(no subject)

[sythyry]

Ridiculous! [21 Hivvem 4261]

Esory and Irigatur and I were discussing Thelvion's spiritual difficulties, over kathia and cheese scones after Enchantment. Three intermediate-year students can, of course, solve all technical difficulties with the afterlife. We decided that:

1. It is ridiculously unlikely for the gods to accidentally get a spirit from one species reincarnated as another. Two of them would have to make substantial, concordant errors at the same time.
2. It is not preposterous that two gods could collude on switching a spirit around, but most likely they would do it to put a spirit in a more appropriate body rather than a less.
3. Gormoror might get reincarnated as Cani or Khtsoyis, or vice-versa. This does not apply to Thelvion.
4. Another possibility is a shifter hybrid. Shifter hybrids are the product of a ritual spell of potential interest to traff-folk: one which allows two (or so) people of different species to have a fertile union. The product of the union will be wrong: it will switch back and forth between the parents' species every few hours. Presumably it has a spirit from one of the two species. Presumably the spirit is compatible with the other. Perhaps, if it dies in the wrong species, it might go to the wrong creator god. Perhaps it will be treated that way. That way any species could get reincarnated as any other. But only a very few people would do so -- shifter hybrids are exceedingly rare. Such people would be interesting, and that more or less excludes Thelvion.
5. Irigatur is cute but unavailable, and somewhat flustered to be outnumbered by out-and-out transaffectionates.

"So he's surely a Rassimel spirit in a Rassimel body," said I.

Esory:"The way you're a Zi Ri spirit in a Zi Ri body?"

Me:"Um ... yes?"

Esory:"The way Noble Honey was an Orren spirit in an Orren body?"

Me:The Blush! (Which, of course, is done by hiding my head under my left wing.)

Irigatur:"What?"

So Esory had to explain my shapeshifting strategems to Irigatur. He was at least as embarrassed as I was. Doomfully cute.

Me:"Well, sure, someone could be wearing Cloak of Another God. But if he were casting that, wouldn't he already look Herethroy?"

Esory:"Well, you're the one taking that advanced class in analyzing spells. What's your opinion? A fur-styling spell, like yours? But his fur is so boring."

Me:"My opinion of what?"

Esory:"The Mutoc Corpador spell he always wears. I couldn't tell much about it, but you've been studying that."

I had, of course, not noticed that he had one. The Eye of Mimizan and Mirizan had, of course, noticed it.

Me:"It's awfully complicated, and permanant, and rather obscured. I wonder what it could be?"

Esory:"Shall we ask him?"

Me:"If this turns into an adventure, I shall not be pleased. It's nendrai day, and that's more than enough adventures for me."

Esory:"Well, it is Thelvion. It won't be much of an adventure, I'm sure."

Comments

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Theory: Thelvion is a bonstable, and hasn't come into his powers yet. }:P

[zeeth_kyrah]

There it is, "bonstable", the one word I can't understand from context. If only I had a copy of that guide that everyone around here seems to have read.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

They're monsters, expert shapechangers who masquerade as and mate with primes, with the kids being bonstables. I don't know enough about their lifecycle to know when the kids find out they're really monsters.

[waywind.livejournal.com]

From the book, I had assumed that bonstables would be born looking like bonstables, rather than their prime parent, and they'd run off somewhere on their own immediately.

It probably would make more survival-of-the-species sense if bonstables didn't give themselves away immediately like that, since it would give away that one of their parents was a bonstable as well, and would mean spending their infancy alone, or at best cared for only by their one bonstable parent. It would be pretty interesting if bonstables spent their youth in a prime form entirely without awareness of being otherwise, not even lying to themselves. It'd mean their bonstable parent could still slink around without giving up a prime persona, if they wanted to keep a single prime persona for so many years, and it would mean the child would be brought up in better conditions than most monsters... and the bonstable kid would gain some character with an identity crisis, and then wrapping up and concealing the crisis in bonstable-style deceit. Hmm... very interesting.

I really don't think Thelvion is a bonstable. If he was one, he wouldn't have given himself away by questioning his species to other people in such an odd way... wondering if he's really some other species is such an obvious giveaway that it goes to the opposite extreme and makes it look like something a bonstable would never do. Then again, maybe a bonstable would question his species aloud exactly for that reason, so... ... ... my head hurts. This is the kind of complex deception that's so frustrating about bonstables, I'm sure.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

OOC: You can buy one from us!