locked to meridian + ota

[warmare]

[Hayame had plenty to say about this disgraceful farce the moment she had regained consciousness... But she waited. She waited, so that her emotions would be as locked down and as under control as she could manage. Until only harsh anger and the burn of judgement come through- at least, for now.

First, she addresses only Meridian.]

I hope you are proud of yourself.

Those of you who have been too weak to commit properly to this cause, content to let those with drive and will do the winning of Oracles on your and your world's behalf.

Those of you who claim allegiance to Meridian but have been content to play "neutral" and hide like a weak little bug in the shadow of those more powerful than you.

Those of you who could not draw a single line in the sand and loved playing friend or whore too much to break off relations with people working to ensure that the lives of everyone in your world are snuffed out permanently.

Those of you who have refused to shatter the shards of our enemies, whining about the sanctity of a soul, even though that is the only way to kill someone properly in this twisted world.

Mourn that sun goddess for the power she possessed that our faction has lost. Mourn the kindness she showed you, if you so wish. But I will impart a lesson unto you- If someone is kind to everyone, then their kindness means absolutely nothing. That empty-headed fool of a woman had her shard shattered by the very man whose shard she protected, after I and another killed him in the labyrinth of the Harbinger Oracle trial. If she had given that foul thing back to us so that I might crush it beneath my hoof, then she would be alive today.

That is what kindness of that nature will reap you. A disgraceful public execution at the hands of a wizened, corpse-gnawing gaki barely managing the veneer of a man.

If you wish to dedicate yourself further to the actual cause you claim to serve, or if you wish to train and empower yourself, I will gladly help you. It would be my honor.

But if your plan is to continue living the sort of shameful existence that helped allow for the assassination of Springstar's Tribune at his own godsdamned home, then either purge yourself of that treacherous weakness... or I will try to find the time in my days to do it for you.

[Maybe this is where she could stop, take a breath... But she does not. The rest, cold and hateful and roiling with anger, is said to everyone, Zenite and Unharmonized alike.]

To all those who still claim allegiance to Zenith... I will not waste breath trying to convince you of anything at all, let alone now, after what your faction has wrought upon countless innocents. Whether you are a poor thing who would abandon every life in your world simply because you were treated badly, whether you are a pathetic thing who cannot muster the will to hope for anything but that sacred bitch on high and a committee of degenerates making a new world for you to exist in, or whether you are a sick thing who delights in watching worlds burn and people die... I, Hayame of Echigo, do not care, and I will not show mercy to one any more than the other.

Unlike, it seems, the many dishonorable among you, I say this to you plainly and clearly.

I will disable you if I see you step foot in Springstar.

I will hunt down your cornerstones and smash them to pieces.

And I will kill you if you put yourself between me and the possibility of returning to my world and my duty.




... Ah, yes. To those of you who have still not chosen a side, even after seeing what has occurred this moon... My advice to you is to stay Unharmonized, to pick up a hoe, and to go tend crops in Alenroux. You obviously lack the determination required for this conflict... and the people require food. Go on.

If you need a recommendation for a farmer looking for labor, I know plenty. Do you fancy turnips, or buckwheat?

Comments

[cyfaredd]

Are these tiresome screeds a weekly thing in this place? Please, someone tell me I can take my name off the mailing list. No?

[ There is a long, drawn out, intentionally exaggerated sigh. ]

I see you're another Iconoclast, too. What a charming introduction.

[warmare]

[... That voice sounds vaguely familiar, but.

Hmm. No matter. What matters is,]

If you cannot differentiate between a warrior dispensing chastisement to weaklings and warnings to her enemies from a rat chittering atop a banquet table about their coming plague, then...

That is a problem you must solve yourself.

Or put it from mind, as I did that gaki's.

[/BLOCKED]

[cyfaredd]

[ ...he felt that. The brief moment of recognition, of the woman feeling a sense of familiarity before setting it aside to lecture further. She must be someone who knew that "other Howl" too. ]

Which one were you, again? The rat chittering to its fellow warriors, or the plague of weaklings chastising her enemies? Oh, and I'll take that advice about the turnips and the buckwheat whenever you like.

[warmare]

Since you are apparently hard of hearing, I recommend bean harvesting.

Husking can be done in a solitary manner out in a corner of the yard, so your impediment will not bother anyone else in the field.

[cyfaredd]

Mm-hmm, yes, I see. [ like he's busy taking notes, but we all know he isn't. ] And what variety would you recommend, specifically? Black beans? Lima beans? Mexican jumping beans, even?

[warmare]

The point is to be useful. Red.

[Because she doesn't fucking know those types.]

[cyfaredd]

Red beans! My favorite color. How did you know?

[ The two of them are awash with each other's indignation, so there's really no point in Howl being so sarcastic... well, except for his own smug satisfaction. ]

And what was your name, fair miss? Hayammie or some such? I'll send a gift basket of my first harvest to you, to prove my usefulness.

[warmare]

[What a fool. She does not bother to answer his question on the providence of her information, because she knows sarcasm when she hears it, but she doesn't grant him the single correction.]

Hayame.

[From now, it better be right, or-]

And, on the off chance that you actually plan to make yourself useful-

Give your harvest to the farm owner it belongs to. I hunt and gather my own meals.

[cyfaredd]

You find time to hunt and gather your own food in between bouts of sanctimony? You're a role model to us all.

[ She's definitely getting a red bean gift basket now. ]

[warmare]

Someone [fucking] has to be.

[She will kick it off her porch.]

[redsoil]

Hello again, Mister Saucy Wizard Howl!

[ OH HEY IT'S THIS GUY

:catbite: ]

They are, especially after a big event or close to an Oracle. Tensions are quite high, so naturally we all have something to declare. Or gossip about. Is it not amazing?

[cyfaredd]

Well. If it isn't the all-powerful dispenser of secrets and wisdom! Good afternoon.

[ As completely unsarcastic and affable as Howl's tone is, that seems to be part of the sarcasm. ]

I wouldn't call this sort of thing "amazing" myself, but hopefully you'll forgive me, being the useless buffoon that I am. I take it you agree with all of that?

[redsoil]

[ set doesn't even think twice about the sarcasm, he goes straight to preening about the "praise". what an actor, what a pair of idiots <3 ]

In a sense, yes. I maintain passionate connections with Zenites, but have no issue with slaughtering them in battle to ensure a victory. It is a natural part of war.

[ Godbrain go brrrrr. Adoring people and killing them are not mutually exclusive; even Quetzalcoatl took this stance. ]

But. Not everyone believes the same, which is fine to me. It takes all types to participate in a proper war — as within one's heart is a great battlefield as well.

[cyfaredd]

[ No issues slaughtering people. Okay, so, another crazy person. Cool, cool. He did declare himself to be a god last time they spoke, so really, it makes sense. ]

Well, at least you're willing to recognize that.

Both this woman and that grumpy old man from last week certainly don't seem to see it that way.

[redsoil]

Mm, they believe in elements of war. I am war, and maintain the bigger picture of it.

[ To a mortal, such vision might seem paralyzing — how does one figure out which direction to go, when one envisions and comprehends the deepest complexity of warfare? Not of battle, but of the entire vastness of motivation, method, manifestation. ]

My priestess is a noncombatant. She shelters under me, because she does not believe in participating in a war against her will. That is my duty, as much as it is to fight to any degree.

[cyfaredd]

You are war?

[ ...what the hell is this guy talking about? ] What did you say your name was, again?

private

[escardos]

Extremists on both sides, huh?

[ he almost sounds a little apologetic, kind of pitying the man. it'd be ridiculous for him to not think that it wouldn't be the case, but for that to come right after the other guy went on his villain tirade... ]

[cyfaredd]

Apparently. [ mental communion shrug. ] Which in itself is not so shocking... I just wish they'd spare me the lectures.

[escardos]

They’re really loud, aren’t they? Their feelings and voices are on stereo.

[ listen, he’s doing the mental equivalent of putting it on as low volume as possible, but even that’s not the same as muting.

he sighs, laughing awkwardly. ]

She sounds pretty convinced about it. It kind of makes me want to keep my opinion to myself!

[cyfaredd]

Never underestimate the value of staying out of things, Flat. Not because you may say the wrong thing, but because in some situations, there's no "right" thing to say. And it's never worth it to try, in those moments.

[ Howl also has a tendency towards weaponized incompetence sometimes, so. ]

[escardos]

Yeah, that's usually where I'd run my mouth and say something stupid.

[ incredible! howl has learned that flat is self-aware ]

But in this case even I can tell that this woman is scary. What's the point of getting mad at your own allies?

[cyfaredd]

Well, you see, she can't control what the rest of us choose to do, or how we feel about what we've been tasked with here. Not just her, but the other militants. So without any authority to force us to fall in line, all they've got is to get mad about it.

It'll work on some people. Perhaps even most of them. But not on me.

[ If there's one thing Howl can be relied upon to do, it's weaseling out of any kind of difficult task or inconvenient responsibility. And he does this very intentionally. ]

[escardos]

That's right! Escape from any boring responsibility you don't want to do!

[ he sounds so EXCITED about that. ]