022215ThiagoSami

 -- transchronicAllegorator [TA] began pestering arcaneArtisan [AA] at 21:11 --

[09:13] TA: Thiago neatly walks up to Sami in the mess hall. "Hello, Sami." He smiles brightly.

 [09:14] AA: "Oh, hi Thiago. So you guys *did* survive whatever happened on LOCAS? I was afraid something dreadful had happened."

 [09:14] AA: "No one told us you guys were going anywhere and then suddenly we got that server message."

 [09:14] TA: "Not at all, the denizen is dead now." He puts up a thumbs up. "No sweat."

 [09:15] AA: Sami winces. "Flip. I wanted to talk to them. Find out if they were a former player, too."

 [09:15] AA: "And if they were also a Lord."

 [09:15] TA: "The denizens are former players?"

 [09:16] AA: "At least two of them were. I suspect it might be more than just those two, but I haven't gotten enough data yet."

 [09:17] TA: "What'dyou know of lords?" ((Taking plenty of liberties with contractions and syllables))

 [09:17] AA: "My denizen was a former player, a Lord of Breath. Nate says Fate's was, too. A Lord of Heart. It suggests a pattern..."

 [09:17] AA: Sami looks crosswise at Thiago. "What do YOU know of Lords?"

 [09:18] TA: "Nothing, other than that Jack is one. Doir seems to think cheats, / but if what you say is true, Lords seem to be old things."

 [09:18] TA: "Not just something Jack made up."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:18] AA: "No, Jack didn't make them up. They're a so-called 'Master Class.' Really rare, though maybe not as rare as I once thought."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:19] TA: Thiago nods. "So they're like any other."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:19] AA: "There's not a lot of information about them though, because of how rare they are. I just know they're strong, and that they're always paired with a Muse. Every Lord has a Muse, every Muse has a Lord."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:19] TA: Thiago nods at this information...

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:20] TA: "Interesting, so they must have another. What is a muse?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:20] AA: "I know even less about them, except that they seem to be just as strong as Lords. But in different ways."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:20] AA: "This game has a lot of duality themes in it, if you've noticed. Light versus Dark in the form of Prospit and Derse is the most obvious example."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:21] TA: "You are probably wondering why I'm asking all this."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:21] AA: "A little, yeah."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:22] TA: "I've been exploring the uses of Shenanicite, see? / I recently acquired some and wanted to know how..." He pauses. "How to best make use of this precious resource."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:22] AA: "You got ahold of shenanicite?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:22] TA: He nods.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:22] AA: Sami blinks. "Oh....you beat the denizen. Right. Yeah, that would happen then I guess."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:23] AA: "I think Maso got some shenanicite that way, too."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:24] AA: "Most of us who had shenanicite used it to pump our aspect skills to +5. Personally I would've preferred to rise to that level the proper way, like Seriad's doing....cheating always has hidden costs in this game. But....a third party intervened, in my case."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:25] TA: Thiago breathes in deep. "Perhaps, but I can't be sure." He shrugs. "Point is, I can change my class. / At least, that's what I was told by Doir."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:25] AA: "Can you?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:25] TA: "That's what he said."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:25] AA: "Who told him that?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:25] TA: "Plus / I had a bit of a suspision of such a thing too." Thiago shrugs. "He didn't say."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:25] AA: "Wait, and you're thinking you could become a Lord? There's no way it's that easy to become a Master Class."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:26] TA: "Why not?" Thiago shrugs. "It's a rock that lets you cheat."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:27] AA: "Well here's the thing--Jack went through a lot of trouble to hack himself into being a Lord. I'm still not sure exactly what he did. But if all he needed was shenanicite, why did he go to that much trouble?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:27] TA: "Perhaps he didn't have a muse?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:28] AA: "I don't think it works like that. I don't know for sure, but I get the impression the muse thing is almost more like the game....compensating for the existence of a Lord."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:28] AA: "Or compensating for the existence of a Muse."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:28] TA: ((Sec))

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:28] AA: "Like I said, it's this whole duality thing, right? Like you've got an awake self and a dream self, you've got Prospit and Derse, you've got Earth and Alternia in this gemini session..."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:29] AA: Sami looks away in thought for a momen. "Hmm. That's an interesting point, isn't it? Becoming a god is about uniting the two sides of your self. If you take the lesson from split selves and applied it to Lords and Muses....I wonder if they're supposed to balance one another or bolster one another?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:30] TA: "Like moirails."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:30] AA: "I suppose."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:31] TA: "I think it's worth a shot."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:31] AA: "Maybe you should talk to your dad about it."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:31] TA: "I already have."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:31] AA: "Did he tell you how he did it?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:32] TA: "Well, about shenanicite, anyway."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:32] AA: "So he did use shenanicite to beocme a Lord then?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:32] TA: "O... what?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:32] AA: "Rilset."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:32] AA: "Nate told me Rilset is a Lord of Void."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:32] TA: "Ryspor is a lor..." He tilts his head.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:32] TA: "So it IS possible!"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:33] TA: "But..."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:33] TA: "How..."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:33] AA: "Yeah, but I don't know if he used Shenanicite for it. I know Scarlet *had* some." Sami rubs the back of her head like she's remembering a bad taste in her mouth. "But I don't know if that was what they used it for."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:33] TA: "Perhaps two people using Shenanicite et simul?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:33] AA: "I don't know if *he* had any. At least any more. He had already used some to reach god tier in the fight with Jack."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:34] TA: "Perhaps this scarlet had multiple shards of the matter."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:34] AA: "Maybe. I don't put anything past Scarlet."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:35] AA: "If you ever have to deal with her, be careful. She comes off as harmless, but I really suspect she's the smartest being in the whole Incipisphere in some ways."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:36] AA: "And very good at making things work out in her favor. Not always in ways that work out well for anyone else."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:36] TA: "This opens many doors though, Sami..."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:37] TA: "If we are correct... / We could create lords and muses abound; we, limitless."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:37] TA: Thiago pulls out his phone for a brief moment and sends a quick message.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:39] AA: "It's an idea. But you've got to be careful here, Thiago. Cheating always has a price in this game. And it's not always obvious what that price is going to be."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:40] AA: Sami holds out her hands before her, palms up, in a claw like motion, and after a moment they are engulfed in an inky black aura like writhing tentacles. Her eyes have turned similarly dark.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:40] AA: "The price of power taken from outside the expected channels. It warps you, and it tries to make you its slave. And it's really good at it."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:41] AA: She closes eyes and waves her hands in a sudden dismissive motion and the inky tendrils disappear.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:41] AA: She winces as if in pain, but steadies herself.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:42] TA: Thiago looks at her hands a moment before nodding.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:42] TA: "But, against Jack, do we have any choice?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:42] AA: "That sort of thinking is what made me what I am today." She says sadly.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:43] AA: "Anyway, we shouldn't provoke Jack. He's not attacking us yet. Maybe he's got bigger fish to fry."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:44] TA: "Then we keep this under wraps for the time being, then."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:44] AA: Sami shrugs. "I won't tell you what to do, because I don't know what the right decision is. I'm just telling you to be careful, and to always be suspicious of anything that seems easy."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:45] AA: "There is nothing this game loves more than getting your hopes up and then dashing them."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:46] TA: "Well, I AM a hope player." He smiles a bit. "I see your point though, thank you Sami."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:47] AA: "Sure thing. That's what we vets are here for--to help you kids not make the same mistakes we did."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:47] TA: "Yes, I am learning that more every single day."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:51] TA: He nods to Sami. "I have some things to do to prepare, thank you very much."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:51] AA: "No problem."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:52] TA: ((whopoast))

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:52] AA: "Hey, you don't happen to know where the other me kept her keycard, do you? I kind of want to see what her room is like..."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:52] TA: He shrugs. "I have no idea."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:53] AA: "I guess a Colonel would be better at security than to just leave it lying around. Maybe I'll see if Doir can hack it or something."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:54] TA: "I'm sure he would be capable."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:57] TA: He waves. "Until next time."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [09:57] AA: "Later, Thiago."