synopsychic | Psychic Bridge II to everyone jauntside

It's Armin.

[The text is somehow bigger and bolder than usual when the network is like this, attracting your attention even if you'd usually try to filter it out or ignore it.]

Yes, I'm dead. Well and truly dead, not just a ghost, but I can still access the network. I'm not really sure how. I'm broadcasting to both sides right now, so this connection will only last about half an hour. But everyone, please listen - this is important. Before she tortured and killed me, I recognized the being inside Bernkastel.

It's Nyarlathotep.

Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos. One of the outer gods. I think the ghost Bernkastel was in is essentially his overlay now - merging with her didn't give him access to the network, at least. Don't approach the lakebed - not yet. You don't stand a chance on your own, any more than I did.

But I have a plan.

I can teach the living to make talismans that will repel the god. If we have groups to distract and repel him, there's a brief ritual that can separate him from his host, and do to the witch what they've been doing to other ghosts, stripping and consuming will and power.

Doing that should leave him adrift - as long as he's being repelled, he'll have no choice but to return to where he came from. If he's not being repelled, he'll be free to do as he pleases. This is all if there's someone ghostside willing to lend me your form in order to perform the ritual.

It will be hard, and incredibly dangerous. We'll need to coordinate and work together, and I can't promise we'll all survive. But it can be - it must be done.

[ooc note: in game, this post takes place after Malik will have reported Armin's death to everyone lifeside, even though Bix hasn't thrown it up yet.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yes. I hope there are enough that are willing - and that we can keep them safe. They'll be the most at risk, where we're going.

I wouldn't be able to anyway - I can only access the living's minds when I'm using psychic bridge, and I can only do that for half an hour, once or twice a week.

[Riddick finds that interesting, that in order to remain inside someone else's headspace, one would have to be connected to the network... but since time is limited, he doesn't comment on it or ask questions.]

Then that's what I'll focus on. Keeping 'em safe. I'll see what I can do about rounding up spirits who'd be willing, too, if nobody else is.

[He's willing to bet Valerie would be willing.]

And you said elsewhere that havin' other people, ghosts, doing the ritual would be a back-up option. Maybe we should just have several going at once, so even if one fails, it might still bolster the others-- and protect them. Can't attack every single one at once, right?

[That's the case as far as Armin knows, much the same way one can't normally bring natives into your mind palace, or those on walkabout.]

I'll be looking too, but let me know what you find. [Or, you know, let someone deathside know so they can relay the message.]

I'll see who else is willing to learn the ritual, and make themselves a target like that.

[The bringing part, sure, but the staying part? That's Riddick's question. It pretty much moots the privacy effect of the mind palace if continual network connection is necessary for it. It might be a thing to experiment with later, but not in the middle of all this.]

When's the next time you can do this? Talk on the network, after this one runs out? Or should we be lookin' for a ghost or person with you along for the ride, going forward?

[Normally, Armin would argue that continue telepathic contact is definitely necessary - at the very least for everyone but Riddick himself - else they couldn't be in his palace and still connected to their own bodies. The network is where that connection lies.

Come to that, though, it might be possible for Armin to stay there now, since he no longer has a form to connect to - but if he did, he might be severed from the ghostside network entirely, and all their work would have been for nothing. In any case, he didn't take the time to consider the prospect this much anyway.]

I... I think I already used it once, unconsciously, reaching out when I didn't know myself and my mind was pulling itself back together. So the next time won't be for another week.

Talk to any ghost, however, and they can relay a message. And it sounds like I'll be riding with Beatrice for the actual confrontation.

Sounds good. Once we all get together to do this, I'll stick close to her. Do you have any others you're teaching it to, for decoys and backups? Sounded like the kid there wanted to be involved.

Maria is, as yet, the only other one deathside who had volunteered to learn. At present, she is my backup for the ritual, should I and Beatrice fail.

Guess we'll just have to look for more. Might be some of the natives could be useful, too, especially if all we really want is decoys.

[He's willing to sacrifice a few decoys spirits to keep this evil contained. Riddick is pragmatic, after all. Just make sure the others aren't kids.]

We just need enough to surround them with talismans to repel the chaos, and keep them distracted for... maybe a minute. Two at worst.

[He doesn't say it, but he knows how long a minute is in a situation like this, just how much it's asking.]

I think we can do that. There's enough of us, and we can buff up the protections on everyone. Plus there's me-- there ain't much they can do to me that'll stick, and I've got eldritch backup.

[He's sure the demon will help them. It's gotten all possessive, in the presence of potential rivals for Riddick's personage. It may not be a lot of use, but you never know.]

Nothing physical, maybe.

[Does his mind regenerate, too? Plus, what they do to him doesn't need to stick - it just needs to take him out of the game for a minute. Not even that, if they can get past him to Beatrice and Armin in that time. He doesn't say that part out loud, though, recognizing it's not going to help.]

I made it through liminal space getting taken over by the last monster without losing my shit, and I've learned more about keeping my brain intact since then. Just worry about what you gotta do, and let me worry about me.

...All right.

It... it's hard not to worry, at the moment. I don't have much else to do.

I bet. Gotta be pretty boring. Can you get to your own mind palace? Could at least maybe entertain yourself in there, a little.

[Seeing as Riddick's made himself a whole library in his own brain, he's sure Armin has done something similar.]

[There's a long pause as Armin hesitates before he responds.]

...I can. But. Well, I don't have a very good sense of time right now.

[It's an unfortunate middle ground - there isn't much to do, isn't much happening at present. But if he lets his attention waver, missing something important would be only too easy.]

[Something which Riddick can hardly fathom. He's always had a pretty good sense of time passing, but then, he's never been utterly without a body, either. He won't question Armin's own experience of his abilities, either way.]

Well, however you wanna do it, kid. I'll keep an eye out for ghosts to pester you with if I need anything or run into anything you oughta know, and I'll see whoever you get for a ride at the planning meeting thing.

[Armin has also usually had a good sense of time, which is part of what makes this so disorienting. He's not sure how much of his trouble with time is the lack of context, the lack of a body or surroundings to see and feel and judge the passage of time - and how much is what the crawling chaos did to his mind.

Somehow, it seems unlikely he'll find the answer anytime soon.]

Yes. I'll see you there.

Psychic Bridge II to everyone jauntside

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