours are not as... [ Guild-inducing... ] Weighted in Meridian's favor. There is no shame in that.
I did not press you then to hold you to us, you know. [ A sad smile. ] Only to make sure that it was you who chose it.
[ shame? he scoffs at that before he can stop himself. ]
That's not it. Both outcomes mean the same. The cost is the same. My enemies die, and then I die. When I die, so does the sun.
[ he imagines she can figure out what happens to anyone still alive after the sun dies for herself. ]
Choosing a world that's not my own is enough to Harmonise, but that's all it means. I want the truth. I want to know why the Tree tells us one thing and the factions tell another. I won't decide the fate of worlds on faith, which is what they want us to do. That's the part I can't abide, not the choice itself.
[ john won't admit that the events in his past are why he feels so strongly that what he's doing is correct. the Tree gives them life and protects them. it mourns them when they die. it tries to guide them in its way, which is sometimes strange and inhuman, but it's not the Tree's fault that they have limitations.
he looks at her intently, placing the full weight of his awful gaze on her. he means for her to know what he says next is serious: ]
You need to be careful. There is a lot more going on here than it seems, and it's likely you won't expect where the danger will come from.
[ he can't say exactly what โ half-bound to secrecy and half-simply lacking the information โ but john knows beyond a doubt that there is something worth warning her about. he's sure that akua is always looking out for a plot, but it's different when you know the danger is there but hidden. ]
[ He truly does remind her of Neshamah, for he, too, waited to see -- to survive -- the last dawn, and escape the pattern.
She offered him a sharp, knowing smile, and does not shirk from his gaze. She meets it, and tipped her head slightly, to give him the full Weight of her golden, ever-haughty gaze. ]
You think I do not expect danger from an unknown source? Don't insult me.
[ It may sound aggressive, but there is a measure of good humor in her tone, as if the thought that she would not plan for such things was laughable. ]
I take antivenoms and antitoxins daily to prevent poisoning. I set wards when I rest, and when I am distracted. If there is anyone here prepared for a knife in the dark, it is I. My people, the Sahelians, were the First betrayal. If I were not prepared, I would deserve my fate.
[ She understands, though, what he means. That there is something lurking. That they cannot know the shape of yet. ]
The factions seem to be a tool, to serve an end. Whether it is the tree that is correct, or them, I do not know. If there is something else ready to give us a new... "direction", then I anticipate disseminating it, finding the cracks that it leaves in both Zenith and Meridian's arguments.
I do not doubt that there is something to watch for, lurking, and waiting for the right moment.
Yes, well, call me thorough. I don't doubt your capacity for vigilance, but I prefer knowing the warning is superfluous.
[ he doesn't need anymore guilt. ]
But, since you mentioned it, I wondered about your wards. This might be a Magic 101 question, but do you know of a reliable way to prevent someone from being observed or tracked from afar?
[ because he's just going to forge ahead with business before he might leave an opening for anything more personal. that seems reasonable from his perspective. ]
Preventing scrying? [ She asked, the term perhaps not something that John might not know, or he may. It's half a test, and half an explanation. Preventing scrying was basic of course. At least for a person, though as he brought it up, she wondered... perhaps this was an opportunity. ]
Yes, I know how. Are you interested in only yourself?
[ Her eyes darted to the rest of the room, one of many rooms within the gardens, and they were all had sensitive tests and subjects within. As he said it, she wondered if there was not greater opportunity here. If he had the sensation that someone was watching, perhaps there was a need to do something more. ]
If there are those who can scry on us, we may be better served not only warding ourselves... but the Gardens here as well.
[ john has heard that word before, but better to confirm before he goes throwing technically fictional words around. akua probably wouldn't know any better, but still. ]
I was thinking the same thing about the Garden, not only to protect what's here but to make it more difficult for anyone to track movements in general. I doubt someone can be tracked after they use a cornerstone, after all. This place should be impenetrable.
[ whether or not he means that literally is debatable. ]
[ She said, outright. Her finger tapped at her lip, considering. ]
It is... not difficult, but the process is also not short. It is not a snap of the fingers, but I could have the foundation laid within a few hours. The real issue is finding enough power to maintain it.
[ She looked around the room, considering. ]
Normally, we engage in sacrifice for such things. [ Human sacrifice, mostly ] But I think if our fellow shard-bearers found out, they would likely... be uncomfortable.
[ Look. She knows how they be. ]
Perhaps we could siphon it from elsewhere and store it.
The efforts from Ryad, perhaps? Or from the offloaded energy with whatever it is that Bondrewd is doing?
[ john's nearly automatic response is to roll his eyes because he's had to deal with "uncomfortable" Shard-bearers for as long as he's been here, and their nitpicking remains a thorn in his side. turning a couple of souls into batteries would probably be the least terrible thing he's used a soul for, all things considered. ]
Aw, what they don't know won't hurt them...
[ but if akua didn't think it was worth the trouble, then she's probably right (so he's only half-serious). ]
But, fine. You'll have to refresh me, though. I doubt I'm up to speed on either of those things.
[ She snorted. ] Until they find out, and then there's another lecture. "My! Why would you do this, Miss Akua? Please, can you not try to do things without human sacrifice for once in your damned life?"
[ At some point, her tone shifts to sound like someone she knows, though it wouldn't be familiar to John. She's heard this lecture a lot, clearly. ]
I'm not sure what he is involved in, but I'm sure he has plenty of... creatures. He has so many experiments, I'm sure there would be something of merit. [ Bondrewd is a Producer. ]
And Ryad, well. Perhaps a few well-placed runes, and whenever someone dies, and we could find the energy pulled for other uses.
Hm, perhaps the owner would agree to an arrangement if we offered some of the energy toward them. I think there is no lack of deaths there on any given day.
[ he can't help but smile a little at that, a sad and crooked thing, as her words retrieve some memory from where he'd tried to bury it. that's what you do with dead things.
john dismissed the thought as quickly as it had appeared, his thoughts turning to the matter at hand, starting with bondrewd. ]
If we're going to lock this place down, it wouldn't make sense to exclude him from the conversation.
[ weak links bring everyone down. ]
As for Ryad: that's doable. [ and john can't help but think getting in good with the overseer of a place like that can't be a bad idea. ] Deaths generate a lot of energy. We should be able to cut them in and have plenty to spare.
[ and here he gives her a sly, conspiratorial look. ]
And that's not technically harvesting sacrifices for power. The deaths still happen whether or not we use them as batteries.
[ She says, knowing the power of her own blood magic. Her tone, teasingly, suggests: "of an enemy" but it is more than that. She is Praesi, and paranoia is in their bones, their very blood. She was of the first betrayal, and it was no small thing, to ask for enough biological material to see her, watch her, or kill her, with enough power.
It is an extension of trust, even for an ally, and not one that she would give readily. ]
May I watch it, at least? I do not enjoy pieces leaving my sight.
[ Paranoid.
She plucks a small, fine hair from her head, and held it up. ]
Lest your wards be destroyed when I step in next.
[ Because she would test their power with hers, and see which came out the victor.
The loser, presumably, would be the Gardens themselves. ]
[ a dumb little science joke, given what dust is made of. ]
That really is a thing, though, isn't it? Luckily for you, I have no interest in making love potions.
[ because that's what usually happens in movies?? ]
In any case, to alleviate your concerns, the piece is less important than what it tells me. Souls are all a little different, which affects the body, but it's very subtle.
[ the kind of thing you'd only pick up on when you've been in contact with enough individual souls to notice a difference. all unique snowflakes impacted (literally) by their experiences and in some cases, other souls. ]
The easy way would be to use some physical signature that's uniquely yours, but that's actually not very secure. What if someone hijacked your body or something? We had to stop using biometrics because it's too easy to grow identical body parts.
[ it could happen. ]
I figure this is much less invasive than asking to examine your soul, at least.
You're welcome to put them to the test later, if you like; if they're unravelled that easily, they aren't good enough.
[ She laughed. ] I sear every surface multiple times a day. There is a ward I have, that carefully scours anything I touch periodically.
[ Praesi paranoia was legendary after all. Multiple moving parts, scaffolding of paranoid caution to protect against subtle knives launched from behind while one smiled at their opponents at the front. ]
Though I appreciate the caution. My soul is not...kind to interference.
[ The girl had made a phylactery at 13 years old, and used sait phylactery to extend her existence after her heart was ripped out. The girl whom had placed it in a new, regrown body, and continued her life. Her soul was, perhaps, not as finely crafted as John's โ she did not have ten-thousand years of experience, merely twenty or so โ but it was still constructed in such a way. ]
One of these days, I should like to see what Wards we could craft together. My sorcery and yours.
Perhaps we'll find something worthwhile of the task eventually.
[ john is careful, but that is thorough even by his standards โ he'd been joking, after all. still, he gets it; she came from a place where she had competition. different methods for a different game. john had only needed to bury his secrets. ]
I'm sure I could've managed with little fuss, but Shards complicate things more than I like.
[ which is to say the risk of any contact with someone else's soul becoming a two-way exchange of information is more than he's willing to take without a very good reason. ]
I'd be interested in answering that question myself. [ he imagines a joint effort in that area would result in something horrible (affectionate). ] If you come across something suitable, let me know.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
early warqu;
in truth, he's had more to work off of since he'd died, and he can't complain when he's happy to be back in his area of expertise.
right now, he's making wards or, more specifically, tweaking them to be more efficient in kenos. it's tedious work because he has essentially rendered months of prior calculations irrelevant since they all take Meridian into account. still, he can cherrypick what's useful and save some time, at least. it's easier to do in sprints.
he won't admit there has been a layer of awkward tension in the air within the Garden because john prefers uncomfortable things to stay buried and forgotten. he assumes it's one strike, and you're out for everyone because it only takes someone to doubt you once before you've lost them. that's what he's always believed; why stop now? ]
no subject
Or perhaps it is because of them.
She is there as well, though she has less focus on the wards, and more on the leftover traces of what the former occupant once left. She could do the wards all well enough -- but John had been so focused on them, and she had thought that interrupting would be... unwelcome.
So she studied, instead, her fingers trailed against the leftover magic tracks, as if she could pull the very nature of their magic from them -- as though she could see the ghost of calculations beneath them. She cannot, but it's like it's nearly there, almost out of her sight.
Though... perhaps... She looked up, and tipped her head at the ward. ]
John, dear, how do are the wards? [ A beat. ]
You need only ask, if you would like an addition of...opposing energy, as it were.
no subject
Ours are fine, for now. [ especially the areas and items he likes to keep private; he checks those regularly. ] I adapted a few for my experiment with Set, so I decided to start working through the others.
[ he idly plays with his pen without looking at it, needing an outlet for his discomfort. he liked the old dread better because at least he didn't have to talk to anyone. ]
I've been planning to test that, actually. Doesn't it make sense? You worked on the cure.
[ the experiments applying one energy or the other often had severe reactions. too much Meridian would cause rapid ageing or abnormal growths or cancers. multiplying organs. fascinating, but horrible. as one might expect, applications of pure Zenith had the opposite effect. those were not unfamiliar outcomes to john, very similar to the thanergy mutants he'd observed on "flipped" planets. it was only when they had figured out how to combine both Meridian and Zenith that things actually started looking like a cure. ]
You know what can happen when it's not right.
oh my god that random "do" (โฌโ็ฟโ)โฏ
[ She says simply. Of course the wards are fine -- she can only guess that John's are, but the guess is founded in the fact that the man is some measure of genius -- but she has made her own as well, and well. She knows her own work is exemplary. Never ask Akua Sahelian to show modesty, one is bound to be incredibly disappointed.
She eyed him, and watched his hand play with the pen, idly. Boredom, or displacement activity, she cannot tell, but it's not idle, his motions, it seems... there's something that drives it, and though she does not know what it is, she is no mind reader, but she was someone who once wanted to be Dread Empress, and therefore can watch and observe well enough.
She does not, however, draw attention to it. Not yet. ]
The Blight reflects the method that we use for Discord. The joining of forces means that there is... something to be said for the balance of forces. Mixing them together makes sense. A weave cannot be powerful without a joining of multiple elements and factors, and the forces of this world are similar.
[ It was... so often like this, that she could not believe it. Why was it that balance seemed to be inevitable? ]
:')
[ how can Meridian and Zenith have been in opposition for generations while everything else seems to desire them to coexist in balance? that's the truth he wants to find in all this. obsession is not new to him; it's just taken different forms in his life. ]
Did you need something?
[ it occurs to john that if akua wanted to ask about wards, she could've done so via Communion and saved herself the trip. since she's here in person, he can't help but wonder why. ]
no subject
[ She said, with the tone of someone who can question these things readily and accept them all in one. She will never stop searching for new information or new avenues. She can accept them as a theory of course, even a law, but laws and theories can change with new information.
She'd circumvented some herself in her life, what was a few more? ]
Well, I was here to work on my own projects, but there's no reason why I cannot talk to you while I'm here, is there?
[ That's trite, and not wholly true, either. ]
Well, perhaps... How are you, John? We have not really spoken much since the Blight cure.
[ And before that... ]
no subject
[ which isn't untrue, but it's also a non-answer. the pen tricks persist for a few more twirls before he sets it down and folds his arms. ]
I've learned not to assume I know where I stand with people.
[ that sounds a lot more pathetic now than it did in his head, but it's too late to take it back. ]
It's your job to pass judgment on those who choose wrong anyway, right?
[ he could've made it sound more petty if he wanted to, but that isn't really the intent. it's what john isn't saying that matters because her showing up doesn't align with his expectations โ people don't come back once you've lost them. he stayed with the Zenith and even represented them; it's not that big of a leap to imagine that choice had cost him. ]
no subject
And if they persist, I kill them. [ Was to be her role, anyway. The Guide to help usher in a new era of evil. ]
It is not exactly something I can enforce here, with no will of the Gods Below to back my authority, is there?
[ She neared him, instead of staying away, and leaned a hip on his desk, arms crossed. ]
I do not think of choosing our factions as wrong, or right, regardless. Perhaps... I may not agree with the logic, but...
[ But... ]
Well. You made your choice, did you not? It is not the end all things, for you to change whom you support.
no subject
The logic is a bit different now, anyway. Death was eye-opening.
[ better to pivot to something easier. ]
Maybe questioning what we believed was the point. I would still be wasting my time pursuing a useless territory dispute otherwise.
[ and he has already directly undermined his own efforts in that dispute at this point. ]
no subject
I think it was. Perhaps to... challenge our convictions, to perhaps challenge where we had ended as inevitabilities.
I know that I chose the same as you, without events in my past. Perhaps the weight of yours are not as... [ Guild-inducing... ] Weighted in Meridian's favor. There is no shame in that.
I did not press you then to hold you to us, you know. [ A sad smile. ] Only to make sure that it was you who chose it.
no subject
That's not it. Both outcomes mean the same. The cost is the same. My enemies die, and then I die. When I die, so does the sun.
[ he imagines she can figure out what happens to anyone still alive after the sun dies for herself. ]
Choosing a world that's not my own is enough to Harmonise, but that's all it means. I want the truth. I want to know why the Tree tells us one thing and the factions tell another. I won't decide the fate of worlds on faith, which is what they want us to do. That's the part I can't abide, not the choice itself.
[ john won't admit that the events in his past are why he feels so strongly that what he's doing is correct. the Tree gives them life and protects them. it mourns them when they die. it tries to guide them in its way, which is sometimes strange and inhuman, but it's not the Tree's fault that they have limitations.
he looks at her intently, placing the full weight of his awful gaze on her. he means for her to know what he says next is serious: ]
You need to be careful. There is a lot more going on here than it seems, and it's likely you won't expect where the danger will come from.
[ he can't say exactly what โ half-bound to secrecy and half-simply lacking the information โ but john knows beyond a doubt that there is something worth warning her about. he's sure that akua is always looking out for a plot, but it's different when you know the danger is there but hidden. ]
no subject
She offered him a sharp, knowing smile, and does not shirk from his gaze. She meets it, and tipped her head slightly, to give him the full Weight of her golden, ever-haughty gaze. ]
You think I do not expect danger from an unknown source? Don't insult me.
[ It may sound aggressive, but there is a measure of good humor in her tone, as if the thought that she would not plan for such things was laughable. ]
I take antivenoms and antitoxins daily to prevent poisoning. I set wards when I rest, and when I am distracted. If there is anyone here prepared for a knife in the dark, it is I. My people, the Sahelians, were the First betrayal. If I were not prepared, I would deserve my fate.
[ She understands, though, what he means. That there is something lurking. That they cannot know the shape of yet. ]
The factions seem to be a tool, to serve an end. Whether it is the tree that is correct, or them, I do not know. If there is something else ready to give us a new... "direction", then I anticipate disseminating it, finding the cracks that it leaves in both Zenith and Meridian's arguments.
I do not doubt that there is something to watch for, lurking, and waiting for the right moment.
no subject
[ he doesn't need anymore guilt. ]
But, since you mentioned it, I wondered about your wards. This might be a Magic 101 question, but do you know of a reliable way to prevent someone from being observed or tracked from afar?
[ because he's just going to forge ahead with business before he might leave an opening for anything more personal. that seems reasonable from his perspective. ]
I'm sure you can imagine why I ask.
[
it's trouble.]no subject
Yes, I know how. Are you interested in only yourself?
[ Her eyes darted to the rest of the room, one of many rooms within the gardens, and they were all had sensitive tests and subjects within. As he said it, she wondered if there was not greater opportunity here. If he had the sensation that someone was watching, perhaps there was a need to do something more. ]
If there are those who can scry on us, we may be better served not only warding ourselves... but the Gardens here as well.
no subject
[ john has heard that word before, but better to confirm before he goes throwing technically fictional words around. akua probably wouldn't know any better, but still. ]
I was thinking the same thing about the Garden, not only to protect what's here but to make it more difficult for anyone to track movements in general. I doubt someone can be tracked after they use a cornerstone, after all. This place should be impenetrable.
[ whether or not he means that literally is debatable. ]
How difficult would that be to accomplish?
no subject
[ She said, outright. Her finger tapped at her lip, considering. ]
It is... not difficult, but the process is also not short. It is not a snap of the fingers, but I could have the foundation laid within a few hours. The real issue is finding enough power to maintain it.
[ She looked around the room, considering. ]
Normally, we engage in sacrifice for such things. [ Human sacrifice, mostly ] But I think if our fellow shard-bearers found out, they would likely... be uncomfortable.
[ Look. She knows how they be. ]
Perhaps we could siphon it from elsewhere and store it.
The efforts from Ryad, perhaps? Or from the offloaded energy with whatever it is that Bondrewd is doing?
no subject
Aw, what they don't know won't hurt them...
[ but if akua didn't think it was worth the trouble, then she's probably right (so he's only half-serious). ]
But, fine. You'll have to refresh me, though. I doubt I'm up to speed on either of those things.
[ what is bondrewd up to these days anyway? ]
no subject
[ At some point, her tone shifts to sound like someone she knows, though it wouldn't be familiar to John. She's heard this lecture a lot, clearly. ]
I'm not sure what he is involved in, but I'm sure he has plenty of... creatures. He has so many experiments, I'm sure there would be something of merit. [ Bondrewd is a Producer. ]
And Ryad, well. Perhaps a few well-placed runes, and whenever someone dies, and we could find the energy pulled for other uses.
Hm, perhaps the owner would agree to an arrangement if we offered some of the energy toward them. I think there is no lack of deaths there on any given day.
no subject
john dismissed the thought as quickly as it had appeared, his thoughts turning to the matter at hand, starting with bondrewd. ]
If we're going to lock this place down, it wouldn't make sense to exclude him from the conversation.
[ weak links bring everyone down. ]
As for Ryad: that's doable. [ and john can't help but think getting in good with the overseer of a place like that can't be a bad idea. ] Deaths generate a lot of energy. We should be able to cut them in and have plenty to spare.
[ and here he gives her a sly, conspiratorial look. ]
And that's not technically harvesting sacrifices for power. The deaths still happen whether or not we use them as batteries.
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There's no reason to have the discussion without, after all.
And I think if Bondrewd would offer enough to power this, we need not even worry about Ryad.
Well.
[ A pause, and her smile turned a touch sharp. ]
Prematurely, at least. If we want sufficient power, it may not be unwise to plan to...farm it at a later point. It's such a waste, after all.
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[ thinking ahead is how he stayed one step ahead of his enemies for a very long time. ]
I'll need material, by the way. Something of you.
[ john knows he should elaborate, but it takes a moment sometimes to circle around to definitions for things he doesn't usually need to define. ]
I'm going to be setting up more elaborate wards internally. I'll need the material of anyone who intends to come here so they'll recognise you.
[ she can probably use her imagination for what would happen to people who aren't recognised because it's nothing good. ]
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Quite the ask.
[ She says, knowing the power of her own blood magic. Her tone, teasingly, suggests: "of an enemy" but it is more than that. She is Praesi, and paranoia is in their bones, their very blood. She was of the first betrayal, and it was no small thing, to ask for enough biological material to see her, watch her, or kill her, with enough power.
It is an extension of trust, even for an ally, and not one that she would give readily. ]
May I watch it, at least? I do not enjoy pieces leaving my sight.
[ Paranoid.
She plucks a small, fine hair from her head, and held it up. ]
Lest your wards be destroyed when I step in next.
[ Because she would test their power with hers, and see which came out the victor.
The loser, presumably, would be the Gardens themselves. ]
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[ a dumb little science joke, given what dust is made of. ]
That really is a thing, though, isn't it? Luckily for you, I have no interest in making love potions.
[ because that's what usually happens in movies?? ]
In any case, to alleviate your concerns, the piece is less important than what it tells me. Souls are all a little different, which affects the body, but it's very subtle.
[ the kind of thing you'd only pick up on when you've been in contact with enough individual souls to notice a difference. all unique snowflakes impacted (literally) by their experiences and in some cases, other souls. ]
The easy way would be to use some physical signature that's uniquely yours, but that's actually not very secure. What if someone hijacked your body or something? We had to stop using biometrics because it's too easy to grow identical body parts.
[ it could happen. ]
I figure this is much less invasive than asking to examine your soul, at least.
You're welcome to put them to the test later, if you like; if they're unravelled that easily, they aren't good enough.
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[ Praesi paranoia was legendary after all. Multiple moving parts, scaffolding of paranoid caution to protect against subtle knives launched from behind while one smiled at their opponents at the front. ]
Though I appreciate the caution. My soul is not...kind to interference.
[ The girl had made a phylactery at 13 years old, and used sait phylactery to extend her existence after her heart was ripped out. The girl whom had placed it in a new, regrown body, and continued her life. Her soul was, perhaps, not as finely crafted as John's โ she did not have ten-thousand years of experience, merely twenty or so โ but it was still constructed in such a way. ]
One of these days, I should like to see what Wards we could craft together. My sorcery and yours.
Perhaps we'll find something worthwhile of the task eventually.
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[ john is careful, but that is thorough even by his standards โ he'd been joking, after all. still, he gets it; she came from a place where she had competition. different methods for a different game. john had only needed to bury his secrets. ]
I'm sure I could've managed with little fuss, but Shards complicate things more than I like.
[ which is to say the risk of any contact with someone else's soul becoming a two-way exchange of information is more than he's willing to take without a very good reason. ]
I'd be interested in answering that question myself. [ he imagines a joint effort in that area would result in something horrible (affectionate). ] If you come across something suitable, let me know.
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