synopsychic | Gathering those Plot Bunnies [very end of week two]

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?

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Nothing so far, aside from some grumbling from Orpheus and Thanatos. But there's got to be something else or he wouldn't have bothered.

And I discovered it pretty much immediately after said dosing.

Orpheus and Thanatos. I do feel like I've missed something.

[Tybalt makes a note to mention this to Toby when he gets a chance. If anyone has the ability to suss out the truth from blood itself, she would, but she's also still keeping her status as a Changeling hidden.]

How did it happen? Dosing does imply a drug or potion of some sort.

Sorry - I'm one of the Persona-using brigade. Orpheus and Thanatos are two of mine.

He's cooking meals for people. So it's either something he's putting in the food, or the food itself.

I know very little about the phenomenon, other than that it apparently exists among Travelers.

[There's a pause.]

And suddenly I'm reminded of my conversation with Nike. To wit, she's told me that several "mortals" as she called them, have suddenly developed godly powers but without the direction or consent of the gods, who have been falling steadily into a deeper and deeper languor these past weeks. To me it sounded quite like they'd been drugged from her description, and now you tell me you've developed changed blood after a meal.

I can go into how it works if you want - or at least how it works for me - but this is probably a bit more pressing. I do think they're what got his attention in the first place, though; I talked to someone else earlier in the week who seemed to pick up on their presence, too.

Yeah, that's more than a little suspicious. I haven't noticed any new abilities as yet, and my existing ones don't seem enhanced at all, but I can keep you posted.

Nike's a goddess too, isn't she? Do you know if anything's affected her over the last few weeks?

She is, and I count myself fortunate in a way that I had an excuse to speak with her on equal terms, so to say. Regardless, she said others that are what myths might call minor gods have been losing strength, almost as if they're becoming closer to mortal, in her words.

Like their powers are being drained?

That's what it sounded like, yes, although I didn't dare pry too deeply. I've agreed to report any relevant findings to her, so I will have more chances to discuss things.

[Left unsaid is that he doesn't need to report everything, of course.]

Does she seem pretty reasonable so far? I know some of the gods have less than sterling reps there...

[Hi, Zeus.]

Orpheus?

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

[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.

She?

[That's... interesting]

A piece of your soul took on that form?

For me, yeah. For the various guy versions of me out there, she's probably male.

As for why she'd take that form in particular - I don't know. She just did. Some of my friends ended up with other Greek figures like Io or Penthesilea, but I'm not sure why they'd be Greek either, unless it was some unconscious influence from Tartarus.

...Which is not the Tartarus; it's just what the people studying it named the giant tower from hell that took over our school every night.

Stories are powerful things...

I just wasn't expecting any of the other Travellers to have a connection to him.

They are.

...You have a connection to Orpheus, too?

He's my nephew.

Was my nephew.

..Oh.

[There's a short pause.]

So hearing his name in circumstances like this... I'm sorry.

It's only been a few millenia... and barely a decade since it was actually resolved.

I like to hear his name though. Know people still remember him.

...Barely a decade?

The deal was that if I let him into the Underworld, I would never take him. So when he ran into the Bacchae...

...Oh.

[She... probably shouldn't mention the time Thanatos ripped his way out of Orpheus, then. Not that she was planning to in the first place, because it's not the sort of thing you just tell to someone you've just met, but still.]

Yeah. Messy.

[And she doesn't just mean the whole ending up as a severed head for millenia part]

My brother finally stepped in a while back. But even that came at a price.

Oh, no.

[Because she can't see something like this having a small price.]

There are rules that bind even us.

Yeah.

[Minako knows that all too well.]

Gathering those Plot Bunnies [very end of week two]

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