07.03: Shadow of the Mountain

The goings on of courts
khadjair
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Re: 07.03: Shadow of the Mountain

Post by khadjair »

"A tinkerer. After a fashion, though we started using the term "mechanician". I didn't realize when I started out, but it certainly seems mechanisms work in more realms than any other technology, at least as far as I've wandered. How they're powered may change, though."

He thinks for a bit and chuckles. "I wouldn't mind perusing all these libraries, honestly. I'm curious what wonders and horrors lay buried in pages. I wonder, for example, at the ramifications of the... royal talent in all its various forms and how that might change warfare. Or commerce, though I'm sure that's already been explored for several permutations off the original idea. Greed seems to be a fair constant..."
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Joshua
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Re: 07.03: Shadow of the Mountain

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"Not as much as you might thing. We've only had our abilities... well, two years now... And there was only a few of us in the first ... group that walked. Some didn't survive either." She shivers a little. "We've grown a bit, but so much is still new." She thinks and looks at her trump deck. "This, I mean I knew these existed, but I thought they took days or weeks to make. To give so many to all of us, must have taken Dworkin... Well, should have taken him over a year."
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Re: 07.03: Shadow of the Mountain

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Alys nods. "Magic can be fairly reliable as well, though I don't pretend to understand how an expert sorcerer's constructs can survive running across a dozen shadows, each with their own rules and limitations. Simple devices are better, though a bow may need to be restrung now and again. More complicated weapons usually aren't usable over a wide area - if you know your opponent has devices that can match a sorcerer's spells for power, it's usually best to just go around. Unless that's the place you're interested in, of course, in which case you should arm yourself to match, or strike and be gone before those devices can be brought to bear."

"But the real winners on reliability are creatures. Consider, for example, Tinder." She whistles, and a large black-and-red dog trots around the corner, tail wagging, as nonchalantly as if he'd been there the whole time. Alys reaches down to give the dog a friendly pat on the head. "He's a hellhound. Best tracker short of... well, I'd bet either of you could do better, at least outside of Amber's 'moat'. Anyway - while I carry a handful of throwing weapons, my best ranged attack is to set Tinder on someone. Beats out most of the devices I've seen, for both accuracy and effect."

As Alystrakos keeps talking, Tinder moves around to sniff at Morgana and Cameron, tail still wagging.

"As for outright war... I could tell you quite a bit about how to wage war out in shadow, but a lot depends on what sort of war, and why - a strike raid against a particular target is a rather different affair from a war to destroy a rival's power base, is different from a war of conquest... But Amber's design, and these cards Dworkin made..." Alys shrugs. "The implications are complicated. And it doesn't really help that nobody - perhaps not even Dworkin - knows what all can be done with them yet."
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Re: 07.03: Shadow of the Mountain

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Cameron kneels down to rub Tinder between the ears and smiles a little, its clear gears are turning in his head.

"Well, it may NOT have been only a year to make these. It may have taken far longer - consider that I Walked myself..." he considers then chuckles. "within a few hours of exactly a year ago, but by my timepiece I've spent five times that walking Shadows. I suspect as the architect of this world set, Dworkin knows more about the shadows and so on than we do, and finding a place where time flows much more quickly can't be all that difficult."

"And I may have a different perspective - my homeland was engaged in what some have begun to call a world war, between all the powers. It was at the fall of a great fortress that I firset got dragged through Shadow, so I'm considering war more than may be strictly necessary. It's stil on my mind, especially since my erstwhile protector got me to safety then either he... or she, I'm really not sure at this point... tried to kill me, I think. Again, it's a little blurry."

He shrugs a little and gets back to his feet, giving an apologetic nod. "I apologize for such bloody talk. It seems minds everywhere burdened with intelligence are still goverened by the animalistic urges, to fight, to fuck, and to hoard, just tht intelligence allows them to be far grander and more singleminded in their pursuit."
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Re: 07.03: Shadow of the Mountain

Post by Wyvern »

Tinder makes a cheerful "rarau" noise, and licks Cameron's hands, seeming every inch a friendly dog, rather than the canine war machine capable of competing with artillery fire that Alys had described.

"No apology needed," Alys says. "War will come eventually; even assuming a peaceful settlement to all the differences within Amber, sooner or later we'll encounter someone, or something, with both the ability and interest to launch an attack against us. I expect we'll have time to prepare - decades or centuries seems likely - but on a long enough time scale, some sort of conflict is essentially inevitable. And with an ability to find anything you seek... I would not be surprised if someone goes looking for 'a challenge' or 'a worthy opponent' and creates a threat where none had previously existed - or been real enough to be a concern."
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Re: 07.03: Shadow of the Mountain

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Cameron continues to rub Tinder's ears and smiles a bit, apparently nto at all intimidated aor at least doing a very good job not showing it.

"Interesitng... y'know I hadn't considered it. Most of my wandering for the last little while was just "away". I dread to think what would've happened with less... aimless motivations in mind."

He then chuckles to himself. "Well, damn, I guess that's true for us too. I'm reminded of a story from home. About a bargain with the Devil himself."

"The short of it is, he can travel anywhere in the universe in the blink of an eye. He can find anythign, bring you anything in return. Move any object, exert any force, think any thought. He is everywhere and in everything, of course, just as the Divine itself is."

"The upshot is, he'll give you want you want, but unless you can make a request of him that he cannot fulfill in three guesses, your soul is his and he can take it whenever he wishes. People had tried for centuries, until he came to a philosopher, who had been contemplating the definition of life, and if the soul even existed. No one remembers his first two guesses, but it was the third that won the day."

"The philosopher looked the Devil straight in the eye, and said 'Get lost'."

Cameron will pause for dramatic effect or for chuckles.

"I guess the same applies to us. We can go anywhere... but we can't really get lost, can we?"

((OOC: The devil's bargain stolen blatantly from an episode of the New Twilight Zone from the 80s))
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Re: 07.03: Shadow of the Mountain

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"Well, that depends on what definition you're using, doesn't it? If you mean lost as in, can't find your way back on your own... well, there are places out there where, for example, time is outright broken; leaving such a place under your own power is... not a task for the inexperienced. If you mean lost, as in others can't find you... that's harder; you'd need to find the limits of these cards first. Or if you mean 'lost' in a more metaphorical sense, some of us are there already; Aibne in particular seems to be having some trouble understanding where he is."

Alys shakes her head. "I did try to explain. Hopefully Rogbar will have better luck there."
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Re: 07.03: Shadow of the Mountain

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"I guess that's true, we have the "advantage" that we don't know the full extent, both capability and limitation, of all of these talents. There may be shortcomings or advantages we are entirely unaware of. And it seems Dworkin would be more inclined to toss us a bomb instead of a map at times..."

At the mention of Aibne Cameron will nod a bit. "I am curious how he came to his position. It sounds like he and I have things in common - at least in that our Walk was not entirely consensual. Though he is loyal to Rogbar, clearly, and that likely prevented him from doing as I did and simply fleeing. That could be a mark in his favor, or in mine, I'm not entirely sure which. Either way, I hope he hasn't been detained too long."
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Re: 07.03: Shadow of the Mountain

Post by Wyvern »

Alys will tell Cameron as much of the story as he cares to hear.

"Personally, I have not yet decided if I wish to attune myself to this particular Power; it is not at all clear what its price is. Well, beyond the obvious political concerns, but those hardly count. Of course, examples such as Aibne or yourself make me wonder if Dworkin intends to let me have that choice... but so far he has not pushed the issue."
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Re: 07.03: Shadow of the Mountain

Post by khadjair »

Cameron listens at leangth - he seems to take a certain joy in listening to a good storyteller.

"So trickery, rather than coercion, but still without consent all the same. No, I suspect that whatever Dworkin wants, Dworkin gets, free will and agency be damned. I am liking him little and less as time goes on, and trust is slimmer than that.I wouldnt' doubt that he was the one who led me from Sebastopol, and again tried to kill me alng the way just to keep me motivated. A weapon at my back has always been an effective if not welcome motivator. But from what I could see, we could do worse than to have Rogbar and his crew take a positive interest in us. He may be boastful, but his men are loyal."

He considers for a moment then gives a quirked grin. "Well, loyal to him, at least, and he is loyal, more or less, to coin. Which I'm pretty certain we have in more than ample supply. I am certain there lies a Shadow somewhere such that the phrase "fields of gold" is not a metaphor for wheat or corn. Not that I would go looking, the Iberian Throne proved that even gold can evaporate if you have too much of it."
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