experiencepoints | IC contact post!

Look, there's not even anything I CAN show you. I don't have Lailah here.

The magical effect has to be connected to you somehow, I just have to look for the flow of mana. And you have a skull I can punch. Anyway, I have a solution, but I want to hit you for missing it first.

You do?

Okay.

I'm on the Iskaulit, in the gardens.

Of course I do. I'm a strategist. Plans and strategies are what I do. So don't go anywhere.

[That said, she's showing up in the gardens after a few minutes.

And, as she stated, she's swinging her staff for his damn skull.]

[Sorey's got a pretty hard head and he was expecting it, but the knock still smarts like Gramps had just shown up and clobbered Sorey for disobeying him again. Sorey hisses and rubs his head, flinching away from her with every twitch of her staff.

His once pure and clean domain has clouded, murky with doubt and unease. While not quite at the point of generating evil, it's absolutely clear to anyone who can sense it that something is dreadfully wrong.]

Ow... Nightingale, you didn't have to hit me that hard.

I am a mage, I did like three damage, don't whine.

[she can see your HP, gosh. ... she can also see that something's not right with him, now. She can't tell what, exactly, but...]

What... What happened to you?

[Sorey's heart sinks. Is it just obvious in his face? ...no, he's just being purposefully dense if he thinks that. It must be true, then. He'd just thought he was stressed and it would go away, but if Nightingale can tell just by looking at him...

At least it's not so bad that the seraphim have noticed. They'd come after him in a second if they could feel any malevolence from him.]

You can tell? [Sorey sinks down to sit on the grass, rubbing his face.] I was hoping it was just an illness or something...

It's... not like I can tell? It just feels like... I dunno, the atmosphere is a little different? Maybe you just seem upset...?

[Due to Nightingale's life, she's become somewhat... hyperaware of when people are upset. It was an unfortunate survival tactic for her, since her parents' moods controlled her entire life. She second-guesses herself constantly, but someone being obviously upset has her on edge automatically, even if she isn't conscious of the exact signs herself.]

Seriously, though, are you all right?

I should be all right. [It would be more obvious if he was generating malevolence. So while he's...susceptible, he should be okay so long as he keeps himself isolated from any outward influences and fixes this himself.

He has to fix this himself.]

Anyway, thank you for coming all the way over here just to help me out. I'm sorry if I was being cagey before; this is...kind of a touchy issue.

No, don't thank me yet. All I have for helping are ideas, nothing concrete. I still don't know enough about the way your stuff works, after all.

Do you mind if I ask you some questions? The more I can fill in the holes on what I know, the better picture I can have for fixing things.

[That's...awfully careful of her. she usually just bulldozes ahead.

Is he scaring her too?] No, go on. I-I might not know the answers, but I'll do my best.

[If only you knew, Sorey.]

This problem... If I understand it right, your magical contract with Mikleo, and your abilities, are tied to your heart, right? Your feelings, your state of mind.

Erm. Not exactly. Um... [He casts around for something to use as an example and plucks up some twigs, flowers and leaves.] The oath I have isn't directly with Mikleo.

How it works is seraphim, if they want to cast their blessing over a place, need a pure vessel to dwell in and a worshiper to offer tribute. [he connects a leaf and flower with a twig line] A Shepard is just someone who forms a very specific bond with a seraph and offers up their body as a holy vessel; in exchange they get a lot of powers, and a purifying domain. That's the kind of contract I have with Lailah, a very powerful fire seraph.

I can't make contracts with other seraphim but she can, and I can use their powers because of my contract with her. [scatters more flowers and connects them to the main flower with more twigs.] And I'm a vessel for all of them too and we all interact the same way, but technically I don't have contracts with them. Lailah's in charge of that.

I can form contracts with other humans and they can use my powers the same way I do, but their contracts are through just me. [connects another leaf to the main leaf.] So while it looks like I have a specific contract with Mikleo, I technically have it through Lailah.

It's possible for her to quell or release a sublord from service, and supposedly I can exercise some control over the sublords too, but I don't know how. I never wanted to know. I didn't want to force anyone to help me.

[drums his fingers on his knees.] ...sorry. I know that's a lot at once.

[You can just see her eyes light up around the point he mentions contracts with other humans.]

And you can make those other contracts? You don't need that 'Lailah' here?

[oh dear.] ...yes, I guess I could. I haven't tried it here yet.

Edited 2016-08-29 16:35 (UTC)

I see.

And, let me guess... You missed the obvious solution because you're too busy wrapped up in your own bullshit about not wanting to make things harder on Mikleo, right?

There's certain requirements for a Squire. If you're thinking what I'm thinking, it's not going to work.

Okay, I'll bite. What do you think I'm thinking, and why won't it work?

[folds his arms] Are you thinking I should take someone in the Fleet on as a Squire and somehow use them to help keep myself and everyone purified?

I'm impressed.

You simultaneously managed to be close, and way off.

Let's hear it then.

Step one: You do your fusion with Mikleo, use your purification on me like before, to completely eliminate any risks of contamination.

Step two: You form a contract with me as a Squire.

Step three: I do the fusion with Mikleo, and I shoot you with all of the purification shit I can muster.

Step four: We break the contract right away, since it sounds like we don't need Lailah for that, so we don't risk my malevolence getting through the contract link.

[That said, ever since her update, she's generating a lot less malevolence than she used to.]

Step five: Mikleo and I beat you over the head for your stupid macho going it alone bullshit.

[Sorey rests his chin in his hand, staring at her. It's not a bad plan; it's those short windows of opportunity he's worried about.]

...it's too risky. I'm not generating malevolence right now; if I was, something would already have happened. The way Lailah phrased it, it sounded like the second I slip, it's all over. I don't think purifying me will do anything. On top of that, malevolence behaves strangely here. It seems like nothing can ever get purified for long.

And I don't know the consequences of making a Squire pact so haphazardly. There could be lasting effects on you, even if we broke it. Especially if this happened again; I don't know if it's possible to completely sever the contract, since I'll have to assign you a true name and that'll hold a lot of power over you.

[...

She's just got her staff back out. She's not swinging it yet, but she is glaring at Sorey.]

What did I literally just say about your stupid macho bullshit for trying to handle it all yourself?

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