It takes a hell of a lot to get him to this point...

[warriorscribe]

*Oh no. No, no, no, he is not going to sit here and comfort his mundane like a child after she laughed gleefully at being allowed to give him a painful reminder of what he'd lost.

Enoch instead turns a jaded eye towards the fourth wall, and while his tone is as soft as ever, he spares no words.*

You feel inadequate because you are. You haven't been learning this language for more than a small handful of months.

Now, will you address these tags, or are you so tired of penning my suffering you'll leave me without resolution? Go.

*"Asspats", as these mundanes call them? No, not over something so pointless.*

Comments

[friendlyfiend]

Engineering your pain and then running from the consequences? How terrible...

[warriorscribe]

....Indeed.

*But now he's distracted because he's curious. What sort of being is he looking at?*

[friendlyfiend]

[Visually, the being is humanoid in shape, albeit jackal-headed and covered in fur beneath his brightly-colored robes. To more metaphysical senses, however- this is a yugoloth, evil made flesh.

At the sight of the human's inquisitive expression, he peers back with equal curiosity.]

...May I help you?

[warriorscribe]

*Good thing Enoch doesn't have an angel's senses yet.*

Ah...I'm sorry if this is rude to ask, but I've never seen a being like you. What are you?

[friendlyfiend]

[It makes little difference either way; this fiend has never been one to conceal his nature.]

A yugoloth- specifically, an arcanaloth. Possibly a 'daemon', depending on where you hail from.

[And unless that draws an immediate aggressive response, he'll take the opportunity to begin introductions.]

I'm known as A'kin the Friendly Fiend. And yourself?

[warriorscribe]

*Not outright aggressive, but certainly wary and nearly hostile. He seems, if anything, confused by the appellation.*

Enoch.

...Friendly demons seem few and far between. *He wouldn't even be affording him that if he hadn't actually met one.* How did you earn that name?

[friendlyfiend]

[Confused and wary is fine. A'kin is pretty much used to that sort of reaction.]

Amicable demeanor and centuries of decent behavior, I suppose. I never really troubled to ask, and I've had the tag so long now that I doubt those who coined it still draw breath.

..Ah, and that would be 'daemon'. It's sadly too true of fiends no matter what kind you describe, but where I hail from 'demon' refers to tanar'ri, who are an altogether separate breed.

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch listens carefully to the difference in pronunciation and nods, relaxing a bit.*

So there is a difference between "fiends" born of Darkness and...

*There's the sort of silence that comes in the place of a direct address not known. Where else would a fiend (obviously not carrying all the same connotations) hail from?*

[friendlyfiend]

[It's not so much that the connotations are so different as that A'kin is weird.]

...I'm not sure I tumble to your meaning?

All fiends are born of the Lower Planes, of course, but the plane of origin is significant. A basher can't treat a baatezu as if it were a yugoloth, or a yugolyoth as if it were a tanar'ri, whether you're wrangling with them by words or by weapons.

I take it that the fiends of your world, 'born of Darkness'... are not so divided?

[warriorscribe]

No...as far as I'm aware. I do know there are princes that rule over the others, but...aside from that, I haven't heard of such a thing.

*Then again, angels didn't seem to know much about it, either...*

[friendlyfiend]

Hmmm...

Depending on the amount and nature of your experiences, I suppose it's entirely possible for it to have escaped your notice. Something along the lines of the Blood War's a sodding huge thing to miss, but most Prime worlds don't really maintain levels of fiendish presence significant enough for it to make a difference.

[warriorscribe]

What makes a world a "Prime" world...?

*All the curiosity. Angry at his mundane? Maybe later.*

[friendlyfiend]

[A'kin grins. This is more like it, even if banter and gossip are more his typical stock than this kind of basic explanation.]

Prime worlds are the origin and home of most mortal life. They're formed out of the elemental matter of the Inner Planes, and in turn, their belief and the souls of their dead give rise to the matter and inhabitants of the Outer Planes- fiends, celestials, and so forth.

Of course, all of that assumes that your world's cosmology is remotely similar to mine- and I'd have to be a right leatherhead to assume that around here.

[warriorscribe]

Ah... *Give him a moment to sort through that. So...humans would create Heaven and The Darkness in his world...?*

...I'm afraid mine is the opposite. It would be one of these "Outer Planes", Heaven, that created Earth.

[friendlyfiend]

Oh, that's fascinating.

[Enoch's inversion of his familiar cosmology is a bit of a stretch for A'kin, too. The Upper Planes producing the Prime... that lends itself to all kinds of questions.*]

How many planes do you have, if you don't mind me asking? Does your Heaven still function as a destination for souls if it's the origin of mortal life?


*[Including 'Who's the addle-cove who thought 'Earth' was a sensible name for a non-elemental world?']

[warriorscribe]

*Teaching, he can do that.*

Three: Heaven, Earth, and The Darkness. And yes, it is; those who die go to Heaven unless...unless a denizen of The Darkness has secured their soul somehow while they lived.

[friendlyfiend]

[And that raises even more questions.

After that wary response earlier, though, A'kin isn't about to chance putting Enoch on guard again by inquiring too deeply into the nature of Evil in his world. Instead, the arcanaloth nods thoughtfully, without even a flicker of expression to betray how utterly baffling that latest revelation was to him.]

Origin and endpoint both.. a Unity of Rings.

I'm sorry to say that stealing away souls isn't unheard of in my world, either, but for the most part mortals write their own fate. The balance of good and evil, chaos and law, that a deader caries in their heart determines where in the Outer Planes they'll end up- and we've more than just two.

[warriorscribe]

For man to write not only his fate, but his surroundings...for him to be the center of creation. *The thought seems as if it's physically exhausting to ponder.*

I can't imagine living in such a world. It is...the ultimate expression of free will, but at the same time...

*But at the same time, for humanity to be capable of giving birth to The Darkness...

Well. It couldn't, could it? Would it even exist in such a world? Surely, if evil only came from humanity, the threat wouldn't be so great.

He shakes his head.* No... it does sound fascinating.

[friendlyfiend]

[Amusingly enough, A'kin is thinking much the same about the level of fiendish threat in Enoch's world- how powerful can evil be when mortal life is Heaven-created and demons hold only what souls they can lure or snatch?]

That's the thing about centers, though... any berk can be the center of their own world, but in the vast infinities of the planes, the center of all is everywhere and nowhere.

[He chuckles softly.]

It's quite alright. A lot of primes can't grasp the full implications at first, and they're part of it.

[warriorscribe]

...It must be a...difficult revelation.

*He can't imagine how many must either despair or become arrogant. At least his own world is simple enough in design, this way...*

[friendlyfiend]

...This is distressing you, isn't it? I'm sorry.

[warriorscribe]

*Enoch shakes his head. It is distressing, but not to him specifically.*

Those that learn the truth...

[friendlyfiend]

'Those that learn the truth...?'

[A'kin echoes the words quizzically. Sorry, Enoch, he's not quite following the train of thought here.]

[warriorscribe]

I can't imagine it isn't...difficult to take well.

[friendlyfiend]

Mmm... in my experience most are able to tumble to it eventually. You're a very compassionate person, to be so concerned on their behalf.

[After all, it's not as if they're talking about a major existential crisis here- or at least, A'kin isn't. As overwhelming as the planes can be at first, most Prime cultures aren't completely unaware of their worlds' metaphysical context.]

[warriorscribe]

The people of your world must have strong minds... If I was in part responsible for the existence of Heaven, of God... *Enoch shakes his head.*

[friendlyfiend]

Well...

[A'kin stalls for a moment as he mentally reviews the conversation in light of this new information. This is about gods. No, not gods, God. Singular. How does that even work?

No wonder this discussion took such a confusing turn.]

...That would be another thing we have many of.

[warriorscribe]

Oh...

*Well...not so awkward, really. It wasn't as if Earth wasn't mostly polytheistic back then anyway, right?*

...There are many people in my world who believe so, too. I think, in my world's case, they're simply worshiping God in the way best for them. If they feel it's best to only see one aspect at a time...

*You know, simple evolution. Enoch learned intolerance got him nowhere fast, and he tends towards openmindedness to begin with. It didn't take very much for him to come to the conclusion he did.*