Gathering those Plot Bunnies [very end of week two]

[ninjayeehaw]

Alright, so - never thought I'd be sayin' this, but - thanks t'Zed, I think I got a workin' idea 'f what's been happenin' behind the scenes here.

'cos without him, Yakumo wouldn't a' gotten turned back into an Investigator. First thing he done did was find me an' tell me how the Titans're throwin' a coup a' the gods. He ain't got too much info yet - turns out storm spirits ain't got the greatest sense a' focus - but at least one a' them's a Traveller, that English wizard guy.

[you know, the other one]

An' Galen, Tachibana's overlay, said that when he went t'go talk t'em earlier--

[And a memory of Galen's voice, sullenly furious, speaks.]

"Something has bewitched the gods and dulled them to blindness. For the barest fleeting moment there was intelligence in Apollo's eye, but it dulled like embers in ice, leaving only disinterested arrogance in its wake."

[And then back to Kinji's own.]

--so they're doin' somethin' directly t'mess with the gods an' make 'em complacent in their own demise.

So here's where it gets tricky. Yakumo thinks he can get me an in with the Titans - the storm spirits seem t'have all taken a likin' t'me, and they're already in on whatever the hell this plan is with the Titans, so unless there's any volunteers, I'll be goin' an sneakin' into that.

An' that means somebody else oughta try goin' back up the mountain t'try an' talk some sense into the gods. An' I reckon y'all might be able t'do that with some kinda skill that can clear their minds. I know there's a Song fer that, I can pass that on if'n someone needs it, but there's gotta be other ways that work better. If teleportin' or climbin's too far, I can make some kites an' Yakumo an' the other storm spirits can fly people up the mountain. It ain't too safe but it's a right sight faster than teleportin' or climbin' on foot.



...so. Thoughts?

Comments

[ninjayeehaw]

...wait. I think I know what that is.

Galen has that-- I think Hajime's overlay does too. [With flashes of memory stills to prove it.] I dunno 'bout Hajime, didn't get t'see it, but when I knifed Galen, it healed over a few seconds later.

...now I might be wrong, but. I think y'all're immortal.

[seestheworld]

...

...

...

Fantastic.

[It is not fantastic.]

[ninjayeehaw]

Galen said he got it from havin' titan lineage. He's over a hundred years old, an' that ain't s'posed t'be too typical fer centaurs.

...sorry.

[seestheworld]

[There is the mental equivalent of a shrug.]

It's not your fault.

[not_the_question]

Of course the cause matters! How can you properly fix a problem if you don't know the reason why the problem happened in the first place?

[He can't really believe he has to explain that.]

[butthemiracleneverhappen]

Ahaha!

Forgive me for comparing you to Battler earlier. It took him five games to grasp that point.

Could there be a mundane method to have befuddled the gods? Tailored infection or poison of some kind? Lotus-eating would be so damnably appropriate.

And it seems, from other conversational threads, that the fall of the Gods was intended to happen. If so, how would we make the landing graceful?

[cloudpotter]

There's nothing for him to blow up.

[he's wind. all Zed did was embarrass himself.]

[not_the_question]

[The Doctor doesn't care about critiques or compliments. Of course he's right. You don't become billions of years old without learning a thing or two along the way.]

That could be possible, but it depends on what the gods actually are? In my experience gods are rarely gods. Usually aliens looking to take over the planet.

[Wait what?]

Have you considered that maybe if the gods were meant to fall, that maybe they should be allowed to fall and without grace? Helping them to fall gracefully might just start the whole process all over again.

[butthemiracleneverhappen]

Allow me to clarify.

How might we ensure they fall, but not on top of innocents or mortals?

[not_the_question]

Sometimes that can't be helped. I'm not saying I want the humans to die. I'm usually first in line to defend them. But being first in line also means that I know better than most that they can't always be saved.

I just want people to think before doing anything that might make a situation worse.

[fridgeninja]

That depends on the alternatives.

Maybe someone ought to just ask the Titans what their plan is.

[ninjayeehaw]

S'what my plan is.

[mightypen]

Uh, i'd like to point out that the greek gods are supposed to fall. Kinda.

They become the roman ones, who are definetly different even if they do have a lot of similarities. Minerva is way way different than Athena, and Zeus and Jupiter are different too. Jupiter's more... fatherly, Zeus is all thundnderbolts and lightning.

[acapriciousthing]

It's possible that the Olympians can't get nature back to status quo anymore. Depending on what exactly is happening.

[acapriciousthing]

Orpheus?

[That's an unexpected development. SHe's not sure what that reference means, but it's distresing.]

[acapriciousthing]

Usually it's that you thrive on belief.

Even beings more fundamental than gods can go mad.

[not_the_question]

That doesn't make you a god. All kinds of creatures thrive on others believing in them. Even humans do that to an extent.

You mean even gods can go mad. Of course more fundamental beings can go mad. I'd argue that anyone can go mad. But madness is often an interpretation of what's normal. So the very definition of madness can change over time.

[seestheworld]

[Well, this seems like it's going to be potentially awkward...]

...Yes? Well, it'd probably be more accurate to say she's a fragment of my soul that's taken the shape of Orpheus, but... yes. Ish.

[acapriciousthing]

Gods need belief to exit. Otherwise they fade into nothingness. That's what makes them gods rather than some other kind of near-immortal.

The very definition of madness is the fundamental being who went mad. An aspect of the universe itself.

[leftbehindagain]

Well, no, by all accounts he's not terribly pleasant.

[leftbehindagain]

That sounds like an entirely different thing than whatever's happening here. Unless that mythological line included Titans messing around to create the new pantheon.

[Which he kinda doubts.]

[ninjayeehaw]

Now I appreciate yer concern, but I think y'all mighta misunderstood the point a' me makin' this. This is me callin' out t'people an' lettin' 'em know what's up.

[And frankly it's a damn sight better than how things went last Jaunt with him and overpowered beings.]

But if it comes t'it, I won't be needin' too much in the way a' help gettin' outta the Titans' reach. Yakumo an' I already discussed that, we got a good number 'f outs lined up. I ain't goin' in blind this time.

[helborn]

... Okay. Sorry. I just... they're awful in my world, from what I've heard. So I just...

[He goes silent for a few long moments while he tries to compose himself.]

I'm glad you have an exit strategy. Okay. Um.

[Logic, logic... come on, he can do this.]

I don't know anything about breaking curses or spells on people or gods - I haven't gotten that good at stuff like that other than improvising things, and improvising something this big seems like a bad idea. I can go up the mountain as backup if someone's got a good way to do that, though. I might be able to carry someone too, if the winds aren't too bad.

[helborn]

I mean even aside from them becoming the Roman gods, there's the whole thing of "Metis was supposed to spawn a child who was more powerful than Zeus who would overthrow him". It kind of didn't happen as far as I know, but in this world... I have no idea.

[theflyingone]

It is probably like where I am from: Neither side of the war would win my support. I am most interested in preventing war. We can only do that if one side can stop the other, or negotiate a treaty, without fighting and bringing about this world's end times.

The odds are better here, because we see the beginnings and have the advantage that no one knows who the Travelers are, what we can do, or how we communicate. Back home, I had to watch and allow the war to rage. I could not face armies head on.

[ Killing the leaders of either side, which was something he could do, would have only subjected the Holy Land to unchecked bloodshed as the armies dispersed or avenged themselves. In the end, he had to focus only on the secret war between Assassins and Templars, free will and order through domination. ]

The same may be true for the Travelers, for we are not as powerful as gods, nor are we as numerous as any creatures allied with them. If we do find a way to prevent war, I know how to work with small numbers such as ours. But we must be careful.