Solus zos Galvus (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
emet_sulk) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
expiationlogs2023-08-05 12:13 pm
emet_sulk) wrote in expiationlogs2023-08-05 12:13 pm
Entry tags:
August catch-all (open)
Who: Emet-Selch and anyone!
Where: Aldrip and nearby outskirts
What:
- Emet-Selch attempts to do some actual work for once at the clinic, healing people's hurts (shock, horror).
- He takes the device he found around for walkies, finds otherhot new single users in his area!
- Encounters a morbol in the wild and it tries to follow him home. Or take him home. Hard to tell with these smelly things.
Warnings: None, will update or list in comment headers if necessary
(Will match tag format, action brackets are fine)
1. The Ascian will see you now
Where: Aldrip and nearby outskirts
What:
- Emet-Selch attempts to do some actual work for once at the clinic, healing people's hurts (shock, horror).
- He takes the device he found around for walkies, finds other
- Encounters a morbol in the wild and it tries to follow him home. Or take him home. Hard to tell with these smelly things.
Warnings: None, will update or list in comment headers if necessary
(Will match tag format, action brackets are fine)
1. The Ascian will see you now
Having returned from the desert, it's business as usual at the clinic. Emet-Selch doesn't really like working but he did make a deal with that young woman to put in the time here. Besides, the pay is going towards the weapon he is commissioning from a local blacksmith - one eager enough for the challenge of an unfamiliar weapon and understanding enough to accept payment in installations.2. Tindr? More like Findr
So the Ascian puts aside his ennui and dons the more agreeable veneer of Solus zos Galvus as he attends to those still recovering from the hurts of the past two months. Being one of the Chosen, he's usually also first to be called on to look at other Chosen who walk in.
a) Greeting walk-in patients:
The smile on his face almost resembles a smirk as he walks up to you. "And what trouble have you gotten yourself into, hmm?"
b) Interrupting him whilst he's busy:
He glances up, from whatever or whoever he's working on with a frown. "Do you need something?" he asks, tempering his impatience with effort.
After putting out a request for help and cobbling together some semblance of a working device, Emet-Selch can be found trying to access some of its other features - to not so very great success. Having noticed that it seems to randomly react to something, he takes the thing outside and tries to locate the source.3. Friends Forevermor-bol
Which is how he comes across someone else with another device.
Emet-Selch looks at you, looks at the device in his hands. Frowns.
"Why is this reacting to you?" he asks irritably.
Further afield, outside of town - or even perhaps closer to the forest's edge - Emet-Selch has come across a familiar creature.4. Wildcard
Or perhaps, rather, it finds him.
The creature in question is a towering mass of thick, vine-like tentacles and a gaping, putrid maw. Like an upright land octopus that is at least as tall as a man. Emet-Selch, surprised to come across something from his homestar, is too stunned to move before the seedkin notices him and starts to undulate over.
"No," he says emphatically, jabbing a finger at it. "Stay."
As if this creature can be trained like a dog. He remembers that gift sent by one of the provinces and how it terrorised the imperial gardens before somehow escaping out into the snowy tundra. Morbols and their ilk simply do as they please.
--and this one attempts to reach out and grab him.
He vanishes into a rift, materialising a distance away. But the morbol advances relentlessly, vines reaching for him.
"Of all the creatures to make their way here from our star, why this one?!"
For closed threads or custom scenarios etc., feel free to hit me up on the CR meme to plot.
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"I presume you've already tried in your valiant efforts to escape the bed earlier than you should. Now, shall I help you change the bandages?"
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"Is it time for that again?" She huffs a little before pushing herself more upright with a wince. She adjusts her top so the bandages can be easily accessed. He'll find a long slash beneath the bandages, cutting through both skin and scales along the ribs on her right side.
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"Ahh, look at this, hero: you've gone and made this tight with all of your fussing." He somehow gets it loose though. Magic? Hard to say. The fresh roll of bandage he produces certainly isn't. "Hmm, it certainly doesn't seem to want to close..."
Focused as he is on the work, he doesn't realise he has dropped most of the sneering act he likes to put on in front of the Warrior of Light and her companions.
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She remains quiet aside from a small 'hmph' as she watches him work. It's interesting how his demeanor changes while he's focused on redressing her wound. It's only when he's almost done that she says something, "You're not all bad despite how you act."
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"I'm only working here to earn the local coin, seeing as the so-called gods have seen fit to curb my ability to wield aether."
He tightens the fresh bandage with a little more force than necessary - enough to make her wince - and ties it off. "'Twas either this or ride out at the beck and call of any man or woman finding themselves in strife. Unlike you, I don't care for that sort of heroics."
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"Erichthonios did mention that." He and Elidibus had been quite worried about one of their creations because of it.
The tightened bandages certainly does make her wince but she doesn't give much of a reaction besides. "I see. Well, thank you, nonetheless." She smiles, remembering how he was when she met him in Elpis, he hasn't changed much in that regard she supposes.
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With her care done, he has no reason to linger. But as he sits back he seems disinclined to move. Instead, he stares ahead of him across the infirmary with a brooding expression.
"...Tell me something, hero: is there any purpose to my remaining here?"
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"I don't know. Do you have anything better to do that isn't a nap?"
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"How much do you want to know?" A dangerous question, probably. Knowing one's fate isn't for everyone, but perhaps she can give him some comfort if he knows that he won't be alone in the Aetherial Sea.
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"I can't answer that for you." It's for him to decide if everything he did was for naught. "All I can do is tell you all that I've experienced that also concerns your fate."
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What would happen to the Warrior of Light if he decides to act differently once he returns? IF he returns?
"Fine. Then tell me. I would rather hear it from you than anyone else."
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"Alright, first thing first, what was the last thing that happened before you arrived here?" It would be pretty redundant to start with her arrival on the First if he's already experienced all of that.
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He shoots her an annoyed look. "You always have to interfere in matters which don't concern you."
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"That is quite some time back..." If she's remembering correctly. She had hoped that he was from a little further on.
"Well, we knocked out the Eulmoran army with dream powder before Ran'jit stepped in. We managed to escape and fled to Il Mheg. There we made some deals with the fae and defeated the second Lightwarden. After that, you revealed yourself to us and offered to work together. Naturally, we were all rather hesitant to trust you."
No one ever said she was good at telling stories, but at least she's getting to facts as quickly as possible.
"You followed us to the Raktika Greatwood only to disappear the moment things looked troublesome." It didn't help that she said something stupid and riled up the inhabitant of the woods. "It took us some time to locate the third Lightwarden. We had to deal with the Eulmorans again, make friendly with the Viis that had been living there in isolation. Dig around a temple for clues as to where the Lightwarden could be.
Once it was dealt with we found murals that depicted the Final Days as well as the Sundering. We didn't know what it was until you told us."
She wonders if she should pause there in case he has any questions. So much happened and she knows she's skipping over some stuff to get to the point. She does end up waiting long enough for him to either ask a question or tell her to continue before she does.
"Ahm Arang was next. We didn't know where to look so I went with Ryne," a short pause, "That is Minfilia to meet with, um, herself?" That sounds weird now that she really thinks about it. "Anyroad, they spoke, Minfilia gave her the power to locate the Lightwardens and she broke the cycle, I guess. Minfilia was renamed Ryne by Thancred and helped some people so we could get the trolley working so we could reach the Lightwarden. Again, it was dealt with and all that was left was the final one which turned out to be Vauthry."
She pauses once more because this is where things took a turn. "I... I failed to contain the light after defeating Vauthry. Failed your little test and you decided we weren't worth it, that Zodiark was the only way. The Crystal Exarch tried to steal the light from me so the he could take into the Rift and, I guess, die with it." Her mouth twists into a frown.
"You shot him and took him with you to your recreated Amaurot. You told me I could join you there so that I might transform away from prying eyes. I'm sure you can guess how that all ended."
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But what truly throws him is the conclusion: where she fails his expectations. He remembers harbouring some hope of the Warrior being strong enough to hold the immense burden of Light. It had been a plan in its infancy, not yet solidified as he had watched the conflict between Eulmore and the Crystarium play out - to no end now, he supposes.
And to think that he would invite her down there... To his recreation of a dead city. His home...
"...Well," he says finally. He can't decide if he's upset or angry or resigned. "Well, at least I died in a familiar place."
Bitter. He's bitter.
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"It doesn't end there, however. Despite my failing to contain the light, there was a shard of... myself that had been following me around since my arrival. I don't know if you met him in life, his name was Ardbert. Elidibus had brought him and his friends over to the Source a while back in an attempt to cause more problems and speed up a rejoining, I guess." She shrugs.
"Anyroad, when I was the verge of turning he offer me the strength to continue." One hand goes over her heart as she says this, a small smile forming on her lips. "It was only thanks to him I was able to contain the Light and then use it as a weapon against you."
She takes another pause, licking her lips and realizing how dry her mouth has become from all the speaking she's been doing. She's never been one to say so many words in so short a time.
"Could I trouble you for a glass of water before I continue?" A pause before she adds, "Please?"
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It is very difficult to read his expression. Even now, his thoughts are whirling, plotting, revising plans. He knows not if there is any point to doing so but he cannot help himself.
"And whose idea was it to use all of that Light bleeding out of you as a weapon against me? Such an inspired move cannot have been improvised."
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"Thank you." She takes a long few gulps from the glass, nearly draining it in one go before continuing.
"It was no longer bleeding out of me thanks to Ardbert rejoining with me." She suspects she could have arrived here right after rejoining with Ardbert and not be at risk of changing. "But to answer your question, a weapon made of pure aether was how we defeated Ascians in the past. So creating a weapon of Light came naturally."
She shifts, wincing a little to refill the glass, holding onto it to give her hands something to do.
"After, we began looking for a way to return the Scions back to the Source. Though Elidibus had his own plans and tried to start tipping the First back toward Light. He was dealt with, though not like everyone else. His soul was trapped within the Crystal Tower before it had a chance to go anywhere." A fact that would be important later.
"Shortly after, I returned to the Source with crystals that held everyone's essence and they soon awoke. Things didn't remain calm for long after that, however." Why would they? She feels as if she's destined to never know quiet days.
"During our absence from the Source, Zenos had cut down the Emporer and plunged Garlemald into chaos. Alongside him was Fandaniel who was set on restarting the Final Days. All he needed was the aether to free Zodiark and kill him." She lowers her head and stares at the glass in her hand. "I unwittingly helped him with that. I think originally he'd planned to have Zenos become one with Zodiark so he could fight me but Fandaniel threw himself into the prison instead. As you can imagine, it didn't take long for the hells themselves to erupt on the Star."
She takes a sip. She's skipping a lot, but it doesn't seem all that important to the recounting. If he wants to know the details he can ask. "The answer to the Final Days obviously lay in the past, but the only clue we had was a flower. One known as an Elpis flower. So I returned to the First, to the Crystal Tower, what remained of Elidibus was able to use the Tower to send me to the Elpis of your day. And my timing couldn't have been better as you and Hythlodaeus were visiting to recruit Hermes to the seat of Fandaniel."
She smiles a little. It'd been nice to see some of the past in a peaceful state, what she wouldn't give to see more of the old Etheirys. The smile doesn't last, however, as she continues.
"I'm not sure how much to say of my visit, I know you don't remember any of it because of Hermes. But the gist of it is that the Final Days was due to a creation of his. Meteion, a group of bird-like creations that he'd made to be thin of aether so that they could interact with another energy, dynamis. An energy driven by emotion, something we of the future are able to interact with much more easily thanks to our thin aether. He wanted to know why others lived, what kept them looking forward to the next day. He felt that answer couldn't be found on Ehteirys so he sent the Meteia out into the universe to find the answer.
Do you know what they found?" She looks up at him as she waits for his response.
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How much could the Meteia have found, really, considering that?
"I suppose they found nothing of note."
There are so many more questions he wants to ask - particularly about her meeting him in Elpis - but she's clearly leading into some sort of revelation.
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"As for what the Metia found, nothing is... close. They found dead worlds, worlds on the verge of dying. Worlds on the verge of destroying themselves through war. People crying out for death because they had found perfection and no longer had anything worth living for. And because of that, they decided that life wasn't worth living. That if there was only suffering to be found why would anyone want to continue living?"
She pauses to take another sip of water and let it sink in. "Hermes heard that and decided that he would test humanity. That if they were truly meant to survive they would find a way. So he used Kairos to erase your, Hythlodaeus, and his own memory of all that the Metia had found. However, I got away thanks to Venat."
She pauses, realizing she forgot to mention Venat had been there. "She was there as well, by the by. Because of her, I had to tell you, Hythloadues, and herself about the future that was to come. She recognized her blessing upon me the moment she laid eyes on me and deduced I was from the future. You didn't take too well hearing about your future, refused to believe it. Venat believed it."
Another pause as she sips her water. "It's because of what she heard and Meteion's control over dynamis that she decided to Sunder Etheirys. So that we might be able to interact with the same power and perhaps someday be strong enough to put an end to the Metia and prevent the Final Days.
We succeeded in that, after passing Venat's test. You and Hythlodaeus helped one last time in the end before returning to the Aetherial Sea. You said you would stay there because you refused to be reborn into the world that is now. And Hythlodaeus seemed happy to stay with you."
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He doesn't know what to think or feel about...all of this. Should he be glad that the origin of the Final Days has been dealt with? Should he resent that his people and the star he once knew will never return? Zodiark: gone; Hydaelyn left to watch over in His place (Yuja has said naught of Her fate). Try as he may, he can feel nothing but smouldering anger towards Her for what She did. Her light ripped apart everything he once knew and scattered it to the winds.
"And here you are, once again - supposedly - telling me of my future and I say: I refuse to believe it. Fandaniel may be a little touched in the head these days but he would never try to bring about the star's demise. We Ascians serve Zodiark, and Zodiark was created to forestall the star's doom. Yet you would suggest that he and his errant creation were the culprits from the very beginning? Bah!"
There's enough truth that he cannot simply dismiss her entire story out of hand. But for Fandaniel's creation to be the reason the Final Days came about? Preposterous.
"That 'test' of his for humanity is farcical as well. Man's measure cannot be taken fairly or impartially when fear rules their hearts."
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"Fandaniel was a little more than simply touched. I'm sure aware that some aspects can be etched upon a soul, things that will follow them from one life to another. Like Azem's desire to help others and experience all there is to experience is etched upon my soul. That moment when Hermes' learned the truth was etched upon his. Possibly made worse by the fact he had then erased his memories. Even as Amon, he tried to find the answers that Hermes sought. It drove him crazy over time and I guess it... broke him. Without the Unsundered around he decided to finally put an end to everything. No more life, no more death, just oblivion."
She lets out a hum. "I won't disagree with you about his test. However, it's what he decided and there was nothing any of us could do to stop him."
She pauses again, brow furrowing as an idea comes to mind. Venat had helped her focus the Echo so that she could access memories in the ambient aether. She still didn't quite understand how it worked but perhaps she could share her memories with someone else if they were willing instead of being forced to experience another's memories.
"Emet-Selch, I could try to show you what I experienced with the Echo. If you'd like, that is."
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He repeats it flatly. It's a good idea on her part, admittedly. There is no way to truly lie with it. He can even help her manifest it if she's serious about showing him her memories.
Does he want to know? That is the question here. Everything that she has said has been a lot to take in already. His mind is whirling. It's all he can do to focus on some singular points of her story and digest them. Fandaniel: the agent of the star's destruction from the very beginning. Hythlodaeus: reunited with him in the aetherial sea. Venat... Venat knowing this entire time and sharing nothing of it with anyone. She let their people die.
He feels another surge of anger towards her - towards Hydaelyn - and takes a deep breath to calm himself, closing his eyes.
"What difference would it make?" he mutters. "If the root cause lies in the past, with Fandaniel, as you claim, then nothing I have done for this star matters. Its destruction was assured long ago and we were only prolonging its death. There...is...no...point."
He doesn't want to believe her. It's easier to think that she's lying to him, that he still has some agency in how events play out. But say he manages to change the future to one he desires - according to her, the star will remain in peril from Fandaniel's creation. They will be trapped, forever fearing that which lies without.
If instead he chooses to let his future play out as-is then it means giving up on his long-held duty. He can't do that. He can't fail his people.
He stands abruptly. "I'm going to step outside," he says stiffly, not really looking at her. "Is there anything else I should know?"
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