25 Chirreb 4385: Since We Don't Have a Good Plan

[delight-in.livejournal.com]

I stopped paying close attention after a bit because listening to the ghempoch was awfully tedious and my mind wandered.

Actually I started browsing through my scroll. It's just amazing how much weird weird stuff you can find in here and gavinfox had shown me these GREAT writings about extradimensional Locador which were fascinating. They were completely wrong for my universe of course and yet still consistent and neat and I kept wanting to read more. I ran into a dead end though and instead of backtracking I decided to write about the earlier conversation so Boomsy would know STILL NOT DEAD. I found a tree stump out of sight of the ghempoch and made my paws into hands so I could write.

I was reading the suggestions and stuff when Outcast trundled over and sluiced cold water down my back. "Thanks!" I said.

"You were looking a bit dry there," he told me.

I pushed my scroll up to make sure I didn't drip on it. "Uh huh I kinda wasn't paying attention thanks again how's it going with the ghempoch?"

"Badly. Secret is trying to reason with it. She introduced it to Trust."

"... he didn't try to kill Trust did he?"

"No. He has thus far conceded that he doesn't want to kill any particular individual prime. Just large groups of primes. Secret is trying to explain that large groups are composed entirely of individuals."

"... and he doesn't believe her?"

"No, I think he believes her. But he's not persuaded that it matters. What are you up to?"

"Talking to my extradimensional friends about it," I said.

"Oh? What do they have to say? That one who suggested the traps sounded knowledgeable -- Sleeth, was he?"

"Tuftears uh huh he thinks we should mindrape the ghempoch."

"WHAT? Why?"

I shrugged. "I don't know they're from another dimension and they all seem to think Mentador is wonderful for some reason. Maybe Kvarse runs Mentador for their universe?"

Outcast blinked at me as he tried to wrap his mind around that idea. "Is that even possible?"

"I guess? Sythyry went to a heaven Mircannis had made and they only had three gods and they were doing different jobs from the ones here."

From back in the shelter of the trees, I saw Nightbloom beckoning to us so I rolled up my scroll and put it back into its case to keep dry. I let my hands revert back to paws as Outcast and I trotted on all fours through thick translucent pink reeds of undergrowth. We met Nightbloom under the red canopy of the trees. She wanted to know how it was going too. We told her. Nightbloom sighed. "We cannot wait forever. With it trapped like this. Ask Secret to explain. What she hopes to accomplish?"

I ambled back to the ghempoch's side. He was saying to Secret, "They're just disgusting! It doesn't matter how nice a given one or two of them may be, the idea of dozens of them grouped together, infecting the branch with their prime buildings and prime enchantments and prime farms is intolerable!"

"But they have wizards more powerful than a nendrai. Their city walls are practically impregnable. You can't make a real dent in their population. All you're doing is making them angry and hurting nonprime bystanders -- like us norren! -- in the process."

"I am sorry for what I did to your friends, but they should have said something. And if the primes have grown so powerful, all the more reason to attack them now, before they're even more dangerous."

I pawed at Secret as the ghempoch started ranting more. "C'mon we need to talk for a minute. You too, Trust."

We all gathered to talk out of earshot of the ghempoch. His hearing probably wasn't that good with his ears underwater anyway. "I don't see how it's any good trying to reason with him his hatred of primes isn't rational it's probably god-given," I said to Secret. "You can't talk him out of it."

"I know," she said.

"Then what are you trying to do?" Outcast asked.

"Get him to admit that it's irrational and harmful to him. I'm making progress, I think," Secret answered.

"So what if he does he's still going to think Accanax needs him to try to kill us you can't change his mind about that."

"Yes, I can," the norren said. "But he has to want to have it changed."

"But it's god-given you can't convince AGGGHHH you're going to use MENTADOR aren't you?"

"If he wants me to."

Nightbloom hefted her spear. "That's it. I am ending this." She started for the riverbank and the ghempoch.

Secret leaped in front of her. "No! You promised!"

Outcast ran alongside Nightbloom on the other side. "Please, wait."

"And listen to this talk. Of destroying its mind with Mentador?"

"I'm not going to destroy his mind! I'm going to help him get rid of a compulsion he doesn't want anyway," Secret said. "And if you kill him his mind'll be destroyed anyway. How is that better?"

"Better a clean death. Than a half-life. Disfigured by Mentador."

Trust whimpered. "There has to be another way."

I twisted my scrollcase. "One of my friends did have an idea."

Outcast looked at me askance. "I thought they wanted to use Mentador too?"

"Noooooo that was just Tuftsy. And Gavsy. And maybe Siege I forget anyway there was another one with a different idea but um I don't think it's very practical."

Outcast looked at the others. "It's not as if we've any good ideas ourselves. What's this one?"

So I told them.