(no subject)

[sythyry]

The Worst Patients [14 Hispis 4385]

Seventeen wrung-out Rassimel. The plague is more debilitating than death itself, or at least more debilitating than death by having a sword driven through your heart followed by immediate resurrection. Or so my expert informants tell me; I've never done either.

Jyondre said, in Sriniean, "So, my Khtsoyis friend, do you-unhi still expect an attack by a squadron of exhausted limp grandparents and children?"

Grinwipey said, "Nah. It's the smicker-felking surprise I'm worried about. I know these guys have a surprise coming up soon, and I'm a star-stellated dodecahedron stuffed with coriander if my poor innocent little smicker doesn't get felked all the way to Daukrhame."

I looked to Kazrie. "You do have a surprise, don't you?"

Kazrie took a moment to swallow a great cud of dried apricots, and wash it down with a thin and curried broth of cockroaches. "We are a simple philosophical sect, O Zi Ri. You have seen all of us; you have seen our most subtle and dangerous wiles and our wickedest and most devastating arts."

Vae turned a dried apricot into a huge three-headed sixteen-horned bombasticus, with a hollow tail which presumably fired some sort of missile. "Not for a moment do I believe that."

"Even your mighty tail cannot mutate truth to falsehood," Kazrie said.

"Nonetheless, perhaps you could give a more complete account of your lives and your ways?" asked Jyondre. "Perhaps one that explains to some extent why you are living in the depths of the sky, with monsters as your companions and your very foundation? And why you are not welcome in prime cities, for that matter?"

"And how you're gonna pay for all the wizard's spell work that's just saved your gribbulating lives!" added Grinwipey.

One of the other philosophers -- Arvaky, I think his name is -- said, "They do have a nendrai with them, Kazrie. And I doubt they will kill us after working to heal us. It would be a waste of cley."

Kazrie drank more cockroach broth. "Very well. We are a philosophical sect devoted to the proposition that monsters and primes can and should attempt to live together in peace and harmony. This village is an exercise and an example thereof."

Vae turned the table into a swarm of furious flying spatulas. "Not a bit of truth is there in that proposition! The concept is vile, is wicked, is contemptable, is the most wrong thing!"

Doorwaying -- allowing monsters to come in to prime cities -- is generally and sensibly regarded as the worst crime available to primes on the World Tree. Of course these philosophers aren't welcome in civilized places. They are too close to doorwayers for anyone's comfort.

Comments

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

Ah, the looming doom is philosophical and not physical - but no less dangerous for that!

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

They did say they were philosophers, after all.

[rowyn]

See, I knew they were Wrong Folk!

Vae ought to be careful how she uses that word, given how her oldest friend uses it. >:)

[rowyn]

Sythyry-DOOM almost always is!

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

I like these philosophers! Of course, that may be because I am a peculiar sort of monster. It gets lonely living in a world with no magic or willworking and you are the only species of sapient and sentient creature in the whole world! There needs to be more variety... Though hopefully in my lifetime we might be able to create (without magic! oooh...) other sentient things, or uplift animals...

[warphammer.livejournal.com]

Any idea how it compares to immediately-resurrected death by nendrai-zapping? I recall that wasn't terribly fun in itself.

Also, Vae obviously spends a good portion of her time around primes, and while that arrangement is not without trouble, I'm curious why she's so very much against this concept. Hmm. For that matter, I wonder what the opinion of better-behaved monsters in general is towards doorwayers. Or this rather different idea.

[kensan-oni.livejournal.com]

I was about to ask that very same second question!

[mufi.livejournal.com]

Vae is terribly well convinced that she is a terrible person, if a very good monster!

[kobolds.livejournal.com]

I can understand why vae might consider living with primes to be a bad thing (I don't know how she is able to cope with being on an airship with primes) I can see why this would appeal to other monsters.

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

"Perhaps one that explains to some extent why you are living in the depths of the sky, with monsters as your companions and your very foundation? And why you are not welcome in prime cities, for that matter?"

Maybe they're also openly traff minor-noble wizards on Vacation to Sirenia?

[winterbeast.livejournal.com]

I think it was Picasso who said that an army could be held back by another army, but an idea who's time had come cannot be held back at all.
you might as well ask the tide to stay out. or the wind not to blow.

These philosophers are planting thought bombs. lets see what happens when they go off.

[goodluckfox.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure dolphins are sapient. Whale prolly too. And possibly giant squid.

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

Well, dolphins, maybe... though we can't communicate with them that well, so it doesn't REALLY matter too much... but they certainly dont have any culture..

[rowyn]

Sythyry is still welcome in prime cities! More or less. >:)

*laugh*

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Ironic that Vae is the first to object to their philosophy! *ponder* Ordinarily I would say they're right and salute their courage. But on World Tree, all the races are divinely created. It may really be impossible there. I tend to think not, based on assorted examples ... but gods can be devious.

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

Only the decandent ones that turn a blind eye to hir perversions. ;>

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

There's "welcome" and "welcome".

And my active perversions are pretty easy to ignore these decades, unfortunately.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

It does seem like they're the sort of people that might find themselves in Castle Wrong at some point.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Vae's got the monsteritis *bad*. Her creator god messed with her in a variety of specific ways that make primes around her suffer, regardless of her desires.

Sort of like Conlee. Not *quite* as bad as Conlee.

It does seem that there are plenty of monsters that should be just fine living with primes, though -- taptet, mherobump, ororosti, perdithorne, scawn, wherriweffles. Maybe even Bonstables and Cyarr.

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

Yes, but there's also your actual perversions and your rumored perversions. ;>

And one of latter, I believe, is that you and Vae are having a rather "philophical" relationship.