"A lot more," Matthew says, with a quick flash of a rare, slightly conspiratorial grin. "Can't know what you can and can't tell me if I don't bother to ask in the first place, can I? Sorry, but you're just gonna have to live with the endless questions."
They listen closely, then, to the rest of Death's answer - there might be no deals, but since Death's opponent is apparently male, he can cross all the female Arcana off of the list. But it's the last part of Death's reply that Matthew comments on.
"Magic is always volatile in the wrong hands," he says. "It is the nature of power; there is no such thing as power that isn't dangerous. But we find this idea that it is a force for good, or for evil, a strange and simplistic viewpoint. Magic simply is. Calling it a force for good is as ridiculous as calling gravity a force for good. Gravity's great, right up until the point where someone pushes you off a cliff. Magic is the same. "
"Well let me simplify it for you, then. If it involves specifics about a round in progress, I can tell you nothing. If it involves describing the exact rules of this Fortune cycle of Synodiporia, I can tell you nothing. If it involves discussion of the win, loss, or draw conditions of a Jaunt in progress, I can tell you nothing. Although, I can confirm or deny your guesses at will, such as when you're barking up the wrong tree. And I can give hints, as I said before - that is to say, I can throw you a bone once in a while."
Death seems more amused with Matthew's answer than anything, and simply shrugs his shoulders in response. "And yet Gravity is what keeps the ozone in the atmosphere shielding your planet from the harsh UV rays of the sun, what keeps you on the surface of your planet so you are not flung into the empty vacuum of space, and what made your planet into a planet rather than a jumble of interstellar rocks. Gravity is partially responsible for the making of many of your periodic elements, including oxygen and carbon, which means it is partially responsible for the creation of life itself. Magic works much the same in this world as Gravity does to your world."
"If you can confirm or deny, what's to stop us from just 'guessing' each one of the Arcana until we get to the right one?" they ask, curious. "And yes, gravity does all those things too - that's what I was getting at. Gravity - and magic - are, in essence, neutral forces of the universe. They aren't good or evil. They simply are. It is the specifics of the situation that will determine whether you find it's effects positive or negative."
"I've already given you more than enough hints to figure it out on your own. I'm not going to do your homework for you," Mortimer answers humorlessly. "I've got my own problems to worry about."
And he does take a long moment throughout Matthew's... 'speech' to continue adjustments on the Jaunt itself. A switch flipped here, an input entered there, and so on.
"In your universe, perhaps. But not in this one. This world needs its magic. That is all I can say."
"No. No more questions." But then they pause, and eye the fingerless glove that covers his Mark warily, and adds; "...Wait, what are you planning to do to our Mark?"
So maybe there was technically one more question, after all.
"Oh," Matthew says, feeling kind of awkward now. "I'll, um, get going then."
At least Matthew doesn't need to ask Death to send him back; it takes drawing on deeper wells of liminal power to do it, but they open up a portal back themselves, and step through.
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They listen closely, then, to the rest of Death's answer - there might be no deals, but since Death's opponent is apparently male, he can cross all the female Arcana off of the list. But it's the last part of Death's reply that Matthew comments on.
"Magic is always volatile in the wrong hands," he says. "It is the nature of power; there is no such thing as power that isn't dangerous. But we find this idea that it is a force for good, or for evil, a strange and simplistic viewpoint. Magic simply is. Calling it a force for good is as ridiculous as calling gravity a force for good. Gravity's great, right up until the point where someone pushes you off a cliff. Magic is the same. "
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Death seems more amused with Matthew's answer than anything, and simply shrugs his shoulders in response. "And yet Gravity is what keeps the ozone in the atmosphere shielding your planet from the harsh UV rays of the sun, what keeps you on the surface of your planet so you are not flung into the empty vacuum of space, and what made your planet into a planet rather than a jumble of interstellar rocks. Gravity is partially responsible for the making of many of your periodic elements, including oxygen and carbon, which means it is partially responsible for the creation of life itself. Magic works much the same in this world as Gravity does to your world."
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And he does take a long moment throughout Matthew's... 'speech' to continue adjustments on the Jaunt itself. A switch flipped here, an input entered there, and so on.
"In your universe, perhaps. But not in this one. This world needs its magic. That is all I can say."
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So maybe there was technically one more question, after all.
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At least Matthew doesn't need to ask Death to send him back; it takes drawing on deeper wells of liminal power to do it, but they open up a portal back themselves, and step through.