@Lovejoy oh right, you're a Stranger Things fan!

I present:

Dr. Stranger Things

@shylarahOh dear. That looks exactly like my dad. He's also into Stranger Things, so...

@Scout

Sorry for getting into Viveca's headspace for a bit. If it's too much let me know!

So, I figured I'd give Viveca a chance to respond and ask some questions (she's no doubt super confused about what hell she just heard), so PM me her response and we can do a back and forth dialogue.

Going to get started on the other responses now.

Here's the order of stuff I'll be working on:

- Lanostre Crew
- Omestris Crew
- Pub Crew
- Still waiting on Drakey's revised post, after which I'll respond

Will have the next update posted tomorrow!

@Lovejoy OOOH A POST! NOt the one I was hoping for, BUT IT'S A POST!

And what's this about a crime? *goes to read the new post*

@Lovejoy Wait. WAIT. Okay, so... the Durendal already left. We know that. It's a long trip, we know that too.

This...seeing the future is a crime? or Hellfire is a crime? I'm sure the latter is, but it sounds like the former is as well...Why would it be such a crime? It looks like this time travel/vision stuff takes pieces of him...literally. Is that why she calls it a crime? hm....

I am going to guess that most fire is hellfire, since fire as a thing is no longer around, so it's all very evil. *thoughtful*

It would seem that he /can/ make his enemies disappear -- by travelling back in time and killing them before they become an issue, or some such. Granted, he might not know the full outcome of that, but...*shrugs*

Creid taught Indira? And about hiding her faith?! Creed's not Lanostran, I know that much. Is he Omestrian? It doesn't say in his bio.

It looks like Indira saw Magnagrad on fire at her Culmination, much as Ziotea did. Interesting. But the hellfire came on the seas...if it's going to come multiple places, odds are that it is not actually meteorites -- or something really wonky is going on. Very interesting.

It also looks like Antonin can manipulate the ether of others -- so maybe Ziotea did learn a little from him about her abilities in the area, and that's why she has as much skill with it as she does. It was incredibly difficult for her to make progress, most likely. Good think Antonin's a patient teacher, eh?

When Indira said "we" did she mean herself, Antonin, and Creid? Or "we" as in them and Warband Phoenix + extras, too?

Ziotea and Rodion did dance a bit -- I love the description of the place, actually. And the irony -- initially they were out on the balcony, or at least /a/ balcony.

Looks like parts of Magnagrad break down a lot.

...I wonder if any of us can do anything with fire. It'd make sense for aegises to be able to create some form of protection against it. And I'd imagine that Omestrians have at least a passing connection.

The real irony is that with how I made Ziotea...she might well have an affinity for it. Or at least like it/not be scared of it. The base idea there was lost or forbidden flames. Sure, it hurt in her vision, but...it was kinda glorious.

This might /also/ explain a little of why the Omestrians search for something in the ruins, if there was any sort of prophecy involving this. ...Assuming it's connected to the meteorite that fell there. Who knows?

SO MUCH TO THINK ABOUT.

You still need to stick the glossary somewhere it won't get lost, by the by.

@shylarah

Just a few things,

- Just in case anyone missed it or forgot (it's been a while!), the Rising took place a while ago before Culmination, so Viveca is remembering the last conversation she had with Indira. In the present, she is currently exploring the catacombs beneath the Red Seminary in search of clues about the blue circle.

- Most fire isn't "hellfire". It's two forbidden words that when combined take on a dark meaning. The word "hell" for Omestrians has connotations that are beyond "Fire" (and their acceptance of that concept), to them it hews more towards something wrong and demonic. So, Hell and Fire would mean something like, "Demonic Fire" or something. Basically, it's not the same as their concept of regular fire and to them, it's a word combination that is fucked up and dangerous.

- Creid's race is unknown at this time to anyone except Antonin. Those two are besties after all. :p

- Antonin can manipulate ether but can't draw it into himself, unless it's white ether. I now realize that I've forgotten whether or not Ziotea can draw ether into herself (without the use of some kind of medical implement) or can only manipulate it.

- I posted the glossary in the first post info dump. :)

EDIT:

- Indira meant "we" as in Creid, Antonin and herself.

@Lovejoy She can, if it matches hers...but it's not really worth doing.

I do remember, yes.

Antonin and Creid as besties is *great*

And are we go for Antonin teaching Ziotea as much as she's willing to put up with about drawing on the ether of others? Sure, her abilities with it don't line up with his 100%%. But he'll know the concepts better than anyone, from the sound of it.

@shylarahSure, that sounds good.

Okay... just read the IC... and there is something I need to ask.

Is the future fixed?

Creid's powers, I assume, influence time. But, they disregard chaos theory - where, an event that was changed in the past or present can affect the present or future. Creid making changes in the past do nothing to change the present, save erase his enemy. Memories are still retained. Deeds are still done.

But, the question remains - does the butterfly effect still happen in this world? (Chaos = Butterfly) Something that we do in the present, having a ripple to affect the future that awaits them.

Then again, we must assume that it has already happened, since there is no way for us to contact them. Which means...

*goes and curls up in a corner to mourn our mentors*

@CollectorOfMystPretty much, yes to all of that. However, the legend about Creid going back to erase people from existence is just that, a legend. He actually hasn't done anything to change time so far. He only went forward in time to glimpse what was going to happen on El, but his journey was cut short before the armada could reach the continent. I will say that we don't know exactly how time manipulation works in this world, since there hasn't been any proof of him tampering with it yet.

I will say that it hasn't been three months since the first armada departed, so their fate is still up in the air. As far as I remember it's only been two months since the first armada began their journey, and Vivica hasn't chosen and/or had a chance to fill in everyone about what Indira revealed to her.

Also, @OppositionJ there is a reason why Tatiana isn't at the Rising Ceremony. I was thinking that maybe she went off somewhere else, maybe with a few other characters? It's not something we have to address now, but later on it'd be a good idea to have a flashback centered around where she was at the time. I'm thinking maybe Hassan @Sisyphus was with her at the time? Let me know what you guys think!

Anyway, currently working on the post for the Lanostre group. Will have it done soon hopefully.

@Lovejoy I love it :o I'll get you a response ASAP but I won't have internet until Wednesday, so keeping up on posts and OOC is really hard. I'll do my best but don't expecta response before Wednesday.

@Lovejoy@CollectorOfMyst I mena, a scary guy is gonna generate legends that just plain aren't true, whether he can do the deed or not. And if he has assistance going back, those people might remember a little. I would imagine that there is still some chaos theory -- he doesn't know the full outcome if he changes anything at all, and people don't realize a lot of that has been changed -- but the knowledge that he did /something/ would remain with a couple people. And perhaps the memory of what his goal was?

In other words, wibbly wobbly timey wimey. ^.^;;

I really hope they're not dead, though. And, I mean, since a number of our Culmination visions imply that /we/ die too, maybe they aren't? *hoping*

...If not going to the Rising was an option, Ziotea might have tried to ditch too. She and Rodion probably made an appearance, stayed for a little, and then left.

@shylarahI'm cool with that! Sorry if I went a bit heavy with placing her and Rodion there. They could've peaced out and went elsewhere.

Oren would've probably stood by a pillar the whole night, with a goblet or something in his hand.

...Also, my knowledge of dances in pre-victorian eras may come in handy here. You never know.

inb4 Ilya gets to be MVP and stop fire with ludicrous amounts of water using more ludicrous amounts of ether

So nobody knows this yet, because Ilya hasn't mentioned it, but it also looks like our Hearth system is gonna fail and Ragnar not be able to hold long enough. So do we get to burn before or after then?

@CollectorOfMyst except this is in the world war...one? ish? era, if we go by tech. Sorta. So I'd expect swing is around somewhere, too, some jazz, blues, stuff like that, and their associated dances.

But hey, if you want a quadrille, sure! Most really old dances were more social than paired, anyhow. Right?

...And now I'm seeing all the inquisitors forced to squaredance. Can you imagine X-XVII standing at the front of the hall, calling for them all to "swing your partners, round you go, and with your corner do-si-do"? *chortle*

@Lovejoy I figure this is early enough that they're still around. Ziotea has had to learn how to handle people, and besides she likes dancing. ...At least with Rodion.

I wonder if anyone else would dare ask her for a dance? *amused*

@shylarah Mhm, that's why I said might. Because we still don't have quite the level of tech that I personally would associate with the First World War, that doesn't mean that's not where we are in terms of social culture.

Plus, the Red Seminary comes across to me as all kinds of high society. And the high society kept hold of the older ways of dancing long into the Victorian age. I'm mostly referring to how thing would happen socially, though, as I've no idea of what the dances themselves were like.

As for whether or not anyone else would have asked for Ziotea to dance with them... well, at such events in the times I am speaking of, women would be given a 'card' to wear around their wrists. Gentlemen would ask if they would like to dance, and fill out the card in a particular slot. Often, the name of the dance also could have other connotations, such as political manouevers or just simply chatting. Nothing says Rodion wouldn't just fill most of them out.

EDIT: When you've been talking to others on discord for a while and use asterisks instead of italics...

@CollectorOfMyst

The odds of Ziotea not ripping the card up and chucking it are slim. Impossibly slim. Besides, that's so formal...and this is a bunch of kids. It might not be historically accurate, but I'm going to pretend dance cards aren't a thing unless that particular person really wanted them to be. ^.^;;

Besides, what about cutting in? C'mon, it's not a good party unless someone gets decked, after all!

@CollectorOfMyst@shylarah

I don't think it would be restrictive like all of that nonsense. It's pretty clear by now that Varya doesn't care what's in your pants, as long as your legs have enough muscle to carry you to war in Their name. That said, I'm 99.9% sure we had dance lessons at some point, because Inquisitors invariably end up in various political and social situations, even if that's not their focus.

@Draken Mhm, I know. That wasn't what I was saying when I pointed out that women would wear cards, though - most paired dances did take place between opposite genders.

This is tangentially related to this discussion, but I guess I should mention that when it comes to sexuality Varyan society is hardcore conservative. Queerness in any form, be it gender fluidity or any sexual preference outside the cultural "norm" of heterosexuality, is not openly allowed and sexual and gender minorities are persecuted, especially in the Church. The other nations, old Omestris in particular, hold a much more progressive view towards sexuality.

This doesn't mean that our characters can't be LGBT (in fact, there are a few queer characters I've introduced already), but yeah, it's just one more thing they'll need to hide from the Church.