<GODKING> for questions about Choose the Fog, contact < Fritvælge > <GODKING> for complaints about Choose the Fog, contact < TRUTH1223 > <GODKING> otherwise have at it.
- GODKING : main handle - Necrophades : "serious" handle - understanding : anon/alias (polite persona) - Fritvælge : for sub-cult business
Also I'm going to bake enough to give at least one free thing to whoever wants it in the 38-8 as an apology for screaming my head off constantly. Honestly no one deserved that. Some of my neighbors have sensitive hearing.
The Ring-Spirit isn't sure why this question sets him on edge with dread, it shouldn't... right? There's nothing inherently awful here. ...Right? Ugh, there's something about it that sets him in edge enough that he feels the need to figure out what, exactly, is creeping him out.
Is it because it'd alert the Pharaoh directly, and presumably only the - no, that part's kinda sweet of him, particularly considering their everything - oh! Maybe it's -!
What Atem gets to experience is the sight of the previously lazing Ring-Spirit abruptly tensing, followed by silence, followed eventually by the hesitant inquiry: ]
So, are you... checking out now? You said the last time you came to you were going on about deadman's switches...
[Atem absolutely thinks he's stepped on some kind of "no, I must be free! I will never be leashed by your computer programs!" chaos thing, when RS tenses and goes silent. He presses his mouth shut, but he stands by his offer, come on, think about it practically--
--and the Ring-Spirit gets to witness Atem's abject confusion and surprise when the question is absolutely not what he expected.]
What? No! I'm definitely present. Full manual control!
[And, actually, he'd be not just worried but a little bothered if someone came up to him inquiring about his wellbeing and then tuned him out.]
Besides, an important conversation like this is no time to check out. I want to remember your answers! It'd be annoying for me to have to ask you to repeat them later.
[ The Ring-Spirit misunderstands, assuming Ryou means his screaming back on the fourth, and... well, it takes effort not to make a crack about Ryou "screaming his head off" "because his head was off".
Enough effort that the Ring-Spirit never does respond here. And then they fight and the cardamom buns are forgotten as well. rip. ]
[ The Ring-Spirit shifts on the couch, suddenly lowkey antsy. He doesn't like the question, and he can't figure out why not. ]
...Why do you keep assuming I'll get in trouble after checking out? Usually that's a way out of problems...
[ The Ring-Spirit, while uneasy, seems to genuinely be trying to understand something. His reply could be taken as griping, and in a way it kinda is - but also: he doesn't know why he even wants to gripe. That he's trying to piece together. ]
[That makes two of them made uneasy by these questions. Atem can't imagine this as a way out of problems, because considering his experiences in Ryslig, if he ended up in a chimney, it wouldn't just fix itself. He'd be in for horror.]
What kinds of situations does it usually happen in?
[ The Ring-Spirit makes an exasperated sound. As far as he's concerned, that last question is just the first one again: he comes back when he's not in trouble anymore. ]
If I died while checked out, I'll just never know.
Might've already happened, who knows. [ He shrugs . ] I sure don't remember how I got back to Bavan after the thing exploded out of me at that ski lodge. That one's a good candidate for "maybe I died, maybe I checked out" - and showcases how little the distinction matters.
[ He scowls at Atem briefly, then shifts on the couch to get comfortable again, laying his head back down and pointedly closing his eyes. ]
That's just how life works. Shit happens, eventually it stops, everything keeps going, and no one cares.
[Goddddd okay he's gotta just compartmentalize that bit about the ski lodge, move right on past that, make like Elsa and let it go--]
You're not concerned about losing memories?
[Because this guy is.
The idea of just....not remembering the bad things that happen to you? Tempting. Imagine, if he just didn't have to experience his own suffering. If he could just...make it stop, in a way that mattered to him.
But the cost, and the risk, they're way too high. The cost of potential lost memories, and the risk, of...hurting someone he doesn't want to hurt. Or not helping someone he could have helped. Someone might need him, and he might not be himself enough to realize it. Not acceptable.]
The Ring-Spirit isn't sure why, but the whole concept of a program that tells people when he's out is the most upsetting thing he's had to think about in a while. Which considering the current state of his former landlord? Yeah. He knows Atem meant well though, so as long as the subject's actually getting dropped... ]
If I need it, or you, I'll ask.
[ That this is poor phrasing for genuine gratitude does not occur to him. His still-annoyed tone doesn't help either.
He can't truly sleep without using a certain spell on himself, but he can still doze fitfully, and he's drifting into that. He mumbles the rest: ]
...You or him need me, I'll come too... y'can ask...
[They both know and trust that the other means well, and that's what keeps them both from bristling, from this turning into a fight. Atem will take a willingness to ask for the dead man's switch if it's wanted; he certainly wouldn't force someone to take it if it wouldn't be used.
And, what the Ring-Spirit follows it up with confirms that Atem's gut was right. He shuts his own eyes.]
Go look at it. Right now. She did our job for us, it's amazing. There is all kinds of leverage we can eke from this. After all, nobody's plugged a drain with YOU!
[ If the Ring-Spirit doesn't reply within like fifteen minutes he will also receive: ]
[ It's at least thirty minutes before the Ring-Spirit replies, so Marik's little post-script definitely makes it in. ]
don't phrase it as "well WE haven't been smited yet, therefore". focus on the fact that Tage was just *that* out of line, that even the Fog couldn't stomach it. she's not usually much for smiting.
some interesting points scattered in there.
[ The Ring-Spirit doesn't mention either of his contributions to the discussion. If Marik wants to dig for them, he'll have to actually go digging. ...Marik may or may not be aware both of those handles are the Ring-Spirit, a fact that the Ring-Spirit gives no fucks about. ]
Yeah. That Necrophades fellow really knows his divine stuff. He should share everything he knows with our group.
[ does he not know or is he being an ass
the eternal question with marik ishtar ]
You raise a good point, though. Their chances of being made monsters are slim but they're a darn sight higher if they aren't going out of their way to upset their benefactor.
Do you think her turning them into monsters is possible?
[ asking for the good of the cult and not at all for reasons of his own nope nopedy doodle ]
[ Is he still being an ass if Marik doesn't know? ]
I think the best thing to tell them is to work on shedding the humanity from their souls, so that when they die they're *come back* as monsters. emphasizing that *trying* to die too soon decreases the likelihood they'll be ready yet.
she might be able to change them. it also might not take right. humans *have* become monsters in the past, but it was never for long; either the change wore off or they died soon after. I think those times were the results of human experimentation though, so the lack of their having *permission* may have played a part in the difficulties...
[ Oh, did he not mention before that there is precedent for local humans changing? So sorry, must have slipped his mind~
...It actually did slip his mind. He was in a bad place the last time this came up. ]
And dying in the attempt wrecks the point. I'll work on humanity-purging exercises.
I don't suppose anyone who's worked this angle in the past would be amenable to joining us.
[ Some of their members are a little more devoted to this than others, after all. He's pretty sure Priscilla is fronting what she kins, but on the flip side....
Well, on the flip side, he nearly had to use Noa's bath today because Splot wouldn't leave Marik's. "Dissolving practice." ]
[ MMMMMM... there might be some research left somewhere in the poachers' hideout down in the sewers, but... well, for personal reasons, he'd rather not go check. (They'd tortured him down there, those are the personal reasons.)
Marik's currently got the right idea for their group though, the Ring-Spirit approves. ]
sounds good.
as for previous researchers joining us... doubtful. but it's worth looking into further.
I believe there have been attempts in the past to "cure" monsterdom as well. no idea if anything substantial ever came of it, but there *might* be something from that research we could use. also worth looking into.
[ Says the man whose first plan upon arriving was "somehow manage to not turn into a monster", and his second plan was "stop being a monster as quickly as possible." We're on plan like. Sixty-two or something, now. His brain is in constant flux. ]
[On the night of December 24 the Ring Spirit will find a neatly wrapped package by his room with a small card that simply reads:]
Happy Nattenfest thief, Altair
[Inside is a nice wooden box with a painted chess set inside. The wooden edge of the chess board is painted to look like gold with notches along the edge like those in his millennium ring. The gold continues with the checkered design of the wooden board, the gold replacing the usual white squares. The black pieces are painted with a void like mix of black and deep purple not sparkly purple and the white pieces have a feathery look to them. The coloring symbolizes both sides to the Ring Spirit's puzzle, his dark past as a chaos god and the life he has worked so hard to make here in Ryslig.]
Inside is a new set of lock picks because she thought something better made for his hands would be nice. Next there is a warm looking coat made for a Harpy to comfortably wear.
The last thing is a set of tiny heavy metal figures that look like they would be the right size for an 8-person Monster World party. She had tried to get as many as she could to look like races from the game. Annie thought it would be fun! ]
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