"I'll pass." Or, you know, just half a second. "I've got other things to attend to." Like the pursuit of magic, making sure he gets stronger than the others, calling his mother to talk about her sister-in-law -- things that aren't participating in weird games run by strange ladies sitting blindfolded at judges' desks.
"You cannot," she says. "Having been drawn into Liminal Space, you are now a Traveler. As such, you must be Chosen by own of the Arcana still in play."
He's about to open his mouth, another refusal already on his lips - and then his brain ticks over. A 'Traveler', one of a plural. So then...
"How many others have you dragged into this?" The answer had better be none. His hand's already curling, hidden behind his elbow. His sword would normally be just one conscious tug away; if need be, he'll try going for it.
"I did not drag you," she says, in a calm, measured tone. "The mechanisms set by Fortuna collect individuals of some degree of importance from the worlds, their selection governed by both chance and luck. I merely selected you as my Chosen." There is a short pause before she adds, "You have a friend amongst the Travelers, albeit not one of my Chosen."
His interest catches at the mention of a friend, and the information is quickly stashed away. Whoever it is, they can probably - probably - look after themselves. But if it's someone like Elena...
"Is Fortuna one of your Arcana?" Or have they just rebranded the term 'we don't know what's going on' to something more appropriately mystical and ominous?
"Was," she corrects. "Fortuna perished some time ago, but the mechanisms she constructed were left behind. As with all things governed by Fortuna's idiom, we remaining Arcana understand them imperfectly at best."
"I see..." Well that does rather reduce the necessity for a fight. "So you're as trapped in this as anyone else."
He doesn't look away from her as he thinks, lips drawing tight. Well, so long as they're all in this together... And if it's true, then there are other people here somewhere that need saving. He can't turn away from that.
"You may call it that if you wish," she says. "Circumstances made it necessary to begin this round of Synodiporia. Further circumstances made it even more necessary that we keep playing. It would be difficult to stop in any case. We must continue until one of us achieves the World."
She pauses briefly, as if in thought. "Synodiporia is what we call it. Walking together. Fellow Travelers, one might say. For you, it is the Mystic Journey--one might also call it the World Series, although perhaps it would be easier if we just referred to the third phase by that name. It is a battle of ideas.
"You, the Travelers, visit other worlds to solve problems. We Arcana have ascertained a number of worlds that have problems that must be solved. When you act within one of our idioms in doing so, it strengthens us.
"The first phase of Synodiporia contains the practice Jaunts. It is for you to learn how to play and us to relearn. The second phase is when we determine if we are qualified or not to play in the last phase. This is the phase that we are now upon. Those Arcana such as I who have qualified for the final phase are pitted against each other in arranged tournament brackets, until only one remains to achieve the World."
There's a lot going on there, and Yakumo listens with a frown as he wraps his head around it all.
"It's not easy to get my head around all of this. To make sure I've got it clear... We're trapped here by mechanisms that Fortuna, deceased among you, put into action. Necessity has dictated that you all begin this... 'Synodiporia'--" the word is pronounced carefully, foreign on his tongue. But he's fairly certain he's got it right. "--where people, selected to operate on your behalves, are sent to various worlds in an attempt to solve problems there in ways that are characteristic of the Arcana they're representing, in order to prove the strength of that Arcana's ideas and advance them into the next round?"
He's fairly certain he's got all that in order. "What happens when one of you achieves the World?"
"They are reflected throughout reality," Justice says. "A cosmic shift in which the worlds are brought closer in line to their idiom. Fortuna won the previous round. Our current reality is thus one in which chance and luck are primary. Too, she set the rules, conditions, and actions that govern this round. The World grants power, primacy, and possibility. For instance, should I achieve the World, I would first use the power therein to remake our fallen siblings. I should then use another share of it to return Travelers to where they wish to go and to aid my Chosen. Finally, I will use the balance of remaining power to strike as deep a blow as I may against the Elder Gods."
He could really use a notebook here. Or a couple of his teammates to help split the information digestion.
"Achieving the World recreates reality in the winner's image..." How long has this cycle been going on, exactly? He'll have to remember to ask soon, but first;
"What relevance do these 'Elder Gods' have to all this?"
Tact and his duty to get to the bottom of things battle, and duty quickly wins out. If Justice wanted the former, she should have chosen Nagi or Kinji.
Fortuna he understands, Hoshiko is likewise easy - there's not much else 'child of the stars' could represent. But that's about as far as his knowledge can stretch.
"Killing the 'Elder Gods' or... dealing your blow to them - what effect would that have on these games? Would they then cease, with all your siblings permanently restored?"
"It would give me great personal satisfaction," she says. "They are a blot upon the manifold realities.
"This round of Synodiporia will have finished, yes. But I cannot guarantee it will never start again. We are not mortal, but it is all too possible for us to perish, given the right circumstances."
"They are foul beings," Justice says sternly. "They should not be permitted what license they have. Unfortunately, they are under normal circumstances more powerful than we Arcana. It would need a large subgroup of us to defeat one of them.
"Thus, my need for the World to correct that power imbalance."
Alright let's go. Bring on the mechas and power-ups.
"How many of you would need to work together to accomplish it?" Yakumo no-- "With, or without the World?" In other words, do they actually have to wait for this game to finish... or can they just rustle up some Arcana and start the fight early?
"Yes," she says. "It is just that their defeat will not restore the fallen Arcana. As for how many of us may be needed..."
She purses her lips and suddenly there is a whiteboard behind her. She picks up a piece of chalk and starts to draw a series of three figures: a toddler sitting on the ground; an elementary school student with a Roman numeral five on their hat; and a middle school student with a Roman numeral one on their collar... and tentacles for hands.
She takes a pointer that wasn't there before and gestures to the first, "A veteran Traveler, who has taken the time to gain some mastery over the physical and psychic aspects of liminal space." She moves on to the second. "An Arcanum in the fullness of normal power." Finally she moves to the final figure. "Your average Elder God."
The pointer goes down. "The power disparity is less between us and them as it is between us and you, but it is in their favor. How many ten-year-olds does one need to take down a single twelve-year-old?"
In his experience, the answer to that question is a very succinct 'six and a lot of auxiliary back-up'.
"As many as would be willing," he parries instead. "Which I assume must not be many, or you wouldn't be planning things out this way."
He's not sure if he's irritated or not by the comparisons on the board, or by how she managed to draw and point so perfectly while blindfolded, but at the very least if it's true (he'd like to test that, himself) it provides a good deal of perspective on the situation before them.
"Not all my siblings-and-colleagues share my focus," she says, simply. "Even Penuel would rather stand in judgement of the miscreants among our ranks than turn themself outward."
"And none of them would even consider becoming your ally?" Like he can believe that. Aren't these sorts of things always messy with politicking and alliances?
"Durga, perhaps," she says after a long moment. "I know she is unhappy with our imbalance, perhaps enough to strike back at those who began it. Possibly Cairbre. It prefers action and is not all that picky about which actions to take. Penuel, if one could persuade them to look outward in judgement."
"The four of you would stand stronger against the Elder Gods than you alone." Teamwork, damn right he believes in it. "Even if there's no way to empower you all, it won't hurt to have them beside you. The blow you could deal together may even strike deeper than you can imagine, and if you're all aimed toward the one goal then a win for one of you will become a win for all of you."
If he can focus on winning things in the pursuit of justice (ha, easy) while she's making those alliances... They can make this work, he's sure.
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"I'll pass." Or, you know, just half a second. "I've got other things to attend to." Like the pursuit of magic, making sure he gets stronger than the others, calling his mother to talk about her sister-in-law -- things that aren't participating in weird games run by strange ladies sitting blindfolded at judges' desks.
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"How many others have you dragged into this?" The answer had better be none. His hand's already curling, hidden behind his elbow. His sword would normally be just one conscious tug away; if need be, he'll try going for it.
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"Is Fortuna one of your Arcana?" Or have they just rebranded the term 'we don't know what's going on' to something more appropriately mystical and ominous?
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He doesn't look away from her as he thinks, lips drawing tight. Well, so long as they're all in this together... And if it's true, then there are other people here somewhere that need saving. He can't turn away from that.
"How does this game work?"
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She pauses briefly, as if in thought. "Synodiporia is what we call it. Walking together. Fellow Travelers, one might say. For you, it is the Mystic Journey--one might also call it the World Series, although perhaps it would be easier if we just referred to the third phase by that name. It is a battle of ideas.
"You, the Travelers, visit other worlds to solve problems. We Arcana have ascertained a number of worlds that have problems that must be solved. When you act within one of our idioms in doing so, it strengthens us.
"The first phase of Synodiporia contains the practice Jaunts. It is for you to learn how to play and us to relearn. The second phase is when we determine if we are qualified or not to play in the last phase. This is the phase that we are now upon. Those Arcana such as I who have qualified for the final phase are pitted against each other in arranged tournament brackets, until only one remains to achieve the World."
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"It's not easy to get my head around all of this. To make sure I've got it clear... We're trapped here by mechanisms that Fortuna, deceased among you, put into action. Necessity has dictated that you all begin this... 'Synodiporia'--" the word is pronounced carefully, foreign on his tongue. But he's fairly certain he's got it right. "--where people, selected to operate on your behalves, are sent to various worlds in an attempt to solve problems there in ways that are characteristic of the Arcana they're representing, in order to prove the strength of that Arcana's ideas and advance them into the next round?"
He's fairly certain he's got all that in order. "What happens when one of you achieves the World?"
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"Achieving the World recreates reality in the winner's image..." How long has this cycle been going on, exactly? He'll have to remember to ask soon, but first;
"What relevance do these 'Elder Gods' have to all this?"
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Tact and his duty to get to the bottom of things battle, and duty quickly wins out. If Justice wanted the former, she should have chosen Nagi or Kinji.
"One of your siblings?"
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"Yes. Sinregado, Fortuna, Cephas, and Hoshiko: our four fallen siblings."
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"Killing the 'Elder Gods' or... dealing your blow to them - what effect would that have on these games? Would they then cease, with all your siblings permanently restored?"
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"This round of Synodiporia will have finished, yes. But I cannot guarantee it will never start again. We are not mortal, but it is all too possible for us to perish, given the right circumstances."
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That sounds like a stupid idea, and also something like what Kinji or Kyuuemon would come up with.
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"Thus, my need for the World to correct that power imbalance."
IT'S EARLY MORNING I HECKED UP whoops sorry
Alright let's go. Bring on the mechas and power-ups.
"How many of you would need to work together to accomplish it?"
Yakumo no--"With, or without the World?" In other words, do they actually have to wait for this game to finish... or can they just rustle up some Arcana and start the fight early?Re: IT'S EARLY MORNING I HECKED UP whoops sorry
She purses her lips and suddenly there is a whiteboard behind her. She picks up a piece of chalk and starts to draw a series of three figures: a toddler sitting on the ground; an elementary school student with a Roman numeral five on their hat; and a middle school student with a Roman numeral one on their collar... and tentacles for hands.
She takes a pointer that wasn't there before and gestures to the first, "A veteran Traveler, who has taken the time to gain some mastery over the physical and psychic aspects of liminal space." She moves on to the second. "An Arcanum in the fullness of normal power." Finally she moves to the final figure. "Your average Elder God."
The pointer goes down. "The power disparity is less between us and them as it is between us and you, but it is in their favor. How many ten-year-olds does one need to take down a single twelve-year-old?"
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"As many as would be willing," he parries instead. "Which I assume must not be many, or you wouldn't be planning things out this way."
He's not sure if he's irritated or not by the comparisons on the board, or by how she managed to draw and point so perfectly while blindfolded, but at the very least if it's true (he'd like to test that, himself) it provides a good deal of perspective on the situation before them.
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If he can focus on winning things in the pursuit of justice (ha, easy) while she's making those alliances... They can make this work, he's sure.
"When can you start speaking to them?"
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