I suppose that's true. [She lifts her arm, turning it to show a particular fixture to her armor that is used to manifest her shield and mace.] This isn't my power, though. It's borrowed magic, from Dohalim.
[Technically borrowed, but even after leaving his service Dohalim has never asked for it back, and she wouldn't be very inclined to give it back if he did ask. (She does not think he ever would, though.) She's not a thief, though, and she won't take credit for power that isn't hers.]
[ While unfamiliar with the name, that magic can be borrowed from another is. Thus: ] Ah. [ It’s a small, affirming sound in understanding. ] Ours works similarly, where it may be given to another.
[ Anyone he’s ever shared his power with is long dead, but with those he did, it was because he trusted them implicitly. (But even then, trusting another to not turn that gift against the giver didn’t always work with some monarchs.)
If she has been bestowed the magic of a Renan, then it shows she had effectively gained their trust. ] You are wise to wield their power against them. May they never know to sever the tether of power.
Thankfully not against the one who gave it, specifically. [Outside of that one time he lost his mind a bit, but she doesn't like to think about that day.] And the rest could try to take it from me, but they'd meet the business end of my mace before I let them get that close.
[The only one who could might be Dohalim, if he had a very, very good reason for it, but he's the only one who she can't imagine asking anyway.]
[ Somnus’ head tilts slightly to the side. Others… meaning other than the one who bestowed the magic to her, could also take it away?
It seems he’s misunderstood something. The error comes from an assumption on his part, that the rules of sharing magic in his world would be similar to her own, in that the executor would have the sole authority to strip them of magic later. That is clearly not the case. ]
I… see. [ Not like his world at all. He surmises, ] Once the magic is yours… it is yours indefinitely, and they must take it back by force.
Oh, I should explain. The power isn't physically mine, it's infused into an item. A part of my armor gives me the ability to summon weapons, and channel some astral energy into my attacks. It's a Renan technology called astral transference.
[She takes a step back, holding her hand up to call her shield out between them in a flare of blue energy, resting it lightly against the floor. The magic manifests from somewhere on her arm, though as she's not currently in her full armor, the specific object seems to be tucked away.]
Indeed. [ Magic hammer spaces are useful. Never once did he or his men have to concern themselves with carrying cumbersome equipment as they traveled. ]
As you can see... there are few scabbards in this smithy. [ When he first got here, and was still working on trying to use dreamotion to help access his armory, he had a need of one. Not anymore, though. ] Most of our Line had no need of them.
[A long line of armored warriors and unsheathed weapons, all of them on display, no steel or leather protection to hide them. It's how she'd so easily noticed the motif, symbols and sigils carried through the line. The wings. She'd wondered why, but it hadn't been important at the time. Maybe it isn't at all, ultimately. She doesn't know the meaning of Dahnan's emblem, and has never needed to know.]
Yours works differently, then? Sharing it with others, I mean.
[ He nods. ] We are able to bequeath a portion of our power to others.
However... [ He pauses again, searching for how to accurately describe it... and succiently, because she shouldn't have to sit through a whole lecture on how Lucis Caelum magic works when she had only come here to stop by.
Unable to find the proper terms, he raises his hand up, placing his palm loosely to the center of his chest. The fabric of his robes divot where he presses in his fingers, five points around his heart. ] It is not a device, [ He says at last. ] but a tether between souls.
[Her eyes widen; that's not a connection she could ever imagine having, at least not from the context of Renan to Dahnan. If her power had come at the cost of tying her soul to a Lord - even one like Dohalim - she'd have looked elsewhere for strength. Her heart almost hurts to think about it.]
[ At the word, Somnus lowers his gaze. Trust was ideal, yes, but sometimes it was a matter of necessity to give their power to more. ] The receiver forfeits nothing, for to agree is to receive a boon. For those who would give it... [ He shifts.
Somnus frowns. His tone drops in pitch, as if this is a weakness that is difficult to divulge: ] It brings vulnerability. [ Using that power against them, as it were. Or to a lesser extent, being responsible for whatever mistake or misfortune that soldier caused others with that magic. ] For some descendants, the scale was risk versus necessity.... [ Somnus lowers his hand from his chest, looking at her. ] But, indeed, trust was the foundation of forging a connection.
[If he made the wrong call, trusted the wrong person, they could turn that power against him, they could strike at his back before he could think to take that power away. The danger of that kind of betrayal, versus the necessity of a king being guarded... yes, she can understand that kind of risk being taken. Dohalim had taken a big risk employing Dahnans as his guard, as well. And not everyone had wanted her in the guard, either. She'd made them regret - and over time, understand - that her loyalty was not in question. But it had also been too easy for many to believe that Migal had betrayed their lord. So easy that even she had fallen for it. Not all Dahnans praised his changes.
She shakes her head, pushing those thoughts aside. She'd made too many mistakes during that time, but thankfully, betraying the one who gave her power was not one of which she was guilty.]
So that's what you meant... about them knowing how to sever that link. If something went wrong, you could take the power back?
[ Another nod. ] Provided that the monarch knows which connection to sever. [ Which wasn't always the case. As can be easily imagined, if a king or queen had many glaives and one went rogue, they would not know which one cut away from their power. ]
Yet if they slew their king, they, too, would ultimately lose their power, for it was from the king that they were granted it. [ Someone would have had to be really angry for something like this to happen gee
But that's another difference between his family's magic and what Kisara uses. She's willing to fight the Renans, but there is little risk of her losing all her magical augmentations by doing so. ]
Mm... a kind of risk-versus-necessity in its own right. Someone would have to believe strongly enough in it being a just act to make the loss of power worthwhile.
[She glances down at her hand again, the other resting thoughtfully against it. For her, freeing her people would have been a worthy cause, and if it meant losing that power in the aftermath, she'd still have fought the other lords. But she doesn't know what kind of king Somnus is, or was. Cold, certainly, and for all his eloquence he could be thoughtless in how he spoke to people. But he lacked the kind of cruelty she'd witnessed and heard about of the other lords.
There is a certain degree of coldness to casually discussing what it would take for one of his own to murder him, even distantly, so she amends,]
Both situations make for a very ugly reality, despite the power being so beautiful.
[ Somnus sees the amend she makes for its intention, and her discretion is meaningful even if he isn’t taking this personally. Their discussion had been drawing parallels, not comparisons. After all, he had commended her for using the Renans’ power against them in her struggle. Assassins were part of a monarch’s life, with or without shared power.
Perhaps Kisara’s convictions are strong enough that she would relinquish borrowed magic if it meant seeing through her goals. However, she seems not the type to fake trust in order to do so.
Contemplation gives way to a conclusion, one he has already known: ]
Power… some would sacrifice for it.
So, too, are there some goals worth sacrificing power for.
Very true. And neither is guaranteed to be right or wrong.
[All of it is situational, which makes things complicated. A good king could be killed by those with bad intentions. A bad king could be killed by those suffering under his reign. Shades of grey lie in between.
All the more reason that a decision to share one's power requires some thought ahead of time.]
[ Discretion, in other words, is the conclusion. Somnus adds nothing more on this topic, but speaking of using magic in general-- ]
Dreamotion grants more power to all. [ With its efficacy seemingly only limited only by the user's will. It's troubling for various reasons, but he's careful to keep his tone neutral. ] If you are patient with training, you may have any magic of your own.
[ To that, his arms cross over his chest once more. ] The tapirs... have mentioned that such power can leak to our respective Stars. Perhaps this means you will be able to return with it.
[ He had assumed she would want such power to help her cause. Consider him surprised that she even thinks of the potential consequences of it being available.
He had suggested this scenario, but his tone had been at odds with his words, guarded, …because he opposes the idea, himself. ]
Indeed. In the wrong hands, it would bring devastating consequences, even without the havoc of nightmares.
[She nods. It isn't something she'd wish upon her own struggling world, already dealing with the aftermath of defeated lords, lingering tensions, and zeugle infestations. What if nightmare energy meshed with the giant zeugles? That would truly be a nightmare.
There's a slight relief to her posture when he agrees. It wasn't an especially big issue, really, but she wasn't sure how strongly he felt about the concept, and she didn't have the energy for another argument so soon after settling the last one. Disagreements between friends are all well and good, healthy even, but major ones related to the safety of an entire world, classism, slavery? Not the best thing to discuss over wine and chocolate.
Not that she'd expected an argument, or... ah, whatever. She's probably just on edge because of what this place is apparently doing to Alphen, between the strange magic and Shionne's absence, but none of that is Somnus's fault.]
There's still too much we don't know about this world, and its magic. It'd be like adding an invasive species to a suffering ecosystem. It could kill the whole crop.
Edited (i picked an icon and then dw was like nah u did not) 2023-01-09 07:41 (UTC)
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songerein
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[Technically borrowed, but even after leaving his service Dohalim has never asked for it back, and she wouldn't be very inclined to give it back if he did ask. (She does not think he ever would, though.) She's not a thief, though, and she won't take credit for power that isn't hers.]
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[Even if it's still in Renan control, who gets that magic, it's still helped to level the scales somewhat.]
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If she has been bestowed the magic of a Renan, then it shows she had effectively gained their trust. ] You are wise to wield their power against them. May they never know to sever the tether of power.
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[The only one who could might be Dohalim, if he had a very, very good reason for it, but he's the only one who she can't imagine asking anyway.]
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It seems he’s misunderstood something. The error comes from an assumption on his part, that the rules of sharing magic in his world would be similar to her own, in that the executor would have the sole authority to strip them of magic later. That is clearly not the case. ]
I… see. [ Not like his world at all. He surmises, ] Once the magic is yours… it is yours indefinitely, and they must take it back by force.
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[She takes a step back, holding her hand up to call her shield out between them in a flare of blue energy, resting it lightly against the floor. The magic manifests from somewhere on her arm, though as she's not currently in her full armor, the specific object seems to be tucked away.]
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It’s innovative. [ To say the least. ] Is it only tethered to your shield and mace? Or can you place other objects within its magic?
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[She gives it a light but sturdy pat before dismissing it again.]
I won't say it's an easy process, but it sure beats carrying a big shield around everywhere. A benefit you must know well.
[He has a pretty big sword himself, after all.]
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As you can see... there are few scabbards in this smithy. [ When he first got here, and was still working on trying to use dreamotion to help access his armory, he had a need of one. Not anymore, though. ] Most of our Line had no need of them.
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[A long line of armored warriors and unsheathed weapons, all of them on display, no steel or leather protection to hide them. It's how she'd so easily noticed the motif, symbols and sigils carried through the line. The wings. She'd wondered why, but it hadn't been important at the time. Maybe it isn't at all, ultimately. She doesn't know the meaning of Dahnan's emblem, and has never needed to know.]
Yours works differently, then? Sharing it with others, I mean.
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However... [ He pauses again, searching for how to accurately describe it... and succiently, because she shouldn't have to sit through a whole lecture on how Lucis Caelum magic works when she had only come here to stop by.
Unable to find the proper terms, he raises his hand up, placing his palm loosely to the center of his chest. The fabric of his robes divot where he presses in his fingers, five points around his heart. ] It is not a device, [ He says at last. ] but a tether between souls.
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That must take incredible trust.
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Somnus frowns. His tone drops in pitch, as if this is a weakness that is difficult to divulge: ] It brings vulnerability. [ Using that power against them, as it were. Or to a lesser extent, being responsible for whatever mistake or misfortune that soldier caused others with that magic. ] For some descendants, the scale was risk versus necessity.... [ Somnus lowers his hand from his chest, looking at her. ] But, indeed, trust was the foundation of forging a connection.
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[If he made the wrong call, trusted the wrong person, they could turn that power against him, they could strike at his back before he could think to take that power away. The danger of that kind of betrayal, versus the necessity of a king being guarded... yes, she can understand that kind of risk being taken. Dohalim had taken a big risk employing Dahnans as his guard, as well. And not everyone had wanted her in the guard, either. She'd made them regret - and over time, understand - that her loyalty was not in question. But it had also been too easy for many to believe that Migal had betrayed their lord. So easy that even she had fallen for it. Not all Dahnans praised his changes.
She shakes her head, pushing those thoughts aside. She'd made too many mistakes during that time, but thankfully, betraying the one who gave her power was not one of which she was guilty.]
So that's what you meant... about them knowing how to sever that link. If something went wrong, you could take the power back?
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Yet if they slew their king, they, too, would ultimately lose their power, for it was from the king that they were granted it. [ Someone would have had to be really angry for something like this to happen gee
But that's another difference between his family's magic and what Kisara uses. She's willing to fight the Renans, but there is little risk of her losing all her magical augmentations by doing so. ]
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[She glances down at her hand again, the other resting thoughtfully against it. For her, freeing her people would have been a worthy cause, and if it meant losing that power in the aftermath, she'd still have fought the other lords. But she doesn't know what kind of king Somnus is, or was. Cold, certainly, and for all his eloquence he could be thoughtless in how he spoke to people. But he lacked the kind of cruelty she'd witnessed and heard about of the other lords.
There is a certain degree of coldness to casually discussing what it would take for one of his own to murder him, even distantly, so she amends,]
Both situations make for a very ugly reality, despite the power being so beautiful.
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Perhaps Kisara’s convictions are strong enough that she would relinquish borrowed magic if it meant seeing through her goals. However, she seems not the type to fake trust in order to do so.
Contemplation gives way to a conclusion, one he has already known: ]
Power… some would sacrifice for it.
So, too, are there some goals worth sacrificing power for.
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[All of it is situational, which makes things complicated. A good king could be killed by those with bad intentions. A bad king could be killed by those suffering under his reign. Shades of grey lie in between.
All the more reason that a decision to share one's power requires some thought ahead of time.]
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Dreamotion grants more power to all. [ With its efficacy seemingly only limited only by the user's will. It's troubling for various reasons, but he's careful to keep his tone neutral. ] If you are patient with training, you may have any magic of your own.
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[Out of pride and necessity, she still needs to be able to stand on her own two feet.]
I appreciate it as another kind of equalizer, though. Everyone has the potential for it.
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[ --Yet his tone is guarded. ]
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I'm... not sure if what my world needs is more alien magic. Last time, it caused 300 years of war and enslavement.
[And while it might give the Dahnans some much needed power, it could also give Renans more.]
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He had suggested this scenario, but his tone had been at odds with his words, guarded, …because he opposes the idea, himself. ]
Indeed. In the wrong hands, it would bring devastating consequences, even without the havoc of nightmares.
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There's a slight relief to her posture when he agrees. It wasn't an especially big issue, really, but she wasn't sure how strongly he felt about the concept, and she didn't have the energy for another argument so soon after settling the last one. Disagreements between friends are all well and good, healthy even, but major ones related to the safety of an entire world, classism, slavery? Not the best thing to discuss over wine and chocolate.
Not that she'd expected an argument, or... ah, whatever. She's probably just on edge because of what this place is apparently doing to Alphen, between the strange magic and Shionne's absence, but none of that is Somnus's fault.]
There's still too much we don't know about this world, and its magic. It'd be like adding an invasive species to a suffering ecosystem. It could kill the whole crop.
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