[closed] cross-faction talks

[inutilis]

Who: Emet-Selch, Liem, Howl, Misa, Abel, Ernesto, Alphinaud, Hiccup
What: Cross-faction therapy talks
Where: Sovereign Shrine
When: July 6th(ish), mid-afternoon
Warnings: None anticipated? Will update if necessary!

It is an unremarkable afternoon in Horos; the sun is shining, the breeze is breezing, and among the quiet reverie of the Sovereign’s Shrine… a slow trickle of Aion begin to congregate.

Emet-Selch and Abel bid you welcome to the day’s endeavors, laying out the only rules of the land: this is a place for discussion, and violence is absolutely not permitted. Everyone here has agreed to be on their best behavior and if talks are getting heated - there’s plenty of room to cool one’s head beyond the Shrine’s entranceway beneath the calming sunlight where one might take in the sight of the surrounding mountains’ peaks.

After the events in Venera, tensions may be running high between certain parties and the escalation between sects seems inevitable. Whether you’ve come here to discuss the possibility of diffusing those tensions or are looking to stoke the flames all the hotter… speak your piece. No one knows if you’ll get a second chance in such a setting, after all. Who’s to say what the future holds…?

[ ooc notes: please use the OPEN DISCUSSION thread as a network-style free for all! We’re expecting dialogue-heavy, introspection lite boomeranging here to keep the conversation moving since there are a lot of parties involved. Threadjacking is encouraged! If there’s anything you’d like to take to a 1 on 1 or smaller group, hit up the CLOSED DISCUSSION thread for a deeper dive in a quieter setting. OPEN MIC is the spot for you to bring up whatever you’ve been dying to ask everyone. Or to stir the pot. You do you. ]

Comments

[goldendeceiver]

[ Ernesto is quiet for a moment, mulling over just how much information he wants to give away. He doesn't really enjoy talking about himself and what he's been through, but the state of his world goes so far beyond him that it's easier to depersonalize the experience.

Besides, thanks to the event in Venera some of those more personal aspects aren't fully secret anymore either.

So after some deliberation and ceding the floor to others, he'll answer truthfully. ]

Some of it depended on the country you came from, though my understanding is all of them have their own problems one way or another. There are definitely places where people can still live pretty cushy lives despite the threat of Catastrophes striking, and if you lived in a Nomadic City the whole place could roll out of danger long before a disaster hit.

But that was only if you had the fortune of being born in a Nomadic City, and even then if you didn't have money it could get rough for a lot of people out there.

[ He learned that lesson well living in Dossoles. ]

Then there's the issue of Oripathy.

[ His expression remains calm, but anyone watching closely can notice his smile tightens slightly. ]

That one also kinda depends where you live though. Some countries are willing to overlook the Infected, but a lot of them round them up an exploit them in pretty nasty ways. Some of them will even kill them off when the infection gets too serious.

[ And before anyone starts suspecting anything here-- ]

Not that it personally affected me much. The Infected weren't treated that way in Bolívar, where I'm from, and I don't have Oripathy anyway.

[ His smile relaxes again. ]

But I figured I'd mention it since you asked about worlds as a whole.

[lifespanned]

Oripathy is some kind of illness? Uhh, that sounds scary...

[ The whole world, exposed to some kind of terrible disease, with some people taking advantaged of some of those that were infected? Misa does nothing to mask being creeped out by the notion, brows furrowing and raising a hand to her mouth. ]

I mean... would you get rid of it if you could? Or, I guess you said it doesn't affect you, so maybe not...

[ Though she trails off, leaving it open for him to tell her what's what. ]

[goldendeceiver]

[ "It doesn't affect you, so maybe not..." With how people often are, it's a fair addendum to put in, especially when he hasn't been all that forthcoming with information about himself before.

So there's really no reason for anyone to know he has family members that Infected, and it very much matters. He plans to keep it that way too for now, even if he's willing to talk about oripathy in a more general sense.

And in that vein, he'll give her a serious answer too. ]

I worked for a medical research and development company that was looking for both treatments and cures for it, so I definitely would. We're making good progress with what we're doing too.

[ His smile pulls just a little too tight. ]

Well, we were until recently...

[lachtara]

[ He's listened with particular interest in this one. Sickness is something that certainly plagued the world of man, and here is yet another example of such. ]

Did something happen to halt your progress?

[goldendeceiver]

[ No matter what world you go to, it seems to be a painfully common theme, huh?

And the question is fair enough, but Ernesto is quick to shake his head, and even hold up a hand, waving it back and forth slightly to dismiss the idea. ]

It's not what you're thinking, Señor. Our research was still moving along just fine, but...

[ His smile is pained as he tilts his head to the side, looking upwards. ]

It's the same thing that happened to all of us, right?

[ There worlds supposedly disappearing into nothing but cosmic dust. ]

[lachtara]

Indeed.

[ No debate in that answer. There is a more intruiging question here, he thinks, ]

Then what are your thoughts on what happened in Venera? And Horos at large, of course. It would be impossible to ignore the similarities.

[goldendeceiver]

[ Hah... The pained smile doesn't leave Ernesto's face, even as he relaxes back into his seat. Probably should have expected that when he decided to give an honest answer about the state of his world. ]

I can't pretend the thought didn't cross my mind when we first heard about a sickness starting to spread...

[ He has to be careful with this one though, because he knows the Regent has put the blame for this on the Pleroma, and he's not looking for that to be used against them. ]

But Oripathy is a genuine infection caused by exposure to a certain type of mineral from my world. There are pretty standard drug treatments that can be used on it. Meanwhile, what happened in Venera was out of my depth. When I first arrived I was looking for the source with the idea in mind that it might be exposure to some kind of material or animal, maybe even the water, but...

[ He shakes his head. ]

When things get more--

[ And here he makes a vague hand gesture where he closes his hand into a fist, then opens his fingers with a flourish like he's saying "poof! magic". ]

I'm kinda at a loss. In the end, it's a hard one for me to make the comparison on more than a shallow level.

[lachtara]

[ Oh. Someone who is unfamiliar with magic in the past? Or unsure of something concerning it at the very least. Emet-Selch puts a hand to his chin. ]

Such practicality is not to be dismissed. I have seen many people overcomplicate the answer when the true cause is something so simple it is overlooked.

[goldendeceiver]

[ Unfamiliar enough at least. While magic does exist in his world, it has its own rules and limits. Ernesto himself didn't really dabble in it previously.

His tail gives a couple of wide sweeps at Emet's response, even as he laughs sheepishly. ]

I appreciate the reassurance, Señor. Though it turned out that complicated answer was the right one in this case.