god help me as I feebly voicetest

[rathercommon]

[ The girl crosses her arms frankly and practically. ]

I don't like the thought of leaving London. But - [ And this is a big but - ] I know that there are new people out there who might help us in our cause.

So here's what I want to know. If I'm sent out there, to another world, how many will be willing to come back with me to fight, and how do I get them home with me.

Comments

[restorehonour]

Sorry to break it to you, but that's not how things work around here. You can't just take home whoever you want.

[rathercommon]

[ Her chin suddenly starts sticking out at can't, and her eyebrows lower dangerously. She doesn't much care for that word. ]

And why not?

[restorehonour]

Like I said, it's not how things work. Players pick us up, they send us to games, and if they get bored of us, we get shoved aside.

There's no going back home, and there's definitely no bringing other people. Not unless your player decides it'll happen.

[rathercommon]

[ And this is a look of even greater stubbornness. ]

All right. So I talk her into having it happen. And then I can take home whoever I want.

[restorehonour]

[Be as stubborn as you want, debbie downer here isn't about to change his tune.]

I think you're missing the point. Players are in this for themselves, not for you. Whatever they want comes first.

[rathercommon]

Sounds familiar.

[ But point taken. Nothing came of trying to change the minds of magicians; no doubt nothing will come of trying to change these players' minds, either. Well - ]

And who says there's not another way, anyway?

[restorehonour]

Another way? Like what?

[rathercommon]

[ She taps a fingernail thoughtfully, then suggests: ]

Maybe people can be summoned across worlds. Like demons.

[restorehonour]

[... Demons? She can't be serious.]

Do you have experience in that kind of stuff?

[rathercommon]

I'm not a magician. But I know something about it, yeah.

[restorehonour]

So you'd somehow go home, get a magician, and then they'd do some crazy demon-summoning ritual to get people to fight for you?

[That's the stupidest sounding plan he's ever heard. And he's pretty good at coming up with stupid plans.]

What are you trying to fight, anyway?

[rathercommon]

[ Sheeeee tries to make this sound impressive and defiant, rather than self-contradictory and the sort of thing that feeds into the self-evident badness of her plan. ]

The government of the British Empire. [ A beat. She sticks out her jaw. Go on, she dares you to point out the stupidity here. ] Which is run by tyrannical, malicious magicians.

[restorehonour]

[...Actually, he doesn't point it out. He's pretty against tyrannical empires himself.]

Then I guess if you want your plan to work, you'd need to find a magician willing to fight on your side.

[rathercommon]

Or make one cooperate.

[ That's talking a little bit of a big game. But by God, she looks fierce. ]

[restorehonour]

It's safer to get someone to work with you willingly. If you force them into it, they're probably gonna double-cross you at the first opportunity.

[Not that he's speaking from experience, or anything.]

[rathercommon]

Well, they've been forcing demons and commoners to work with them for years. I think it's time for them to get that back.

[ Because that's obviously what he's protesting right ]

[restorehonour]

But if they're the ones with the power, how are you going to force them to work for you? Blackmail? Threats? Bribery? None of those methods are completely reliable.

[ex_gloves423]

Recruiting people probably won't be a problem, people love being recruited. If it's a good cause.

[ a slight raise of the eyebrow as though to ask: is it? ]

[rathercommon]

[ She lifts her eyebrows in turn and answers that unspoken question: ]

The overthrow of tyranny. How does that sound?

[ex_gloves423]

Honestly? Like a pipe dream. What kind of tyranny are we talking, here.

[rathercommon]

[ And her eyebrows instantly descend in sheer displeasure. She does not like your answer. And even though she answers his question directly, her voice is pugnacious, like she's spoiling to take on and demolish that pipe dream - ]

The subjugation of commoners and of demons alike by magicians. The denial of our rights and freedoms. The sort of tyranny where we have no voice in the government or in the courts. The sort of freedom where magicians can walk down the street and just inflict harm on innocent bystanders without any repercussions. That kind of tyranny.

[ex_gloves423]

[ you remind him so much of daneca, kitty. though her call to arms was usually the other way around. ]

By magicians, you mean Curseworkers, right? The magic there's a law against using?

[rathercommon]

[ She's taken just a little aback. ]

What? No. There's no law against using magic. [ And, with sudden intense vehemence: ] I wish there were. [ But - ] I've never heard of "Curseworkers."

[ex_gloves423]

They use magic, like you said. But that's too unfair to the rest of the population — too dangerous. So a few decades ago they rounded up all the magicians and put them in work camps. Now it's illegal.

But maybe it's not like that across the pond.

[rathercommon]

[ She wants to take some pleasure in that. She wants so badly to think, Well, good, they are too dangerous, England's a testament to that, my friend is a testament to that. She wants to take satisfaction in them being made to serve, like they've forced demons and commoners to serve. She wants to feel at least a moment of vicious satisfaction.

She can't. Because that's awful. ]

No. It's not. My government's completely controlled by magicians. The rest of us can't speak up against them, can't vote, have no voice and no rights. They monitor us and arrest us if we're disobedient, kill us if we cross them. It's terrible, and it needs to be changed. Not later, but now. [ A very slight hesitation, and then she allows - ] Not that what happens in your home sounds like any great improvement.