[backdated to day 334] Translation issues

[fearinahandfulof]

I tried looking for more omens and portents that might be helpful for the Jaunt, because I know time is growing short. But I'm not sure how helpful they are.

What I got was this:

Cthonic beasts are symbolic of the power of the earth - implacable natural forces, like earthquakes and volcanoes. The best weapons against such forces of nature are likely to be the best hope against such creatures.

In the Olympian mindset, that means:

1. Removing oneself from the sacred ground such creatures tread;
2. Cleverness, not brawn, is the key to defeating them, unless:
3. One possesses a true, unassailable moral high ground - the gods love justice and virtue.

None of that is untrue, but I don't know how to translate it to something that would help here. And I don't know what would count as 'sacred ground' - is it just this Vale, or is it everywhere else, too?

Comments

[desperate_times_right]

Hm. I don't know if I'd want that when I'm drinking.

[capital_asset]

It definitely has its downsides.

[Raidou doesn't even try to drink to forget.]

[desperate_times_right]

Yeah. I can see the advantages, but...

[But his life's a mess and he's been here a long while.]

Well, it'll help if you decide to go back to school when we get out of here.

[capital_asset]

You assume I was ever there to begin with.

[desperate_times_right]

You did say they wanted you to be a teacher.

[capital_asset]

Theoretically.

[desperate_times_right]

Ah. Well. Depending on where you end up, you'll probably have to study some to be a detective anyway.

[capital_asset]

On the plus side, I have a lot of on-the-job experience at this point.

[Granted, much of it would require some... creative... descriptions.]

[desperate_times_right]

I'm not certain how you'd describe bus sized locusts on a CV.

[capital_asset]

..."Severe pest infestation"?

[desperate_times_right]

Ha! If you want to be an exterminator you're all set.

[capital_asset]

They actually required a specially forged sword just to make a dent in them, which was beyond frustrating even when there was just the one.

[desperate_times_right]

One sword, or one locust?

[capital_asset]

At the time, it was just the one locust - or rather, just the one Apollyon, since Tsukigata Village had their own tame giant locusts that were... not those. Their giant bus-sized locusts were - and this is an extremely narrow definition of the phrase - relatively normal.

[desperate_times_right]

Okay, I have to know: what exactly constitutes a 'normal' giant locust?

cw: bugs

[capital_asset]

Well, for one thing, you don't need a specially forged sword to hurt them.

The Tsukigata giant locusts eat luck and are capable of using magic, so even if they weren't bus-sized I don't think you could consider them normal per se, but the veil between the natural and supernatural realms is very thin in Tsukigata Village and there's no way that hasn't had an effect on their development. Or that of other insects and arachnids - the 'doors' of their one jail's cells are webbing grown by supernaturally large spiders that I think might also have a power-dampening effect.

That said, the Tsukigata giant locusts aren't skull-faced insectoid horrors summoned from the Infinite Abyss, and they tend to act like giant pets or attack dogs rather than implacable mind-warping forces of judgement.

Re: cw: bugs

[desperate_times_right]

First of all, your world sounds exhausting. You know that, right?

I was going to ask you what these guys ate, since 'bus-sized locusts' doesn't sound conducive to the village, like, having crops, but how does something even eat luck?

[capital_asset]

I'm aware, yes.

And I've never been entirely clear on the process despite actually going through it once, but they seem to be capable of extracting it from their victim's body and then devouring it directly. I'm not sure what else they might feed on, because there simply aren't enough crops in Tsukigata Village to sustain them and the villagers. It's possible they eat their partnered human's magnetite or something similar the way demons do.

...I should probably add that they're not very common - I've only seen a few Tsukigata Fukoshi with them and I want to say they were relatively high-ranking Fukoshi.

[Read: They're bosses or minions of bosses.]

[desperate_times_right]

I can't imagine they would be, if you're supposed to be keeping these things a secret. How do the explain the spider-web door?

... Something ate your luck? Does that grow back?

[capital_asset]

The jail isn't easy to find. And the people of Tsukigata Village aren't inclined to point it out, or to accept outsiders in general. I don't think they see very much traffic overall - the village has been slowly dying as young people leave.

It's possible it might have in time, but given my profession I think they were hoping I'd die first. It's... actually a common tactic they use for assassinations, although they tend to use much smaller luck locusts to do it for them in those cases. The Herald of Yatagarasu was able to reverse the effect eventually.

[desperate_times_right]

Ah yes. Same story as every little rural village with strange traditions, I'd imagine.

I guess it makes sense... I've always been fortunate around guns, even when I'm 'running around the field like a maniac' [this is clearly a phrase she's parroting from someone else, and it's plain both that she doesn't think that's what she does and that that's exactly what she does] but the idea that luck is a resource you can drain from other people is a bit... I mean, no weirder than anything else you've said to me.

[capital_asset]

The Tsukigata Fukoshi are the only ones I've seen in my world who utilize things like that. Which doesn't mean they're the only ones at all, but still.

[desperate_times_right]

I guess you use whatever resources you have, and sometimes those resources are giant, luck-eating bugs.

[capital_asset]

They do have more normal-sized luck-eating bugs, but I don't think those are particularly common, either. And they've had to do some... unsavory... things to get them.

[By the tone of his voice, it's something that clearly disturbs him.]

[desperate_times_right]

[Considering everything about his personal circumstances, if he thinks it's that bad she probably doesn't want to know about it]

Those are at least a little more stealthy.