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

[kas_bitch]

Kas-ka Gan answer only to Gan. You'll find it useless to try to ken the why of what they do. Might as well teach a horse the High Speech, for all the good it will do him.

[warriorscribe]

*Okay, he has some help with the last two sentences, and context pretty much tells him he's being told it's impossible to understand mundanes. Fair enough.*

What is that first part?

[kas_bitch]

*It's all right. He's used to it. His own ka-tet--adventure party, more or less--understood the High Speech on instinct, but...*

Kas-ka Gan. Prophets. They create, and Gan makes it so. Or Gan dictates what they create. I don't pretend to understand Him any, say true.

[warriorscribe]

"Gan"... Your name for God?

I'm afraid my mundane doesn't believe He exists, much less answers to Him.

[kas_bitch]

Don't think He rightly cares whether people believe in Him or not. Some might think different, but...I think it's all the same to Him. So long as the Tower exists, so does He, and so do the rest of us.

[warriorscribe]

*Wait, what.*

"Tower"?

*WHAT IS IT WITH THIS MULTIVERSE AND TOWERS?*

[kas_bitch]

*HE WILL TELL YOU IN A MINUTE OKAY.*

Aye. The Dark Tower. The linchpin of everything that is. It's the only thing keeping all of existence together, all worlds, all time, all size. And it's the body of Gan Himself, so I've been told.

[warriorscribe]

Why would God's body be described as a... 'Dark Tower'?

*That's just...considering the towers he knows? Unsettling.*

[kas_bitch]

On account that it is one, most like.

*Roland's the best conversationalist ever, clearly.*

[warriorscribe]

I know two towers that could be described that way. They are the farthest from God as I can imagine.

[kas_bitch]

A diseased body is vulnerable to more disease. Plenty of Thinnies in all sorts of worlds, where reality's crumbling. The Tower might have called to more than one...I know it called to me.

This kas-ka Gan here tells me you and I share similar ka.

[warriorscribe]

*....He didn't really understand what you were trying to say there.*

"Ka"?

[kas_bitch]

A word with many meanings, like most things in High Speech. You might call it fate, or destiny. Or something as simple as a place you feel you must go.

[warriorscribe]

So we are similar.

*Probably why their mundanes thought this thread was a good idea.*

[kas_bitch]

Say true.

Roland son of Steven, of the line of Eld.

[warriorscribe]

Enoch, son of Jared. *Not sure what to do about the lines. There aren't exactly that many to choose from for him and he isn't sure it'll mean anything to Roland anyway.*

How are our fates alike?

[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.*

[awww_yeeeeeaaaah]

...Ouch. That's not cool!

[That is the opposite of cool!]

[warriorscribe]

It isn't. I never thought I would hear myself say I wanted her to continue writing such things, but...

*Heavy sigh goes here. Not knowing is worse.*

[awww_yeeeeeaaaah]

Yeah, that's understandable. I mean, at least she can get to it whenever she feels like it.

[warriorscribe]

Yes... I'd rather have this event behind me.