[Open]

[spellcollect]

[ Frieren's mind opens up; as before, on the surface it's a calm, smooth pond. She's not quite used to this, so the connection (at first) is a touch tentative and then as she feels her way forward it opens more until she thinks she's finally ready. ]

I have a question for all of you. And you may consider it a simple matter of curiosity; I won't take offense at being ignored.

[ There's a pause, as if she's collecting her thoughts. ]

How many of you are long-lived species? Or long-lived by virtue of who you are? My kind are rare, even in my world, so I can't assume others will be particularly more common here, at the end of the universe.

[ It's an open question. ]

Comments

[dreamflowers]

Well, I can't speak for anyone else here, but my kind tends to live longer than humans do... when we're allowed to live at all.

[Ouch.]

I'm only half-Aeterna, but supposedly we have a lifespan of about a couple centuries or so, I think. And our ancestors were much longer-lived by thousands of years.

[spellcollect]

Your ancestors sound like my people; we live for quite a long time if we're not killed.

[ There's a flicker of attention there. ]

Being "allowed" to live sounds... troublesome.

[dreamflowers]

Yeah... Guess it has something to do with the bloodline being "diluted" now or whatever. There are ways of artificially extending your lifespan through magic, of course, but it's tricky... otherwise I assume everyone would do it.

[Jade herself is effectively immortal now, even though it's not due to her species and she herself doesn't realize it yet.]

Well, y'know. That's the general sense when you spend most of your life in a country that actively hates what you are.

[spellcollect]

I'm sorry.

[ She can't do much about it, though. There's a brief pause as she thinks. ]

...I've lived a thousand years. I could live another thousand, perhaps. But magic to extend one's lifespan isnt common. Perhaps it isn't even feasible - I've never come across any.

[dreamflowers]

Eh. [Jade just responds with a dismissive, mental shrug that resonates through the connection. The way she speaks of it, the words might as well be coming from a boring tome as opposed to the harrowing experience it actually was.]

Who knows. I can't speak for all worlds, but I know it's a thing in mine. I've met someone who was born human, but lived centuries as a result of their... research. Not to mention the so-called "gods" were likely just Arcanists who found themselves in custody of powerful magic.

[No one's ever outright said that, but the fact they were killed by some rando does make Jade doubt their divinity even more than she already did.]

[spellcollect]

I know of a goddess; her power exists. It's very real magic. I've never spoken to or met her, of course. But elves have been around for a long time - and so have demons. But elves are growing fewer and the demons have been mostly scattered.

[ There's the mental equivalent of a small hum of consideration. ]

So in time I think it will mostly be humans left.

[dreamflowers]

Yeah... As I understand it, there are more legitimate gods in other worlds. I've got no beef with them, I guess.

[Not like the kind she has with the Light-Born of her world, whose ideals had made her life a living nightmare.]

That's more or less the case where I'm from. My kind are few, and are often hunted in most places. I'd gotten pretty good at hiding my ears for the most part, but other traits aren't easily camouflaged.

[spellcollect]

I'm sorry. That sounds hard.

[ It's genuine, although she's always been a bit muted. ]

Most people don't hunt elves where I'm from, but I can still sympathize.

[dreamflowers]

I did what I had to survive.

[Even if Jade didn't always want to.]

In my experience, people are afraid of what's different. If they don't understand it or can't control it, even more so. If my magic hadn't developed more recently, I doubt I'd have lived long at all, let alone past my thirties, so I'm probably more fortunate than others still stuck in my country.

[spellcollect]

Survival is a powerful motivator.

[ She has some experience with that. ]

Are people with magic hunted down where you come from?

[dreamflowers]

Indeed.

[Jade isn't proud of many of the things she's done in pursuit of her continued existence, but there's not much she can do about it now.]

Depends. I know in the Northrealm of my country, both Aeterna and magically gifted people are treated pretty ruthlessly, even more so than what I'm used to in the Southrealm. It's why I never traveled that far north, but I read that it had something to do with the Chancellor not wanting anyone with power to challenge his authority. Y'know, a tale as old as time.

[spellcollect]

The humans in my world used magic to cement their authority and challenge demons. So that sounds a bit strange to me.

[dreamflowers]

Hm. We don't really have demons, as far as I'm aware. Other entities, sure, but "demon" tends to be associated with superstitious nonsense.

Guess it's more literal in other worlds.

[spellcollect]

They're quite real and quite deadly. I've killed many of them.

[dreamflowers]

I usually just kill people.

[Wait. That sounds bad.]

When they're trying to kill me first. Which is... a lot. Sometimes Arcanists turn into monsters and I have to kill those, too. And other things. [You know. Normal stuff.]

[spellcollect]

I try not to kill people if it can be helped.

[ But she doesn't say she never kills anyone. ]

I find that at least most of the time a solution can be found. [ But, you know, that's not all the time. ]

[dreamflowers]

Yeah... I don't particularly enjoy killing, but not everyone is capable of seeing reason no matter what I do.

[She's tried even with a high Speech/Rhetorics check dammit. After a while, she's become kind of become numb to it.]

[spellcollect]

Some beings can't be reasoned with, in the end.