INTRO LOG #2

[abraxasmods]

Intro Log #2

It has been two months now since the initial group of summonings first took place. Castle Thorne, or at least the part above ground, is buzzing with a vibrant air of hope following the 'success' at the Singularity. Eager smiles and excited chattering are to be found in nearly every corner of the castle and surrounding town. The honored guests may find grateful looks turned their way more often than not. A new and brighter day seems to be dawning on the kingdom.

In the dungeons it's a different story entirely. The mood is somber and uneasy. The prisoner taken for trial has yet to return, and no word has come regarding her or her fate. There has been no mention of any further trials as of yet and guards seem to have little patience for unruly behavior or even conversation. Some seem to not even look at or acknowledge the prisoners at all.

[ Feel free to continue threads from the TDM here or start your own! As cell and room assignments will be short-lived due to this month's event, you're free to assume whichever cellmates and roommates you like instead of officially signing up as long as there are ICly no more than four people in a cell or room at once. ]

Comments

[coerthantorment]

[It still somehow manages to catch him off guard.

Estinien tenses as Solus makes his declaration, taking a compulsive step towards the bars as if reacting to an instinctive desire to attack. His teeth grit, his eyes narrowing. No wonder he felt nothing for the death of his own kin.]

Ascian.

[His voice is a growl.]

I'd thought we were rid of your kind.

[unnecessaryflourishes]

[No wonder indeed, and he shows no more concern over the way Estinien steps closer as if to attack. Even were it not for the bars standing between them, he has little enough to fear... or would not, were it not for the fact that his aether reserves are - apparently - still recovering from being summoned to another world. But he is hardly about to mention that, and never mind offering anything that would let on to it by other means.

(And he would be lying to say that the reaction is not telling, even as his stance shifts ever so slightly. As if he's almost relaxing, now that it's clear that Estinien knows the truth of who - or at least what - he is. He might certainly enjoy playing at any of the people he has been, but it is more comfortable to be himself.)]

I am not the one responsible for anyone's appearance here. Least of all my own.

[He, after all, would have been perfectly content to let his final end remain just that - an end.]

[coerthantorment]

[It takes a few moments, but after his initial gut response, Estinien carefully works to contain his emotions. He's heard of his behavior on the First, mostly from Alphinaud, but Himeka has been scant with any details. It was the same thing as usual, it seemed - Ascians working to kill hundreds of thousands all for the sake of their 'Rejoining' or whatever the fuck.

He knows there was some sentimental reason for their various attempts at xenocide, but having missed that entire ordeal it's hard for it to impact his existing distaste. He's not Himeka, after all. If it were his choice, he would rather end the Ascian threat for good, and without beating around the bush.

As it turns out, though, that's far from their most pressing concern as it stands.]

I didn't think you were. From the looks of it, you've shed your effects as much as anyone else.

[He scoffs.]

How does it feel to be at the mercy of a higher power?

[unnecessaryflourishes]

[There are more than a few reasons for them to have been causing the various Rejoinings, it's true. Some more sentimental than others, but for all that he is largely willing to explain his actions (albeit through the lens of his own experiences and beliefs) neither are they something that he is much inclined to address without their being good reason to. And while he cannot deny that knowing more of the truth may have swayed the opinions of at least some people, none of them are Estinien.

More immediately relevantly, however, the conversation is not the sort that seems like it might easily lend itself to such conversations, regardless of how useful he has found them in the past.

And even though it is something of an annoyance to dragged somewhere against his direct will, it is no more so than the loss of his clothes... or so he certainly takes pains to imply, given the shrug that he offers in response to Estinien's comment about having shed his more customary effects.]

Ah, so I see you don't know the whole of it. I had wondered about that.

[The tone of his voice is quite entirely too smug by half. Taunting, almost, though by his standards it's a relatively tame one.]

[coerthantorment]

[Estinien can only shrug in return. He's not about to beg this man for details if he doesn't have to - though he'll certainly have some follow-up questions for Himeka. Less than begging, though? No reason not to try.]

I might ask: 'what is there to know?'

[Ascians are smug by nature of their very existence, and knowing that they see themselves as the true people of their shared star does little to dissuade that impression. Estinien isn't particularly interested in being regarded as lesser, or having that be used as an excuse to slay innocents.]

If there are details you'd like to share, you have a captive audience. If not, I am happy to assume your interests are ignoble as ever.

[unnecessaryflourishes]

[Truth be told, follow-up questions may still be a good idea. Emet-Selch may be reasonably inclined to offer fragments of the truth, when it suits him, but even then he is not above manipulating and adjusting how much of the truth he offers all at once, should it prove beneficial to his desires. (That and he has quite simply become used to not offering the full and complete truth, over the long millenia that have made up his life.)]

More than you might think. Though I will grant that Lahabrea would not have been the most inclined to offer such explanations.

[Nor would Igeyorhm, for all that she had largely been brought on to help keep Lahabrea in check, as he understands matters.]

Tell me. What do you know about Zodiark?

[He suspects he knows the answer. But at the same time neither is he particularly interested in cutting immediately to the heart of the matter.]

[coerthantorment]

[If Emet-Selch is prepared to talk without being a pest about it, Estinien figures he may as well ask his questions. Though, it turns out that to even begin, he's the one that needs to answer a question.]

The being of darkness that Hydaelyn was created to combat. [He lifts his shoulders into a shrug.] And a primal as well, apparently.

[Not too surprising that it turned out things were primals all the way down.]

[unnecessaryflourishes]

[He may not truly be capable of being not a pest. But he is, at least, willing enough to only be minimally so for the time being. Enough to explain matters to some degree, and that is likely the best anyone is really going to get from him.]

Indeed. The very first primal to ever exist.

[A pause, as much for dramatic effect as it is to give Estinien a moment, should he require it.]

I believe I needn't tell you what happens to those who seek to summon a primal? Regardless of the intentions of those summoners?

[coerthantorment]

[He shrugs his shoulders.]

You become its slaves, I assume.

[He's seen it enough times to know. He doesn't seem convinced by this logic, though. Not with the way it's being presented.]

Yet you seem strangely self-aware for someone acting against their will.

[unnecessaryflourishes]

We are bound to His will, yes. But do not presume us to be like the thralls of the lesser primals with which you may be familiar. Even were He not bound, Zodiark remains in a league above those commonly summoned in Eorzea.

[With... good reason, admittedly. But the reason why summoning is as prevalent as it is in Eorzea is not something Emet means to address.]

Nor is His will - his desire - so different from our own. We created Him, and so too did His intent mirror our own desires. Surely it is not so hard to imagine such a situation would lend unique clarity to the matter?

[coerthantorment]

That's what they all say, isn't it? That their purpose for their godly summoning is unique in its urgency, its clarity of purpose...

[He shrugs his shoulders. If the Ascian isn't trying to dodge responsibility with this revelation, he's honestly not sure why he brought it up. Maybe he's going somewhere with this.]

Is there a point you're approaching?

[unnecessaryflourishes]

[Had he the inclination to, he could seek to explain further. To mention the crisis that had befallen their world; the calamity narrowly averted by their attempt to give the very star itself a will of its own. He does not. There is no reason - Estinien has made his opinion clear enough, and Emet-Selch is not interested in belaboring that particular point much further. Instead, he simply offers a shrug before continuing on to the rest of his intended point.]

Tempered as we are, could we not already be said to be acting at least partially at the whim of a "higher power," as you have put it?

[coerthantorment]

[There is much of this he believes himself to already know, which may lend itself to his lack of urgent interest in hearing more. Ultimately, though, Emet-Selch is not wrong - Estinien does have his own interpretation in mind, and it would be difficult to shake him from it with mere words.]

Ah.

[So this was all about that first comment he made, then. Here he'd thought it was going somewhere other than idle pedantry.]

I hadn't known you felt so put upon in the service of your god. I had thought being drawn here would be meaningfully distinct, given your freedom of movement in and about our star.

[unnecessaryflourishes]

[Unfortunately, "idle pedantry" is one of Emet-Selch's favorite pastimes. Right alongside being cryptic and unhelpful at the best of times. But at least it's a relatively harmless pastime, compared to some of his others.]

I did not claim to be inconvenienced by that which He has asked of us. I merely wished to point out that neither can this be said to be the first time I have been called upon to act in the service of another power.

[A shrug, and a pause which he holds just long enough for it to be properly dramatic before he speaks again.]

Although I will admit to a certain amount of annoyance in being dragged quite so far from the world we would otherwise hail from.