Week 2, the morning after the summoning

[keepcalmcookon]

[Exasperation. And anger at the stupidity he's about ready to mention:]

A group of idiots just managed to summon the Genius of the Entire Atlantic Ocean, whom promptly escaped their attempts to contain him and possessed their leader. The Crown Prince and the Princess were also both present--and the genius is amenable to not murdering everyone. Even deciding to bide his time to decide which one of them he may decide to support in their fight for the throne.

Even though he seems amenable enough, he can surround you with water and drown you where you stand, so don't try his considerable patience by being a prat.

Comments

[letsgetdowntobismuth]

I can punch something and it gets wet, now. [She sounds amused by that fact, more than anything else.] I'm not sure anyone can hold off an entire ocean, frankly, but no one's gonna know anything until someone tries. Especially since I know I can out-endure any human.

[razorblade_empress]

[Bismuth. No.]

There'd probably be at least some collateral damage, though - I don't think this city is really equipped to deal with a fight with an ocean.

[letsgetdowntobismuth]

[but what if Bismuth yes]

That's probably what's gonna happen if it gets bored anyway. Or it decides it just doesn't like something, or someone.

I've seen entities before that are so powerful that they can't comprehend smaller lives. Sometimes the only way to make them see you is to get right up in their face and yell.

[razorblade_empress]

Yeah, but I'm not so sure pissing off the ocean by week three is the best idea, considering.

...And suddenly I'm really regretting not being able to avoid needing to breathe anymore.

[letsgetdowntobismuth]

...huh. I didn't realise you'd... stopped knowing that?

[Not breathing is, Bismuth is fully aware, a very weird thing to take for granted but here she is]

That's not biological for you now?

[razorblade_empress]

Nope. I mean, technically it wasn't then, either, but...

[Does Liminal count as biological now? She doesn't know.]

[letsgetdowntobismuth]

[It's more organic than Bismuth, either which way.]

How do you choose to do that, anyhow? Sounds like a useful trick for you guys - I certainly appreciate it whenever I'm done being human for something.

[razorblade_empress]

It's a Liminal thing. If you've got the right set of skills, you can make it so you don't need to eat, drink, or breathe, assuming you needed to do those things in the first place.

[letsgetdowntobismuth]

Alright, so we just have to work out what skills you forgot, huh? Can't be too hard, seems like everyone here knows all our old tricks these days.

[razorblade_empress]

[Yukino considers that.]

Well, Liminal Manipulation probably comes into it somewhere, because it usually does. But also... there's that one skill that lets you do Liminal bullshit in dungeons or other places where you shouldn't be able to, so maybe that's part of it, too.

[letsgetdowntobismuth]

...huh. Sort of makes it sound like you're turning yourself into some liminal object, huh? Self-sustaining 'cos you have manipulation for food, and bullshit for perpetuity.

[razorblade_empress]

Well, there is an argument that we're becoming more Liminal the longer we stay here - thinking about it that way, this is almost a shortcut to that.

[letsgetdowntobismuth]

[There's a short laugh from Bismuth.]

If you're gonna cut out the middle man for something, it might as well be for your own damn existence.

[razorblade_empress]

Ha, yeah.

I'm thinking the intra-Liminal thing is probably pretty basic - I mean, dungeons are common enough that learning how to use your Liminal skills inside one is pretty much essential or you'd be at a huge disadvantage.

[letsgetdowntobismuth]

Sounds about right. Who does like the idea of losing the cool powers they've started relying on? I like having free pockets.

[razorblade_empress]

Yeah, same.

[She really misses being able to do that now.]

So... portals? At the very least you'd want access to Hammerspace, and that requires a portal, so...

[letsgetdowntobismuth]

Portals sure seem like one of the ground-level requirements for a lot of this, huh. Feels like it's the big basic training skill. No grace or glamour to it, it's just ripping a hole from here to there. Everything else is kind of just refining it.

[Like moving on from toy swords to real metal ones, in her mind.]

[razorblade_empress]

Pretty much, yeah. Portals get you used to working with Liminal Space to begin with, and then it's a matter of learning how to do portals better or branching off into doing other things with Liminal Space. Or both.