kenoscomm | LOCKED TO MERIDIAN

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LOCKED TO MERIDIAN

[Claude's communion prescence has always been like a summer breeze; warm, easygoing, albeit difficult to read before it moves on. Now it has more of a brittle, bitter quality, like a looming dust-cloud he has to hold at a distance. There's no going back from this point when he knows things will only escalate from here, and so now seems like an important time to address his fellow Meri.]

The fight for the next Oracle will be on us soon. The Tribune may have been slain, but he entrusted the future of the worlds to us. Though he won't be able to help us see this through, we can still fight for him, and all the others we've lost along the way. We can fight for Springstar... and we can fight for Quetzalcoatl.

[There's a brief pause on this point. Her death deserves respect and acknowledgement, and she may not be the last to meet such a fate before the fighting is over.]

...We'll fight for your homes, too. After all, our worlds aren't that different, right? They might be flawed in their own ways, and there might even be some of you who would rather stay here when this is done. But every world and the life on it is precious, and it beats whatever phony world Yima and her followers come up with.

Speaking of Yima: I've discussed this with a few people already, but I suspect she's still alive. When the Blight almost destroyed Kenos, somehow she was still around. When I asked her about it, she said she wasn't bound by time like a normal person is. She can exist in different times and different places simultaneously; I don't know how it works, but maybe she even foresaw this attempt on her life before it even happened.

That said, it's just speculation, so we might as well play dumb and behave towards Zenith as if we're convinced she's dead for now. It'll be easier for us that way.

[Others have probably arrived at a similar conclusion, perhaps people among Zenith's ranks too, but it bears saying, particularly for those newly arrived to the conflict.]

Anyway, enough about her -- how about we use this opportunity for a little strategy get-together? We have a few new faces around, so feel free to introduce yourself and your capabilities.

For those of us who have been around longer, feel free to toss in an introduction too. More importantly, share what you know about Zenith and its current capabilities, in combat or otherwise. Any insight into their current thinking would be useful right now, too. What's their morale like? We know by now that some of them really hate our guts, and I wonder how much their desire for revenge is going to play into the next battle...

[He sounds casual, almost flippant, but there's a serious point in there he's sure he doesn't need to overstate: the more loyal Zenites are going to have some serious motivation in the next battle to get back at them, whether they believe Yima is gone or not.]

Let's not let our own judgement be clouded by revenge, even if we've sustained losses. We need to go into this with a clear head, looking toward the future.

Oh-- on that note, Hayame wants to speak with some of you about some further strategising either before or after the Oracle. Sorry that's a little vague, but I'm sure she'll talk to you about it properly when the time comes. For now, let's just focus on one thing at a time.

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[He is the white noise in your walls, that's how he feels in the Communion, just shy of obtrusive and lurking on the fringes. He observes other people introduce themselves, and feels like people are being rather loose and fast with their capabilities. He understands that they're all allies, but still, just as many are strangers, in a way.

So, in short, succint words, he introduces himself thus:]

Byleth Eisner, mercenary. Swordsman and practitioner of magic, with the ability to shapeshift into a draconic form. I am also an avid writer of romance stories.

[One capability is not like the others.]

You are!?

[ clearly one of these is more important than the other.

actually, two. ]

What kind of romance? Interspecies? Tragic? How big is the dragon form? Can you shoot fire?

Oh, yes, interspecies! My most recent was the coupling between a siren hellbent on revenge and a psychopomp that fell in love with the siren upon first sight. While I enjoy conventional romances, I find myself more drawn to those that many would deem 'undeserving' of such things, to show that one does not have to be socially acceptable to enjoy such things... or perhaps not enjoy. Love takes on various forms, be it toxic, pure or dangerous, after all.

[Ahem! It seems he's quite passionate about this...]

In any case, regarding the dragon form: it's approximately 7ft at the shoulder, and while I couldn't breathe fire initially, I'm now able to fire a condensed magical beam. [Lasers, basically, no I am not kidding that's how Fire Emblem dragons roll] It's incredibly draining, though...

[Beat.]

I still can't fly, though. [sulky...]

Oh that’s incredible! Both the stories and the dragon, I mean. Even those that aren’t humans deserve to be loved, and even toxic romances can act as a reflection of society and its flaws. That’s why pieces like Beauty and the Beast are so popular!

[ sure, he figures that this is more up his alley, but flat does also prefer stories surrounding non-humans, despite being a human himself. ]

And don’t feel discouraged! Even if you can’t fly, a laser beam is intimidating enough. [ he hums, thinking. ] Does it spend your magical energy?

[YOU GET IT!!!! His mental presence is just pure "byleth 🤝 flat" for a hot second.]

Ah, yes, I assume so. It's possible that I'm simply not... built... to harness that amount of energy in such a unique way. It's different to casting a spell, and I'm mostly self-taught...

[There's no Nabatean here to teach him how to properly shoot a dragon laser out of his mouth :\ he has to figure it out all himself and almost give himself throat burns when he made the mistake of inhaling mid-beam (the less said about that the better)]

That means that you would probably need to find a way to process energy in a different way.

[ flat has to sit and think about this, but without a visual example, it’s difficult to make a plan. ]

Because right now it sounds like you’re trying to run an airplane on car fuel and that really doesn’t work for a long time.

Run a... "eh-play-ne" on "kah" fuel...?

[He's from (a world forced to remain at) medieval times so he's literally just 🧍‍♂️ right now trying to understand what those are. While he may've come across those terms in books, he's only ever read them and never heard them aloud, so he's not making the connection here (and even then, he just dismissed 'airplane' as a very bizarre flying mount like a pegasus or a wyvern and 'car' as a magically powered cart).]

Edited 2024-03-08 20:25 (UTC)

....................

[ flat is a little dismayed at this for a second. how many people here don't know about modern things like movies, video games, or cars? he's certain that one good charlie chaplin movie would move the hearts of people as any rousing speech.

anyways, ]

They're modern transportation machines. Way faster than any horse! Do you guys not even have trains?

...no, we do not.

[Other worlds were so strange, so interesting.]

For transportation, we use mounts. Mostly horses, but when the terrain is difficult pegasi or wyverns are used instead. There are also warp spells, but they are restricted by range and the strength and skill of the mage, so it's not something that can be used in a cross-continental fashion...

[Unless you're a Slither, that is. Bitches be teleporting all over the shop (and have intercontinental ballistic nukes and an underground rave chamber but anyways).]

But returning to your... turn of phrase. You're saying that I'm attempting to use... a spell with an inferior energy source...? [He's guessing.]

Warp spells... no, that's definitely not something we have. So I think that we're even!

[ that sort of thing belongs closer to the realm of the Second Magic, something that no mage can do in flat's world. even himself, as heretical as his own magecraft is, has to abide by the rules of the world. in other words, no warping. ]

Something like that? Like, obviously your dragon takes much more magical energy, but your body's used to absorbing energy at the pace that a human mage needs. So you'd either need something that's more refined... or you'd have to learn how to suddenly start absorbing larger amounts of energy when you're in that form.

I think, at least!

I see... that sounds logical, and gives me an idea of what the main issue may be...

[His Crest Stone was likely the source of his considerable (to a human) magical power, but he could admit that he was only using a tiny percentage of its power, if what Sothis said was true about her original capabilities. If he could unlock more of it, he could theoretically draw upon more magical energy... but with that brought risks. It did function as his heart after all, and there was a chance of it going out of control and turning him into a Demonic Beast as well. Hm...]

Not that it brings me closer to a viable solution. I'd rather not accidentally transform myself into a Demonic Beast by recklessly meddling with my- ah, thing. Magical energy.

That's true...

[ hmm... ]

What about only transforming parts of your body? Kind of like...a partial transformation? Have you tried that?

...I haven't.

[It never even crossed his mind. He wasn't even sure if he could do that? With demonic beasts, they simply transformed in one big go, and back in Fodlan, when Sothis had informed him that he should have the innate ability to tap into his Crest Stone and transform, she always explained the shapeshifting from one shape into another. No partial transformations.]

I'm not quite sure how I would go about it. It's very... instinctive, the shapeshifting.

... Byleth. This is not the arena for your... authorship.

But what if the next Oracle is decided by a writing competition?

What if it is decided by who can carry the most people at one time?

Come now.... Surely that will not be it...

[Famous last words???]

You never know. The trials have been different each time...

[It's best to be prepared for anything. Writing competitions, Kenos's Strongest (Wo)Man, Extreme Karaoke...]

But they have still pitted us against each other, something life or death.

How are we to do that with writing? By paper cutting each other?

Poetry battle.

I said "life or death"... Not "life or embarrassment at court".

Clearly you haven't witnessed two bards conduct a poetry battle, before.

I somehow cannot seem to imagine someone dying over poetry.

Swooning, maybe.

Some bards become very defensive over their craft. I have seen knives drawn. A lute, as well, can be a very dangerous weapon in the right hands....

... It sounds like watching two incompetents having a slap fight.

Some find that entertaining.

[Like the mercenaries Byleth grew up with...]

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warmare - 2024-03-18 08:44 (UTC) - Expand

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