Why Call Them Back From Heaven?

[sythyry]

Mirrored from Sythyry.

Me: “Yerenthax? What on wood have you brought onto my ship?”

Yerenthax: “This is Octagons, this Folded, and this Gaming.”

Octagons: “Hello!”

Folded: “Hello!”

Gaming: “I am not Gaming!”

Yerenthax: “You’re not?”

Gaming: “I am Namie, the Namegiver!”

Jyondre: “I thought Namie was buried in the Phallic Graveyard, surrounded by jagged metal plates, scheduled never to be reincarnated again?”

Namie: “I was for a while!”

Folded: “I rescued her though. I killed one of the others, one who had worked hard to condemn Namie to the graveyard, and I took her body and buried it in that circle. And I took Namie into my body, and bore her as a child.”

Octagons: “You what?”

Folded: “Namie and I defied the nameless Elfimel, two against nine hundred, and we won — we WON!”

Octagons: “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Namie: “It was a secret.”

Octagons: “What happened to Gaming? Is she buried too?”

Namie: “No, she just stopped using her name. I think she’s one of the ones who comes and plays games with us a lot.”

I somehow managed to remember that (1) I had a body, (2) it could move, and (c) I could use that movement to express my consternation, indignation, confusion, convulsion, propulsion, and so on.

Me: “I am not entirely recovered from the stunnedness that comes from having found myself in the position of abducting some direct creations of the goddess of healing. For that matter, I am not entirely recovered from the stunnedness that comes from having found myself in the position of stealing sacred relics from her, either. Still, I would like to ask some basic questions.”

Yerenthax: “What do you wish to know, Sythyry?”

Me: “Will this hurt my standing in the Healers’ Guild?”

Yerenthax: “… what?”

Me: “I mean, why did you kidnap these people?”

Yerenthax: “I did not!”

Me: “Well, I certainly didn’t, or not intentionally at least…”

Namie: “We asked to come. We insisted upon it!”

Me: “Well, I suppose that solves one prong of the moral quandary. Yerenthax, next time, though, could you please ask me in advance?”

Yerenthax: “I will see if I can remember that. You were talking to that god, though, and I was worried that she would hear and forbid you.”

Me: “Well, that’s … just as good a reason as with the last stowaways, but at least you told me quickly. Why did you want to leave Heaven?”

Octagons: “Heaven is a horrible, horrible place!”

Namie: “It is dull!”

Octagons: “It has no opportunities for spiritual growth and enlightenment, for the stretching of the intellect, for the mastery of crafts! For anything but an endless and endlessly repetititive cycle of tedious physical enjoyments!”

Namie: “We wouldn’t even know about those other things if we hadn’t had some offworld visitors!”

Octagons: “Take us somewhere else — take us anywhere else!”

Me: “We’ll be taking you to the World Tree, I suppose. What do you think you will do there?”

Folded: “We will live! We will live fully!”

Me: “Oh, really? What did Yerenthax and Jyondre tell you about it?”

Folded: “It is an exciting place, full of adventures!”

Me: “I can’t argue with that. What makes you think you’ll be good at adventures?”

Namie: “… good? …”

Me: “It’s a fairly dangerous place, especially if you’re adventuring. You could get killed… Do you know what would happen to you if you died outside of Heaven?”

Namie: “I suppose I would get buried in your world’s local Phallic Graveyard, and reincarnated in due course … and by someone I have not been reincarnated with a hundred times already! Oh, the excitement!”

Me: “We don’t have any Phallic Graveyards.”

Namie: “You don’t? How do you get reincarnated, then?”

So I explained how that works on the World Tree, and how you lose your whole memory when it happens.

Namie: “But … that amounts to the end of you!”

Me: “Yes, more or less.”

Namie: “Will it happen to us?”

Me: “I have no idea. It’s probably up to Mircannis. She might pick you up and send you back to Heaven. Or treat you like a Rassimel; you look like a variant model of one, or some such. Or anything else she likes.”

Namie: “We despise Mircannis — we revile her! Could not we choose some other god, one of the many who distracted her from her enjoyment of Heaven?”

Me: “I have no idea. The gods are not often spoken with.”

Octagons: “I am afraid!”

Me: “That’s the most sensible thing I’ve heard from any of you. I’m afraid too: afraid that I have not the slightest idea what I’m going to do with you.”

Neither did anyone else. I am nominally making Yerenthax take care of them, since she rescued them, but I’m sure to be busy with them too.

Comments

[bloofox.livejournal.com]

You could point out that they'll have the opportunity to be reincarnated as someone they haven't been a gross of times before, too.

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, I'm having trouble parsing this episode. It's like there's a piece missing between here and the last. Where's Gaming now? How long did this prenancy last?

Very confused.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Octagons: “What happened to Gaming? Is she buried too?”

Namie: “No, she just stopped using her name. I think she’s one of the ones who comes and plays games with us a lot.”

Namie was posing as Gaming, and decided she didn't need to pose as Gaming any more off-Heaven. The pregnancy lasted ... I forget if we've said. A few cycles.

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

Are we sure they need to be in the phallic graveyard to be reborn? The phalli could just be something that grows from the corpse of a dead elfmielf, in which case they'd be able to be reborn anywhere as long as they're buried in fertile soil.

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

Ah, so Gaming was ALWAYS Namie. I thought they were saying they'd rebirthed Namie in the 15 minutes since Thefyf burst through the door.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

We do not know!

[kensan-oni.livejournal.com]

Well, someone needs to find out what magical skills they have! At the moment, we know they are knife weildy, and ... well.. that's it. This does not bode well for survival on the Tree.

[sianmink.livejournal.com]

Also they are likely considerably less durable than a typical worldtree prime.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

But they aren't *completely* suicidal, which puts them one up on the typical scawn.

[rowyn]

And they are, of course, extradimensional monsters who will not be allowed inside of a city.

Could a Kennoc Corpador Spiridor spell tell you what would happen to them if they died on World Tree, Sythyry?

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

Also, aren't they technically monsters? Admitting them to a city could be considered Doorwaying!

[kensan-oni.livejournal.com]

So be careful with them! They might bruise easily.

[kensan-oni.livejournal.com]

They can live with the Tepet! Tepet don't get to be in cities, either, but enjoy the comforts of civilization... assuming they aren't slaves, of course... but still! Tapets!

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

I could certainly manage one to watch one in the course of a death, which is probably a poor idea. With more effort, I could probably watch one's history in a past death, or I could if there were any. The prospects for a future death are harder.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

It does not.

[ionotter.livejournal.com]

Hmmmm.

You now have a serious dilemma upon your claws. Both moral and physical.

I understand that Yerenthax acted in what they believe to be a moral manner, but in the context of Heaven, Heaven is not World Tree. Any dangers in Heaven are self-made, whereas dangers in World Tree will find you on their own.

We shall also soon find out if the Elfimel can survive on Prime foods. And how they fare against disease and other hazards of normal life.

More critically, they will no longer be able to run away from any problems they might have from others. They will no longer be anonymous, nor will they be protected from the interest of a curious-and sometimes obnoxious-world.

So that's the physical dilemma.

The moral dilemma for Yerethrax at the least, and all of you at most, is what you do to help them adapt and live their new lives.

From that standpoint, none save history will be able to judge, once it's past. Much the same way of parent and child.

[rowyn]

I was thinking you could do it in more a "what kind of thing is this body/spirit/mind designed to do in this world?" As opposed to what exactly it does do. Maybe Kennoc doesn't do that.

[chipuni.livejournal.com]

Admitting Vae to a city would be Doorwaying... as well as a Very Bad Idea.

[calamitous-cani.livejournal.com]

Hmmm.
Perhaps the safest course of action would be for them to go straightaway to the healing temple to begin seven years service in return for having the resident God sort that issue out.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

That seven years thing is for Kvarse. The sworn archrival of Lenhirrik, who was heavily involved in Heaven.

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

Are you sure? And argument could be made that they are primes, having been created directly by Mircannis.

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

And what better way to get at Lenhirrik than turning her plant creatures into meat creatures? ;>

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

A weak argument indeed! All but one species created by Mircannis on the World Tree are monsters.

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

I wonder what would happen if the verb gods were to make a new prime species.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

It would be an exceedingly dramatic event indeed.

[bloofox.livejournal.com]

Hunt down the philosophers? They seemed like awfully nice people. I betthey'd be nice to the Elfimel.

[calamitous-cani.livejournal.com]

And aiding in the disruption of the order of a thing cherished by another is not an appropriate thing to do to one's enemy.. how, exactly?
Further, the favor would likely involve changing their affiliation of creator god. Not a thing to be done to a -friend- I am sure.