BBS | Voice

[brynwieldr]

From: Leo
Date: November 17th

[Leo sounds tired as he starts the recording, but this is easier than typing right now. His hands still hurt.]

Now that everyone's had a few days to recover from that disaster, does anyone have any idea what the fuck was going on in that forest?

[He rarely swears, but give him a break here.]

Comments

[kokuyoyo]

[Hey, Leo, it's your favorite person from that mess-]

Should we really talk about that sort of thing on the network....?

[brynwieldr]

[Mental sighs. At least he knows Chikusa is competent, even if a brat.]

And where else are we going to talk about it? This is the fastest way to make sure the most people hear the question.

[kokuyoyo]

In person.

[Obviously.]

But if it affected the Far Shore like this... there's a non-zero chance that someone could listen in on this sort of thing.

[Constant vigilance.]

[brynwieldr]

There's a non-zero chance they could listen in on this sort of thing in person. There's a non-zero chance that people will forget things said in person. There's a non-zero chance that having the conversation recording in its entirety on the BBS will make it easier for people to remember what's said and any conclusions that may be drawn. There's a non-zero chance that people who might know what was going on are still unable to leave their beds and wouldn't be able to make it to a physical meeting, and time may be of the essence.

I was raised to think of all the possibilities and chose the best course of action. For an entire country.

[He can do this all day.]

[kokuyoyo]

....So you couldn't remember to choose to bring a first aid kit to a dangerous area where people have been separated.

[He is never letting you live that down, sir]

Action

[onedrinkwithme]

...have you rested at all?

[Coming from the one beside him and no, he refuses to rest. Fight him.]

[brynwieldr]

No, but only because I have a son to tend to and a beloved who won't stay in bed like he should.

[Glare.]

[onedrinkwithme]

I will be fine. A lot needs to be done and I cannot just sit and do nothing.

[So much work and only one of him. It's like running on auto pilot.]

[brynwieldr]

You were drained by gods know what for days, Aymeric. It will not kill you to sit down for a few hours and rest! If anything, it'll do the exact opposite.

[onedrinkwithme]

I have rested enough.

[He needs paperwork ;;]

And you should do the same.

[voice]

[deniles]

Honestly, you could try to sound less uncomfortable with swearing.

[voice]

[brynwieldr]

I don't swear in public, that's all. It's just the last few days deserved it.

[voice]

[deniles]

Still. You sound like you've never said it before and that's false.

[voice]

[brynwieldr]

And you would know if I've said it before?

[voice]

[deniles]

I live with you.

[arcadianvampire]

[And in return is the sound of a voice who sounds incredibly done with what happened there. Not unlike Leo himself, perhaps.]

I have no concrete explanation for them specifically, but if I were to make an educated guess, it's what humans so often like to do: tread places they ought not in the pursuit of power. Too often do they seek to control powers greater than them. Blasphemy is a way of life for many... such as it was with those cultists, interfering with the very structure of this universe. Though the possibility of them being merely corrupted puppets in a larger play is there, I am not keen on forgiving them so easily for their trespasses.

[His tone's as no-nonsense and dead serious as they come, perhaps a view tempered with experience.]

What troubles me most, however... what were the cultists and their spirit conspirators going to do with all that power they tried to steal?

[brynwieldr]

[A kindred soul. Bless.]

Mm, that's been a sticking point for me as well. That the humans stumbled across a heavenly forest--fine, whatever. I'm human, I know exactly how good we are at finding and poking at things we really shouldn't. But why? Why kidnap and drain so many?

[arcadianvampire]

That I cannot say, I'm afraid. Cults are confounding things, finding cause in all manner of madness. I'm fairly certain there could be a cult for virtually any deranged idea you can imagine.

[He paused to think for a moment, but to Leo's question, he came up empty at first.]

Digging straight into madness is just making me arrive at more questions. Why target gods and shinki alike? What is it that we both have that they cannot get elsewhere, and what can it be used for? And how did mere humans learn to cut us off from our divine power en masse?

...Whatever is behind this, it must require immense amounts of power. And it knows how to defang divinity in the process.

[brynwieldr]

Not just gods and shinki alike--gods and shinki and soulless shinki. Were is just the newer gods and shinki, the ones not native to this world, that'd be one thing. It'd be obvious that there's something about us that they wanted. But soulless shinki are from this world! And usually not nearly as powerful as other shinki. So why them?

[arcadianvampire]

I can think of only two reasons: The first possibility is that they simply cast a wide net, uncaring what they caught in it. The second is that perhaps even the soulless had something of value.

If nothing else, they could be used as bait. Sometimes you use a smaller fish as a lure for a bigger one, like using a sardine to catch a salmon.

From: Thanatos

[trademark_skull]

["Humans somehow got into the forest" was likely an exposition that goes without saying. And they don't really have any idea how they managed to do that anyway. Emizel can assume Leo wanted more of an explanation than that.]

...It looked to me like they were trying to use us as some kind of power source.

[The draining effects from the sigils and those papers. They seemed perfectly okay with luring gods and shinki there and then suck them dry.]

[brynwieldr]

But for what purpose? That's what I don't understand.

[trademark_skull]

Who knows. I don't really understand how humans think. [If they did, their own job might be a little easier before becoming a god.]

But I also wouldn't be surprised if it's something as simple as using to it take over the world or whatever. Why else do it after all?

[brynwieldr]

Spite.

[trademark_skull]

Spite?