From being an Abandoned who had rarely left the Hollowed Grounds, to embracing the call of adventure, to dying and being reborn first as an Ascended and then as an Ancient, Maea has gone through quite the amount of changes in her life. One thing remains common, though, in her attempts to find out just where she belongs; she’s always had a craving for knowledge which has brought her to so many places and to meet so many people here in Caido. We can’t wait to see what else is in store for her!
Congratulations, Maea!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
“How?” You repeat, thinking that the appropriate question was something much more like why did you meet Rae. The answer to how probably dealt with the physicality and permanence of objects through time, and something else about social customs. But even in this you’re fairly sure that isn’t what he means. “Well, after they planted my twin and I and we grew to completion, they came to check on us. Then our training began.” For a moment you blink, and then remember something Kai had told you. “Rae gave life to me.” Not birth, because you weren’t born but grown. But still, knowing the lineage would probably halt most of Loren’s questions that your earlier explanation hadn’t covered.
You nod at this bit of information, scribbling something down in your notebook. It is interesting that these mutations are known of, meaning that perhaps they have become accepted, or that they are more prevalent than your records would have otherwise led you to believe.
“Nearly everything.” You reply with a concise blink. But you’re an infallibilist, so you’re always open to the possibility of error. Even so, on such mundane subjects such as magic, you are fairly confident.
As he explains your misstep, rather than looking bothered, you look somewhat grateful. Or at least, as graceful as your inexpressive features allow you to seem. “Apology.” You say; for you, the word sums up whatever justification or explanation you might have given. Kai has taught you that when someone tells you that you have made a mistake, that you are to apologize, and so you do. “May I examine you?” You add, demonstrating that you can learn from your mistakes.
As he begins to describe his arrival, you turn to your notes and record everything in shorthand. “Describe your arrival. What was the portal like? Where you given an explanation as to why you were chosen? Did you feel your matter being reformatted? Did you arrive with anything new?”
of course it's exhausting, having to reason all the time in a universe which wasn't meant to be reasonable.
Alright, maybe asking something other than a yes or not question hadn’t been the best idea in the world, given what she revealed. If Oia’i’o had reached out in that exact moment, she could’ve easily knocked the Launceleyn over with a feather. As it was, he just stared at her with wide eyes as his mind tried to process everything she was saying. ”They...planted you? And your, you have a twin? And wait, what training?” None of this made any sense: perhaps she wasn’t human after all, which, given the way the environment seemed to be doing its best to claim her seemed like a safe bet.
Then, though, she confirmed that she wasn’t human. Or at least not completely human. But that didn’t really help with the shock factor. Quite the opposite, in fact. ”You’re a child of Rae?!” The only other demi-god the summoner had met was Ronin, and the other man was a special case. This was the first natural born demi-god Loren had met, and it was one of the children of the higher powers. Color him surprised. Along with a whole other mix of heady emotions, including excitement and more than a bit of anxiety. This was unknown territory. Mostly, though, he felt a nearly burning curiosity.
If she’d been hoping to halt his questions, she was sorely mistaken. However, it wasn’t a totally one-sided exchange: she took down the information about mutations quickly enough to make him think that she might welcome some assistance in her project after all. Plus there were all her inquiries to respond to. He could wait to ask about his summoning until after he’d gotten through the next round of her examination. At least she’d asked this time. ”You may.” If it allowed him to spend more time with a demi-god child of Rae, he’d put up with pretty much any indignity.
These questions were much more difficult to respond to. ”It’s a bit hazy, to be honest and I don’t really know the specifics of the process. I just kind of...stumbled upon a portal and suddenly found myself in Caido. It felt...odd. Disorienting.” It was really hard to describe in great detail. ”I don’t know why I was chosen and not specific others.” More worthy choices, at least in his mind. ”My magic was different. And um, I’m ah, not sure I know what matter is or how it can be...reformatted.” Indeed a lot of her questions went over his head and he couldn’t help but feel nervous.
It was probably silly, but he worried that she’d depart if he couldn’t give her the answers she wanted. It was probably best not to wait to ask his own questions then. ”On the subject of magic being different, my summoning has changed recently.” His eyes flicked over to the unicorn, which was the only mythical creature he’d been able to call upon recently. It was worrisome, to say the least.
“Yes.” You confirm again, thinking that perhaps it isn’t so much a hearing problem as a cognition one: this man seems to need to repeat most of what you say. If that’s the case, perhaps you can help him. If not, this conversation is going to take roughly 25% longer than it needs to. “We were created with a purpose and so were trained in it. I suppose you would call it raising, though that is far from accurate. We grew on our own.”
“ Are you experiencing difficulty understanding what I am telling you?” You finally ask, as he exclaims about your lineage. You say this without any sort of attitude or judgement, merely mild curiosity and aim for efficiency.
“Excellent. Please remove your clothes so I can complete your physical examination.” You say as if you were merely asking him to hand something to you, rather than strip down to his underwear. Reaching into your bag you produce something vaguely ‘V’ shaped, with a circle at the bottom connected by a piece of tubing.
This is where you might have frowned to show your disappointment, but instead of that you merely write that subject Loren x1859310-1bb has trouble articulating his experiences. Whether this is a result of memory loss or cognitive interference, or, whether this is a result of some other trauma is unknown. As he mentions not knowing what matter is, you glance up looking pleased. ‘Humour?’ You ask, thinking that it must be. Everyone knows what matters is.
Elaborate.” You say. Others might have said, Oh interesting, care to say more? You of course skip all that. You don’t particularly care if he wants to say more; you want to hear it.
of course it's exhausting, having to reason all the time in a universe which wasn't meant to be reasonable.
Again, he felt a little bit like he was screwed no matter what questions he asked: assuming Oia’i’o was telling the truth, well, it was incredible. And unbelievable. Which was why he was having so much trouble processing it. Indeed, when she explained that she was raised by Rae for a specific purpose, he felt his mouth open to ask what would probably be another dumb question. Oh well. ”What purpose?” At least she was answering freely.
When she asked whether he was having difficulty comprehending her words he let out a little huff of laughter. ”I’m sorry. And yes, yes I am. I’ve never met anyone who has spoken to Rae, and now you’re telling me you are their child. It’s a lot to take in. So I hope you’ll be patient with me.” Surely Oia’i’o could understand that. Well, maybe not. She didn’t seem to have much time for nonsense, which included his interrogation and his surprise.
The request to strip caused him to blink. However, given how there was absolutely nothing flirtatious, just clinical, he supposed there was no harm in it. She was probably telling the truth and just wanted to give him a more thorough physical exam. Hopefully. With a demi-god of Rae he was in entirely uncharted territory.
Thankfully, it wasn’t the cold of Deepfrost, so some clothes wouldn’t hurt. Rising to his feet, he stripped off his shirt in an efficient motion, then his pants, before sitting back down. His skin was unblemished. Though he was still a bit too skinny, he’d gained back most of the weight he’d lost so at least he didn’t look like a skeleton with flesh. All in all, he was a far cry from the shadow of a man he’d been when he returned. Progress and all that.
When she asked whether he was joking—at least, that’s what he thought she was asking, it was hard to tell with her—he blinked again. ”Uh...no.” The Launceleyn legitimately did not know what matter was. Nor did he know what was going on with his magic. Not a good day for his self-esteem about being knowledgeable. Then again, it was pretty low across the board given how often he’d been told he knew nothing about Caido. ”I used to be able to summon pretty much any mythological creature. Then some of them started leaving parts behind. However, recently I have only managed to summon well, a unicorn.” Biting his lip, he tried not to let his fear show too much. ”That’s why I came out here. To test out my magic and see if I could figure out what was going on.”
“That particular memory was removed for this assignment.” You explain. You can guess at it, but you aren’t one for unsubstantiated theorizing. “My current purpose is to observe the Hollowed Grounds and surrounding lands in the wake of the barrier falling.” You pause to consider if there is more to it than that and then add: “Given the barrier not much has been documented. The heralds have done little by way of record keeping, so myself and my twin are here to try and chronicle what we can.” And to complete your various side experiments of course.
You give him a slightly perplexed look, though for you that is merely a minimal narrowing of your eyebrows. You don’t see the correlation between ideas being difficult to understand and the words themselves causing confusion, and so you merely decide to agree to disagree, which is something Kai has taught you. And indeed, you are not sure what his hope about your patience has to do with much either. Your ability to be patience doesn’t rest on what he wants.
Moving slightly to get a better look at him, you ask him to complete a series of tasks meant to gauge his flexibility, reflex response rates, and other seemingly mechanical-type endeavours. The only adjectives you would ascribe to Loren thus far have to do with his race and health; you don’t even notice anything about him in terms of being handsome. You tell Kai he is handsome because you know he likes it. In fact though, you are confused about what makes human-animals attractive to one another. Kai tells you when you’re older you’ll understand. But he has been saying that for years, and so you simply keep waiting.
Having already asked permission once, you don’t think it is required again, and so you move into his personal space for a second time. Holding the device you pulled out of your bag earlier, you place part of it against your hears and press the flat disk-like portion against his midback without first warning that it might be cold, or giving any indication of what you are going to do. Bedside manner is not really a thing, but if it was, you’d absolutely not have it. “Inhale deeply, and hold.” You say, cocking your head slightly to the side as you strain to listen.
Pausing as he speaks, you take one of the prongs out of your ears to answer. “Matter is like…” You pause, trying to think best how to describe such a complex notion to such a simple creature. “...the components of what you are. Of what everything. Arranged in precisely that structure with those pieces results in you. Arranged in this structure with these pieces, results in me. It is how you were brought here, as it was not physically. Instead the description of your matter was collected and duplicated here.” Obviously.
As he continues about his magic, you nod immediately understanding. “It sounds as though it was too powerful. Magic of the type you have begins as a regular and predictable set of variations. When they mutate however, often they need to be curtailed. It would either have been Rae or Frey who restricted you.” This, you say casually. Putting the plug back in your ear you move the disc to Loren’s chest, asking him to set up straighter and take a few deep breaths as you place the metal against him. Moving it from just above his nipple, to the left of his sternum, and then areas below as well, you listen, lips twitching vaguely as you count.
of course it's exhausting, having to reason all the time in a universe which wasn't meant to be reasonable.
Well, that was an ominous statement. ”Removed by who?” The only god—or being, really—that the Launceleyn knew of that could remove memories was Ludo. Granted, as a demi-god, perhaps Oia’i’o was closer to all the gods than the summoner. Again, the only demi-god he knew was Ronin, and Loren and the former king were not exactly on speaking terms.
At the mention of keeping records, the Launceleyn tilted his head. ”I know where some records are kept about the magic of the Hollowed Grounds and some of the mutations. I’d be happy to show you, if you feel it would be useful.” Seeing as Jigano was keeping a list, presumably the Loreseeker’s Guild had something on file. Now that the summoner was past his initial shock, he found he was actually eager to help out the child of Rae. Perhaps his days of scholarship weren’t behind him after all.
And if he had to jump through a few hoops along the way, so be it: he did as he was told and moved as he was ordered to do so. As the cold device touched his skin, however, Loren let out a small huff of breath. ”If you’re planning to do this to others, you may want to give them a heads up before each individual task.” It was only a little unpleasant, but if Oia’i’o was planning to rely on the goodwill of the people of the Hollowed Grounds as she poked at them, she could probably do with a quick lesson on bedside manner. Granted, the summoner hadn’t been trained on that either, but at least he knew he was lacking in that arena. Still, he held his breath easily enough when she asked.
The explanation of matter went a bit over his head and he frowned; he wasn’t used to being so ignorant, though coming to Caido had cured him of quite a bit of his arrogance in that regard. ”So it’s like...the stones that make up a building? If you arrange the stones in a different way, or use a different material, you get a different building?” It was almost certainly a crude metaphor, but he legitimately was doing his best to understand. ”How did the uh, description of me get collected?” The concept was still entirely foreign to him, but he found that he was disturbed by the possibility that someone or something had examined him without his will. And if this matter wasn’t actually him, exactly, or well, kind of, well, how did he know he was the same person he’d been before?
That way madness lay, and he firmly pushed such thoughts from his mind. Unfortunately, the next topic wasn’t all that much better. Loren frowned at the demi-god’s explanation of what had happened to his magic. ”I see. Is there any way to find my new limits besides trial and error?” Hopefully, but if not he’d continue cycling through his creatures. If he’d thought asking Oia’i’o whether appealing to Frey (or Rae, though that seemed unlikely) would change the gods’ minds or give the summoner back some measure of his power was worth it, he would have. However, it was probably best to just try and ask the deity himself. Instead of speaking further, he just followed Oia’i’o’s next set of instructions.
“Rae did of course.” You reply pointedly. “So that there would be no unexpected biases during my research and observation. I remember just enough for rationality and coherence, but nothing of where Kai and I grew up. It isn’t relevant or necessary for this assignment, and so it was temporarily removed until our work is complete.”
You nod instantly, eager to take this man up on his offer. “That would be helpful.” You agree, then decide to add: “Gratitude.” You don’t feel it, but you’re meant to, and so you communicate it just the same.
Brows narrowing slightly, you tilt your head in a paradigmatic indication of confusion. “But I do not require your head to be up.” You clarify helpfully. Besides, he’d only said you needed to ask permission once. But now it was at each interval? How did they break down? Was it task based? Proximity based?
“If the stones were much smaller and all held a unique piece of information, sure.” Not the best analogy, but even you can see that Loren is trying and for all of your unintentional obfuscations, you do actually quite like teaching others things and helping them to understand. You’re just really, really bad at it. “The Voice.” You confirm. “As far as we understand it, she reached out to presumably recreate those she thought would be most helpful to her efforts. Clearly she succeeded given the barrier did indeed come down. It is why some of you appeared with different powers or were made into certain races. Her algorithms did their best to match the metaphysics of your previous world, to this one. The matches were imperfect at times, as one would expect.” You shrug. This all seems very obvious to you.
“There are common magical items that can detail the magic within an abandoned, or the shifts within an attuned.” You confirm. Once you had one, but now? Looking in your bag you find the whisper of frustration breeze across your face. Why you don’t have it now, you don’t know. If you had your memories, it would likely be more clear. Setting this aside, you return to your notes writing down the remainder of your observations about Loren.
of course it's exhausting, having to reason all the time in a universe which wasn't meant to be reasonable.
”I wasn’t aware Rae could remove memories. Can all of the gods do that?” It seemed cold of the god to remove their children’s memories for the sake of an assignment. While avoiding biases was all well and good—though mostly impossible, since simply thinking and observing introduced judgment and bias into any experiment—there were other concerns, ones that the summoner would hope any parent, even a divine one, would have for their children. Then again, the Launceleyns were hardly the poster children for good parenting. Besides, the memory loss was apparently temporary. That still didn’t necessarily make it okay. ”It doesn’t bother you? Not having your memories, I mean?” It would bother Loren, a lot.
Oia’i’o accepted his offer of assistance and he smiled briefly. ”You’re welcome.” Apparently, gratitude was the new way of saying thank you. She certainly was odd, but not in a bothersome way. Obviously she didn’t have the firmest grasp on the nuances of conversation (though neither did he). ”Give a heads up means warn someone. In this case, if you’re going to do something uncomfortable or surprising, it’s polite to let people know in advance.” Hopefully that was enough: it wasn’t all that easy trying to explain simple turns of phrase that he’d never questioned.
Alright, his clunky attempt to understand had been close enough to the reality that he wasn’t going to bother asking further questions, not when she already seemed to think he was an idiot. The revelation about The Voice and the method through which the portals worked was almost as shocking as Oia’i’o’s parentage; the Launceleyn’s eyes widened with surprise as he took in her words. ”How does The Voice reach out to other worlds? And how do you know all this?” Just because it was apparent to the demi-god didn’t mean it made any sense to the summoner. He was quickly becoming used to that fact, though.
The information about items that could identify shifts and magic was useful, and he filed it away for later. At the look of frustration on her face, though Loren’s expression softened. ”It’s alright. I’ll ask around, see if anyone has one. If not, I can see if someone will make one for us.” If Oia’i’o needed one for her assignment, surely either Deimos or Remi would be happy to assist a child of Rae. Granted, Loren was probably assuming a lot with that ‘us’, but she’d already agreed to accept his help in other areas.
You aren’t sure why it’s relevant that he was ignorant of this fact, but you keep silent as he finished. “Yes. They are all fairly omnipotent, though each have their strengths, obviously. When it comes to non-specific acts though, they are fairly well-matched.” Pausing to consider the rest of his question, you take a moment to introspect, but only briefly. “Were it not Rae I might be concerned. After all it is nearly impossible to know what would or wouldn’t be necessary information to have. Not knowing what I do not know is bothersome. Not knowing what I don’t even know I don’t know, is more bothersome still. Not knowing what I don’t know that I—” You pause and blink a few times, your lips moving ever so slightly. Kai warned you about this regress the last time you started this tangent. Specifically, he told you that you weren’t allowed to vocalize any more than three iterations of it. Clearing your throat, you shake your head slightly. “But Rae knows far more than I do and I trust in their judgement.” Personal feelings didn’t really factor into it.
You consider this. “So...when I asked if I could examine you, this was not included in the permission you gave?” Readjusting your notebook, you make notes next to Loren’s name that indicate you should often and repeatedly give him a heads up.
“Presumably through the ascended technology.” You reply. “Not much is known about it of course, since Outlanders only started appearing in the last three hundred and nine years prior. In extremely rare cases they would appear outside of the barrier likely due to a glitch. The majority, like you, appeared within. “ As he asks about how it is you know all of this, you give him a passive blue-eyed stare. “Observation, research, and experimentation.” You answer. Rarely do you take testimony to be knowledge conferring; you’d rather verify things yourself.
“I used to have one, but I do not seem to now.” You supply with a slight change in pitch; one of the few indications that you do in fact feel or express emotions at all.
of course it's exhausting, having to reason all the time in a universe which wasn't meant to be reasonable.
It wasn’t that surprising that a child of the gods (well, sort of, he wasn’t quite sure about the birth process here) was so knowledgeable about the deities. However, the information Oia’i’o was providing was so frank and she sounded so assured about beings that were inscrutable to most that Loren continued to be shocked by what she revealed. ”What would be considered a non-specific act, and what acts can only specific gods perform?” That seemed like something that would be quite useful to know.
He listened to her explanation about her memories thoughtfully, giving an encouraging nod or making an encouraging sound when necessary. However, his eyes grew concerned when it seemed she might start an endless loop; thankfully, she cut herself off before he had to intervene. ”I suppose that trusting in Rae is fair. Though it’s hard for me to trust any of the gods, given my status as an Abandoned and given that I’ve only met Frey.” Twice, which was more than most, but still not exactly enough for a relationship.
Oh man, explaining etiquette and politeness to a demi-god who didn’t seem to quite understand social niceties was not something the Launceleyn wanted to do, nor something he was particularly well-equipped to do. Still, she seemed nice enough, if a bit weird, and he didn't want her to run into trouble in the Hollowed Grounds, so he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. ”It was. However, you are relying upon my goodwill and willingness to stay here and be examined to complete your inspection. If you do something that is uncomfortable for me, like when you touched me with cold metal, my willingness and goodwill decrease. They are much less likely to do so if I am warned about something that might be unpleasant in advance.” That was as logical a way to explain why a heads up was a good idea as he could come up with. Again, he wasn’t a people person.
Presumably through Ascended technology. In other words, the demi-god had no idea. However, Loren was much more intrigued by the second thing she mentioned. ”Wait. There are others who’d ended up outside the barrier? Who?” He couldn’t help the hope from creeping into his voice. If there were more people from other worlds in other parts of Caido, maybe, just maybe, some more of his family had survived. It was probably a vain hope, but he couldn’t help but cling to it.
Her explanation of how she knew so much wasn’t all that satisfying, but he supposed it made sense. Before he could ask for more details, though, he heard something in her voice that triggered his instincts. While he couldn’t put his finger on what, exactly, he gave her a comforting smile. ”That’s alright. As I said, we can get a new one.” Actually, it sounded like quite a useful tool to have.
You shrug slightly. "Non-specific acts might be that of reading minds, memory removal, levitation, etcetera." You explain, your voice polite as you can make it, though it still comes across fairly tonelessly. "Specific acts would be things like soul capturing and keeping for Mort, life adjustment and management from Rae, and creation from Vi." You pause then, blinking several times as you consider. "Do you require me to elaborate further?" This all seems fairly obvious to you, but clearly it is not to Loren.
"They do not require your trust." You're not sure if this is meant to be encouraging, soothing, or an insult. Probably none, really; it's just fact. Unlike the Voice, the old gods require no buy in from those within the world. Their powers are objective, their rule obvious. "Frey...Yes." You do recall the herald. "Do you have an interest in reproduction? Or hedonism?" From your point of view, that more or less encapsulates what the herald was meant to have been doing within the barrier.
"Why do I need to rely on your goodwill and willingness at all? You already agreed." You argue, brows furrowing. This is one of the things people find most aggravating about you: you argue to understand, not to be an asshole. Usually though, it doesn't come across that way. "How will I know what is unpleasant to you?" You add, head tilted slightly to the side, brows narrowing even further.
"I do not have an itemized list." You tell him. "Though I am sure one can be acquired if there is a need and purpose for it." Missing on the emotive tinge that Loren's voice has taken, you don't recognize his almost-plea for what it is.
We? You blink at that. You are upset because you had something, and now you don't. It isn't the loss of the thing that upsets you, but the gap in your memories. There is likely a perfectly good reason that you do not have it now, but you find yourself irritated that you don't know what it is. It has nothing to do with replacing what is gone; not the physical thing, anyways.
of course it's exhausting, having to reason all the time in a universe which wasn't meant to be reasonable.
Well, the continued lessons about the gods—especially the higher powers—was incredibly intriguing and quite useful. Indeed, no one the Launceleyn had spoken to before had known anywhere close to this much about Vi, Rae, and Mort. However, the categories and abilities that Oia’i’o had laid out were clear enough, and Loren could extrapolate from what she’d said fairly easily. ”No, thank you.” At least not on that specific subject; the summoner had no doubt he would have many more questions.
He would probably even have more questions about the gods, though maybe not the higher powers. Although her comment about the gods not needing the Launceleyn’s trust—something that he was obviously aware of—was probably intended to be well-meaning, she’d missed the point of his statement. Trust had to go both ways, and he wasn’t fully comfortable calling upon the gods.
However, her questions about Frey caused Loren to blink. ”Uh...not exactly. Well. I...hadn’t thought much about reproduction.” Nor would he for a while, if ever. ”And I wouldn’t call it hedonism.” Although a quest for orgasms, which he was well on his way to fulling, was probably exactly that. ”I know Frey is Rae’s herald. What does that entail?” Ludo guided lost souls to Mort, but the Launceleyn didn’t know what Frey did for Rae. Plus, he was kind of desperate for a change in subject.
Apparently, what he’d thought was a fairly logical explanation was insufficient. Time to see if he could elaborate. ”Because I can revoke my agreement at any point.” Demi-god or not, Loren didn’t have to subject himself to Oia’i’o’s scrutiny if he didn’t want to. ”You could start by asking what would make you uncomfortable. Would you find being touched by cold metal unpleasant?” If she didn’t know how to put herself in other’s shoes, maybe he could get her to think about her own feelings. Although he wasn’t sure she had strong feelings, so maybe that was a bad approach.
Something that was readily obvious from her rote response to his question about others from outside Caido. Hesitating, he gave her a half-concerned, half-hopeful look. ”If a list is available, I would appreciate seeing one.” That would just be generally useful, but he had ulterior motives. ”Have you heard of anyone with the last name Launceleyn?” It couldn’t possibly be that easy, but it couldn’t hurt to ask: she’d been forthcoming enough that he figured he’d get a straight answer.
Seeing as she didn’t respond to his comment about acquiring the item she’d misplaced, he decided to let the subject drop. He felt that he was pushing his luck already.
You shrug. What Loren would or wouldn't call it doesn't seem relevant. But it is in fact part of the herald's purpose: to increase pleasure and decrease the amount of pain within the barrier. Though with it down, you wonder what it is exactly Frey does with themself. You think perhaps you and Kai should find one of their shrines and ask. There is no sense speculating wildly about it. "What I said: Reproduction and Hedonism." You find that Loren doesn't understand you, though you're ignorant of the reasons why. Perhaps you should stick to explanations, rather than asking your own questions. Things seem easier for him that way.
"The heralds were placed within the barrier. In a closed ecosystem such as this, it was Frey's responsibility to encourage reproduction in all life that continued to thrive here. Tangentially they were also encouraged to make life as pleasurable as they could given the rather bleak existence that was expected to occur within."
You listen as he explains, but you find yourself no closer to understanding. "Then it seems the responsibility is on you to indicate when you would like to revoke your agreement." He mentions the possibility of having asked about the metal, and you find yourself again asking, "Humour?" Only to see that no, it wasn't. "That seems an extremely inefficient way of proceeding. You might be made uncomfortable by the increase in temperature caused by my proximity, by the colour of my eyes, by the frequency with which I bathe, by the tone of my voice, the scratch of my quill on the page." Or any number of things. That was precisely the point; human-animals could find offense with nearly everything. There didn't seem to be a principled method of distinguishing triggers, given how unique each human-animal seemed to be. Why then, shouldn't a general waiver be used, with the responsibility falling onto the party with access to their internal feelings?
Flipping through your notes, you scan the pages before shaking your head. "Not in my notes, though they are not comprehensive and have not covered Outlanders until now." You say. "Why do you require it?"
of course it's exhausting, having to reason all the time in a universe which wasn't meant to be reasonable.
Arguing with a demi-god child of Rae about her parent’s herald was probably a bad idea. Sighing, Loren ran a hand through his hair and gave Oia’i’o a thoughtful look. While he was uncomfortable telling a near stranger about his interactions with Frey, she might be able to provide insights no one else could. ”Then I guess you would say I do have an interest in hedonism.” He shifted his weight awkwardly. ”They...gave me a task.” It was so far from her assignment that it felt weird even bringing it up. And that wasn’t even getting into the specific nature of what he’d been asked to do.
Speaking of the gods in more generic terms was safer and far more fascinating. He had no idea that Safrin, Frey, and Ludo had been placed here for a specific reason. ”Did the heralds exist before the barrier? And now that the barrier has fallen have their functions changed?” Indeed, the Hollowed Grounds were no longer a closed ecosystem, but it didn’t sound as if the heralds had changed their behavior much. In particular, procreation and pleasure seemed less necessary now that the people here had more freedom.
It seemed they’d reached an impasse. Still, the summoner was stubborn enough to continue to try and explain to Oia’i’o why she should work on her demeanor; maybe it was impossible for her to change, given how their interaction had gone so far, but if he gave her a heads up (see?) maybe she wouldn’t be surprised next time someone took offense. ”I would certainly indicate when I was at that point. However, wouldn’t your purpose be better served by not having agreements revoked halfway through your study?” She legitimately didn’t seem to understand some basics of human contact. ”No, not humor. And there are things to consider beyond efficiency.”
If that’s the framework she needed to consider, though, the Launceleyn could work with that. ”Yes, I or others might take offense at any number of things you might do, which would cause us to revoke our agreement. Wouldn’t that be more inefficient than doing what you can to put us at ease? Moreover, we are doing you a favor. That means that you should at least try to be gracious and accommodating.” Maybe veering into shoulds wasn’t a good idea. He did have a good one though. ”Have you considered having someone assist you in your work?” Perhaps having someone else who could indicate when Oia’i’o was getting close to crossing a line in a social context would make everyone’s life easier.
As he’d suspected, it couldn’t be that easy. When she asked why he required it, he gave her a slightly sad smile. ”I’m a Launceleyn. When I came to Caido, some of my family came with me to the Hollowed Grounds. However, not all of them were there. When you mentioned that there were others who had arrived outside the barrier, I wondered if my other relatives might’ve shown up elsewhere in Caido.” His voice came out a little wistfully: most of his family was dead or gone at this point, so even the chance that others might live was enough to get his hopes up. They’d been thoroughly dashed.
And there was the specter of Zariah on the horizon, not that he’d tell Oia’i’o about his cousin.
