About a day after the return from the Jaunt

[amadine]

This is certainly the clearest message we've had from our delightful hosts in quite some time. Maybe they actually intend to make us aware of which of them is winning after all, instead of leaving us to guess and grope after everything.

Tell me, I'm curious: was it the intent of our Investigators that the Hermit should win, or was it just left to chance?

Comments

[comebewe]

She thinks Moebius - the jaunt where the Travellers were made to die, over and over again - was earned.

Not to mention the creepy collection of recordings she keeps of everyone's romantic moments, and the fact that she thinks her best buddy Devil can do no wrong.

[naturaltwohands]

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

... [Icly, not directed at Matthew of course.] I stand corrected. I am now very glad she did not win.

[comebewe]

It doesn't mean Hermit's better. I don't know enough about him to tell.

But we are not sorry to see Lovers lose.

[naturaltwohands]

With that information, who would be?

[comebewe]

Someone who only cares about whatever the Arcana promised them.

[naturaltwohands]

Which is not I.

[comebewe]

You were all ready to back her before.

You realise that they've likely made promises to everyone, right? They all want us on their side. But they won't tell us if there's a catch. They won't talk about how their winning might make things worse for everyone who isn't one of 'theirs'.

[naturaltwohands]

Love is a dear concept to my heart. Why would I have expected it to be so perverted?

... No, I did not.

[He feels heartsick.]

[comebewe]

Because nothing is so neatly divided into 'good' and 'bad'.

And 'love', despite what a lot of romantic comedies might tell you, has never had the power to stop someone from being a bloody prick.

[naturaltwohands]

In my world, there is, at least more than there is here.

[NOT EVERYONE HAS A BLOODY ALIGNMENT SYSTEM, DRIZZT.]

You would think it would.

[Drizzt is very upset and grumbly.]

[comebewe]

[There's a lot more he could say to that. Like how he's dubious about the lack of moral greys in Drizzt's world, especially since Matthew suspects Drizzt couldn't recgonise moral ambiguity if it hit him in the face.

He could mention how there's plenty of people with parents and children and parters and friends that they love, who still go about screwing over the rest of the human race.

But he's shattered enough of the kid's ideals for one day, so Matthew just lets the conversation die]

[amadine]

And to think, her part in creating the Automata was already bad enough.

[comebewe]

Automata?

[amadine]

Mind-controlled slaves created by the Lovers and the Devil to keep their rival imprisoned.

And incidentally, that was the second of at least three plagued worlds to the bitch's name.

[comebewe]

Well.

Now we have even more reasons to celebrate her loss!

[time to passive aggressively eat even more popcorn]

[amadine]

[Dryly:] Maybe we should have another party.

[comebewe]

We don't need a party.

We have popcorn.

[amadine]

Is there some significance to popcorn that I'm missing?

[No really, what is this, is this some weird cultural thing?]

[comebewe]

They're good for eating at movies.

[amadine]

Ah.

[Definitely a weird cultural thing.]

You're visiting Thorne, then?

[comebewe]

Um. No?

[is he supposed to be?]

[amadine]

[She has a theater. Where people can watch movies. Presumably with popcorn, because that's apparently something people do.

Look, Sabetha might be good at adapting, but she's still a woman from a horrible magical version of the Renaissance. These things are weird to her, okay.]

...I give up.

[comebewe]

[okay, now Matthew feels kinda bad for not explaining properly]

...Also Lovers apparently liked to eat popcorn while watching stuff that happened on the Jaunt.

We figured she deserves some of her own medicine.

[amadine]

[There's a moment's pause as she considers that.]

Ah. Popcorn of spite. Now that, I can understand.