networkinthenight | [text] @kingofwei; OPEN

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[text] @kingofwei; OPEN

good day. I apologize for the delay in this message but, well, it seems we've had a number of developments since the meeting. some time to digest them is warranted.

Doctor Ingram's message about the World Eaters has not changed my goal of getting this community to work together, more or less smoothly, because he pointed out repeatedly that in spite of unknown gigantic possibly demonic horrors that want to feed off our light, our purpose here is to 'fix' the world. if it involves facing or dealing with the World Eaters somehow, so be it, but if there is a chance we can discover a solution to all of our problems in the time frame before they find us, then it will render them less of a threat.

that said, I have come to provide a brief summary of the meeting, to have it on record, and a call to action.

we discussed leadership, the need for organization, and security. it was proposed that the burden fall on a council rather than a single individual, and if enough people volunteer there shall be a vote to determine who joins it.

there was talk of rebuilding the run-down structures in the square and the village. a young man named Remington was put forward as the most capable who can instruct others in the craft.

both Inspector Javert and Commander Rosinante brought up protection, both for the town itself and for exploration parties. suggestions were made to use the Invincible and the library as emergency locations for people to gather in safety. I believe both would be helpful for devising additional protective measures, against both outside threats and the possibility of inside threats. the damage to the church is proof that we must guard against both.

a young man named Jason also offered assistance in training, protection, and organization. Lord Eliot likewise brought up tactics but also emergency stockpiles of supplies and so on. all of these ideas can be brought to fruition with some help.

there were a number of other ideas as well: communicating with the spirits, a welcome message on the tablets, someone to greet new arrivals at the ferry, certain experiments with magic, and so forth. Mary has something of a tally of ideas and support for them. some of those discussions ended with no real decisions but by offering the ideas, perhaps someone in the community can take them and run with them. and, there is ultimately our need to learn as much as we can about this world, the darkness, how it all came to be, but there is much groundwork to be laid before some groups will feel safe enough to explore further.

that said, here is my call to action. whoever you are, wherever you come from, your skills are needed to make any of this happen. what good are ideas or even a council and defense structure if no one is willing to act? I have put myself up for the council, willingly. if there are others who would join me, I would like to know. if there are others who want to help train, or defend, or build, or explore, or work on information or the tablets or anything else, speak up. I have faith that we can work together, regardless of personal feelings. and, as both Ingram and the Keeper have intimated, if we do not work together, we are more likely to end up reset.

I do not wish to be reset. the puzzle here is almost too large to unravel alone, but I enjoy puzzles. I would like to see us be the group that finally succeeds at...whatever it means to fix the world. restore sunlight? defeat World Eaters? something as yet undiscovered? we shall see. but it begins with others standing up to volunteer.

[and with that he sits back to hope that people do.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Cao Pi lets him think out loud, patiently waiting to respond in his own cool way]

No. It is the one drawback of such abilities, but then, if we could all simply haul off and magic each other where we stand, the empire would be in far more chaos than it already is. Merely stabbing each other is effective enough.

[so much sarcasm, even if it's true]

I've heard others say their powers don't work correctly here, I assume your headache may be related? [which also explains why he's always pleasantly surprised when his musou works fine]

You went around and-- wait, so. Just what kind of king are you? Stabbing people? Just like that? Or, a lot of-- was this a war?

[Jesus. Sure, Fillory had seen war and so had earth, but. Not a way that he'd ever describe as just stabbing people.]

No, wait. [Quentin waves a hand at-- well, nothing and everything all at once.] You really don't have to answer that if you don't want to. It's just-- jesus, stabbing people with those?

[they're still cool, though. Even if they might be murder weapons. He eyes Cao Pi again, who isn't half the asshole yet that Quentin was expecting him to be.]

Mmm yeah. I've heard that, too. And I think it is, I think that if I use it too much I might actually magic myself in to an aneurysm. Whether or not that actually means anything anymore, though? I have no idea. Does your cryomancy work as it used to?

[this time he has to pause for a literal deadpan, like bro, do you even sword? Takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly.]

For what other purpose would someone carry a sword? Of course it was war. I have known it my entire life. Are you suggesting that your kingdom never had to defend itself against invaders or coups?

[he doesn't think so, of course, but...dude]

Hm. Well, no one would want you to do that. My powers are as they should be, if they have limitations it's simply how they are naturally.

All the time? When it wasn't starvation or drought or the fields being overrun by vermin. But, I wasn't... acting? King at that point. I left that for Eliot and Margo. They were better at it, anyway.

[Quentin shrugs, he didn't really want to be king. Or, he did, but ruling and the reality of dealing with the local population stopped being fun and adventurous after he had to mediate between the first four cases of mistaking talking animals for game, or who took who's water and did anyone really own the stream? So many petty arguments and so little fun.]

I didn't plan on doing it, but. Thanks? So, your powers haven't been affected by this- whatever this is. Do you think it's because it's ice? Every fire spell I know, even the small ones that just make fireworks, are failing or coming out wrong.

[Small smile]

I didn't actually think that's you be any good with those? But you are. When your stamina's up. [That is never going to stop being funny, because Quentin is also just a twelve year old at heart sometimes.] Are they heavy?

[the name gives him pause, he genuinely holds still for a moment while putting two and two together.]

...you're from the same world as him. And the reason he is king, now? Well. Was.

[sounds like something he's going to have to sniff around some more, he's curious how their succession works and all that - since this young man couldn't be Eliot's father or anything, he thinks]

Having seen the patterns in those who have trouble and those who don't, yes, I'm starting to suspect it has something to do with alternate sources of light. It would make sense, if the darkness swallows all light except that of our lanterns and the very particular bonfire.

[HA HA no actually that's just how musou works, nobody questions it. Cao Pi manages a wry look.] ...I am more than passable at swordsmanship, powers or no powers. My blades? They're no more or less than any standard sword. Certainly not as hefty as a broadaxe or mace.

Uhm, you mean Eliot? Yeah, we. He was High King and I was just-- [as if there's ever anything 'just' about ruling a magical, mythical kingdom] a regular king? But yeah, we're from the same world.

[Figures Cao Pi noticed Eliot at the meeting, since Eliot had actually been the one to open his mouth and say something, and Quentin had been the one in the back, watching people and taking notes. He tilts his head.]

I can do a black hole spell, but I don't think would help anyone with anything. Not-- unless we were attacked by something really big. My friend Margo has these ice axes? She calls them-- she called them Sorrow and Sorrow because that's what they brought. They were-- pretty fucking cool axes.

[he nods in acknowledgment; he definitely talked to Eliot and liked what he had to say, but Cao Pi is always up for feeling out people through their relationships. Quentin may still be a little irritating but he's warming up quickly to the idea of at least getting along]

Ice axes...made of ice, or capable of conjuring ice? It seems those of us with similar abilities are doing just fine - the Grandmaster also uses ice powers, and he hasn't reported any problems with his.

[Shaking his head, Quentin smiles softly. Margo had been over the moon about those axes, and they had been pretty cool and the story of how she got them was interesting and heart-wrenching. The first time. It started getting a little repetitive the fifth time she told it.]

They were made of sand? Uh, a special kind of sand that you can only find in the Wandering Dunes in Fillory? But-- but she made them herself, picked the grains out of the regular sand and made her axes. They-- I never saw them do anything ice-related, so they might just be ice axes because they were Margo's? She was-- very good with ice. [Shaking his head, trying to let go of his last memory of Margo, crouched on the forest floor, hands pressed to Eliot's gushing stomach wound and crying a little, and Quentin looks back up.]

What's a Grandmaster?

[oh, well...

There's something there that Cao Pi doesn't want to intrude on. If he were a more altruistic man, it would be for Quentin's sake, but he's not, so it's mostly because he doesn't care enough to pry]

A title, apparently, among warriors from some future version of my country. Grandmaster Kuai Liang, I don't know if you've met him. It isn't important, aside from the fact that we have similar powers.

I don't think so? I mean, knowing what he looks like might help, but no. I haven't met anyone else with, uh, swords. Or. You know, not those kinds of swords.

[Taking half a step forward, Quentin looks at them again.]

Can I hold it?

You would not notice him by his weapons. Swords are not the only way, after all.

[there's a significant pause; Zihuan has never simply let anyone else handle his swords out of interest, but he's already learning to be flexible, plus Q is something of royalty in a sense so...

...good long pause to convey uncertainty? All right then. He draws one of the pair and turns it on his wrist, offering it hilt-first. Pure Havoc is a fine pair of straight swords rather unlike Chinese dao, heavier than a rapier but lighter than a broadsword, with gold details and a big ostentatious purple gem in the hilt]

Very well, but I draw the line at trying to hit anything with it.

Hmm, I know.

[During the long- l o n g - pause, Quentin has time to think about all the things he shouldn't have asked, shouldn't have mentioned or maybe he's starting to second guess this whole thing, because Cao Pi is just standing there, not really doing anything and there's no way Quentin could even begin to understand what that look crossing his face might mean. So, it's just a long pause of Quentin shifting on his feet, hands going from almost outreached to tucked in to his armpits like it's getting colder.

And just when Quentin is about to just say that it didn't matter, that it had been a stupid suggestion after all, Cao Pi carefully hands one of the cool-looking swords over, hilt-first, and he takes it just as carefully. Letting his hand curl around it, and it's not cold like he would have thought. Luke-warm, probably from Cao Pi's hand and he pulls it closer to look at it in the light of his lantern.]

It's very beautiful.

[Heavier than the swords they found in Fillory, but not by much. A different balance, for sure, and he swishes it in the air a little.]

Oh, I wouldn't? Because I was never any good with swords. I'm pretty good with a bow, though. [The gem flashes in the golden light when Quentin looks at it again, the gold inlay shimmering a little at the turns and tilts he makes with it.] Nice. Thank you.

[As he hands it back, hilt-first like Cao Pi before he stuffs his hands in his pocket.]

[it's more of a test than anything, and even if his expression doesn't change, Zihuan has to admit that Quentin has passed it. Proper handling of a sword and respect for its worth, that says a lot. He slides the blade home and nods.]

I prefer the sword but I was trained in archery as well. I haven't practiced in quite some time, though.

[he takes a moment to glance around, particularly at the utter darkness between the trees out in the direction of the middle of nowhwere] ...I can't imagine that the darkness would make shooting anything very easy.

[Following Cao Pi's line of sight, the darkness so vast it's almost like a wall of it, closing them all off from everything else. From the world of the living, even if they're all dead to begin with, but it's also this pressing kind of darkness that sometimes makes Quentin wake up at night, gasping and even opening his eyes doesn't dispel the nightmares because it's all just. Black. Impenetrable and unavoidable.

Shaking his head, Quentin looks back and there's a small smile on his face as he wrinkles his nose and arches an eyebrow, voice low and conspiratorial.]

Well-- see, I know this spell. And it might be cheating, but. Well, there's really no price for second best here. And. But I can hit anything I want to, dead on. Always. All I need is like a second to cast the spell and it's, uh, I never miss.

[...well then!]

Cheating only matters if you're in a competition. When it's life or death...or afterlife or death, I suppose...

[he smirks right back. That'd be a handy little thing to have but even to know that someone around is capable of that? At the very least he's not going to piss off Quentin when he's armed, ok.]

Anything goes?

[Quentin shows his empty hands.]

It doesn't matter, though. It's not like there's a bow and arrows just lying around, waiting to get used and. I have magic. I hope that's enough.

Mm. Haven't found any? I know the inspector was planning to ask Master Rastus for weapons, perhaps it's time to be specific about which ones we need.

[or wait until someone locates the armory, same thing really]

But yes. In a place like this, every last skill, every twist of tactics, is important. The suggestion to keep track of skills includes such things. [his expression turns a little sly, eyes narrowing] It seems you would be the right person to keep that list after all.

To know which ones to ask for, we'll need to know which weapon people can actually use. I have no idea what anyone else might be good at. So.

[He shrugs again, like it doesn't matter when it very much does. Weapons means defense, even when his magic runs low. It means more ways to not get killed in the dark by something they can't see, or only notice too late to do anything about it. If they're alone. Everyone is always safer in groups. And Quentin cracks a wry smile, eyebrow raised at Cao Pi again.]

Yeah, surprise. I'm not actually useless. And also, I think even with powers, or uh, like your swords? We'd all be better if we weren't alone. Just-- look, let's start with your swords. You can shoot ice and freeze things. That's cool. But-- together? I could set up the shield behind the trees, trap the ice and whatever might be coming for us. [It's probably superfluous, but he holds out a hand, loosely cupped and smacks the other in to it. Bam. Boom. Caught.]

Precisely. I don't disagree in the slightest.

[combos are the best, after all.]

Working together seems to be the right idea. My only concern about someone so ferociously guarding a list of skilled individuals was that it could increase the risk of miscommunication. I should hate to be sitting on an idea that I believe can't be fulfilled because I have no information that the perfect person to fulfill it is sitting next to me at the bar.

I--well, I don't think a list of what people can do should be available for just anybody to go through? What if-- I mean, maybe not everyone wants people to know? Maybe someone might want to keep what they can do secret, or keep the knowledge to a limited few people?

[Frowning, Quentin sticks his hands in to his pockets again, shoulders hunched.]

Where I'm from? We weren't supposed to tell, uh, non-magical people about magic? Because that would make them want easy solutions to complicated problems? Or, well, something like that anyway. And-- and I'm not saying that that's wrong? A list with only one or two people knowing about it? About what's and who's on it.

[that actually explains quite a bit. Cao Pi schools his expression to one of a general sense of sympathy even if he would like to counter that concept with all the logic he can muster]

I see. And in some situations, yes, it would be wise to keep such things quiet. I'm not proposing a public broadcast of everyone who can or even might be able to do something, merely that there be a second pair of eyes to ensure that, for example, someone who intends to cause harm has less of a chance to pull it off. [he sighs softly, and the regret in it is genuine for once] We cannot prepare for every contingency but we can at least make it easier on ourselves to prepare for most of them. I should hate for someone to feel that all they have to do carry out their nefarious plans in secret is to have only one person standing in their way. One person, who could be intimidated or harmed.

Edited (omg words) 2019-10-11 23:02 (UTC)

You think that someone here would kill to get their hands on a list of who can do magic or not? That's-- [Pretty fucking paranoid, but maybe it's not wrong? Not completely. There had been plenty of plans they'd made back home, so many plans that had been secret or kept to just one person and it always backfired. But then again, so did the plans involving more people. It's not as if anyone had ever planned on Alice dying, niffin-ing out or that Eliot would get trapped in Fillory forever, bound to never return to earth by magic and contracts with the Twin Gods.]

I--I'll ask around. I'll ask people for help and maybe. Because once, uh, so that's another long story, but I was a teacher once? For a little while, so if anyone has, uh, questions or need guidance? I have experience? But I don't-- there's really no one I would want to share the list with. No offense. And-- and I'm not afraid of someone who might want to hurt me? I can take care of myself.

[when you watch the machinations of the Han court swirling about you all your life, and know how easy it is for the right word breathed in the ear of the right official to lead to the exile or assassination of someone who hadn't even raised a hand against you yet but might? Yeah everything is a threat and no one is to be fully trusted.

But that's Zihuan's issue to deal with. For now, he's all about the cool logic.]

If you insist, but I would like one small concession. If someone does offer up information that sounds dangerous, I should like to know. It may not ever happen, we could be lucky and have a fine list of skilled, talented residents eager to share, but I like to prepare for even the most remote outside chance. If you want my word in turn that I won't use that information unless a real threat arises, you shall have it.

Dangerous, how? Because what you can do is dangerous. What I can do is dangerous. So, how dangerous are we talking about?

[World ending, because he really couldn't be sure that the magic he and Eliot could do wasn't that. It could be. It could be enough to at least wipe out the town, since all it would take was one black hole and it would be gone. Narrowing his eyes, Quentin decides not to share that particular fact.]

Do you have Word as Bond where you're from? It's a spell? And it means you can never, ever break it.

...I do not, but that's interesting. I suppose all it takes is enough people breaking their word for someone to come up with a way to enforce it. [with a slight smirk. This could come down to a real game of wits, if he decides to agree to such a spell.]

But to explain...dangerous in the sense that it would be easy for that individual to wipe us all out. I'm aware the parameters of such a threat are vague, but we still only have vague impressions of what would cause the Keeper to reset us, which is the same as wiping us out permanently. A person doesn't have to obviously have the means to simply raise a hand and erase us from this existence and the desire to do so to pose a threat.

[Cao Pi's expression goes completely sober and straight-laced, dark even, and he steps closer to Quentin, making sure this isn't overheard even by lurking spirits. After all, he's being quite honest and not playing around, and it shows in his eyes.]

If there is one thing I hate, it's being caught off guard by something I should have seen coming. My driving force here is solving the problem without being reset or destroyed by 'World Easters,' and frankly I worry about the former more than the latter. Failure is never an option, and I only want to be prepared.

[text] @kingofwei; OPEN

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Sorry about the wait! Kids, man.

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[I'm on vacation, slow tags like woah! Sorry!]

[s'all cool!]

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