[That's right, Fane! They're all dull! Dull and ugly! Don't even think about it! ... Unless it's a Meridian and you can bang them without being a traitor, that's Hayame's super chill advice!]
I have been praying they will find the task for a year. ... The numbers are few, but. Those numbers contain both our weakest and our most powerful.
[And obviously, it's the latter she cares most about. But.
But.
...]
No. It will not be easy. That is the only sure thing.
Unless we can recreate the effect of the Iconoclast Oracle's trial once again, and render shardbearers powerless, strip him of those unnatural demon abilities.
[She won't let Akua convince her not to shatter him. Not again. (Hah.)]
[ Fane makes a soft, neutral noise as he listens. He’s not a tactician by nature, but he’s a man that looks at things rationally. Often, overly so. He may not have the depth of Hayame’s grudge or the very painful thing that she’d gone through, but what she explains is straightforward, so far as he sees it.
This demon is a threat. Not just for his danger, which seems to be considerable, but for how he misleads people and pulls them astray. That’s what they’re meant to do, apparently, but where Fane might just let others make their mistakes, he can’t here. If Meridian can’t be trusted to do their own work, then it affects them all.
So. With that in mind, he asks gently: ]
I cannot promise anything, mind. But perhaps something of the sort could be made. Is that something you’d like for me to work on?
[Hayame won't let herself feel hopeful when she hears Fane say that. She won't. Even if the man seemed capable, and able to do all sorts of magic... No, she won't-
She doesn't even think she'll understand the answer, but-]
Well, as I said, I cannot promise it, for I've not made anything of the like...
[ But he turns thoughtful as he starts to explain the theory, working through the idea as he explains it. ]
I do not know its intimate workings, but I had a collar placed on me by Magisters that prevented me from using Source, and I would follow a similar theory with this. Far better, of course, since I have Eternal engineering on my side, but nevermind you that. There's much that can be made with Source Orbs, and I'm at least no slouch with that even if I'm not an expert.
[ A thoughtful noise, then: ]
But the collars continuously drained the innate well of Source, and this could do something similar. The demon may call it something different, but from my studies, it is the same. Magic and strength both come from the well of life energy, so stem the flow and it will not die outright from the placement, but it should not be able to draw upon it so readily.
[... So he has at least a base from which to work, an idea modified on something that he had experienced before. Is the demon's power something that can be cut off in the same way as that "Source"?
Unless it was tried...]
If you could make me such a thing as that...
There is little I would not do for you in turn, though I know not what I can offer a man capable of that type of feat.
[It wasn't something like idly teaching a magic amateur how to use their Meridian spells. She cannot easily imagine him doing it for free, or for something like archery instruction.]
[ But there’s a gentle sense that it’s not something that Fane is worried about. He understands not wanting to feel indebted to people though, since he’s the same way. It feels right to him to offer something in return for good work, no matter what it is, but he’s also admittedly not sure what he’d want… But he doesn’t want to say that, since he can’t think of a way to phrase it without sounding entirely dismissive. ]
If it’s any comfort, this is partially my own curiosity. I would have examined the Source collar that I was fitted with if I’d had the chance, but I simply didn’t.
[ He gives a dramatic sigh as he steps to sarcasm, but it’s joking… Mostly. This really did happen, but, ]
Being beset upon by a gaping maw and tentacles has a way of getting in the way of research. So. All of that was left behind at the Joy, though good riddance for it.
[Well, he sounds... "feels" confident. That is... good, even though she has no way yet of knowing for sure how much trust to put in this man's abilities, not when her sense of magic is so stunted. She has to... trust. And hope.
Meridian kept asking her to do that.
It also kept her listening to absurd things with no context like, you know, "gaping maws and tentacles" and whatever the "Joy" was, but.]
Then we will factor in your own curiosity when the debt needs to be paid.
[He at least seemed to understand that. The duty of it.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
I have been praying they will find the task for a year. ... The numbers are few, but. Those numbers contain both our weakest and our most powerful.
[And obviously, it's the latter she cares most about. But.
But.
...]
No. It will not be easy. That is the only sure thing.
Unless we can recreate the effect of the Iconoclast Oracle's trial once again, and render shardbearers powerless, strip him of those unnatural demon abilities.
[She won't let Akua convince her not to shatter him. Not again. (Hah.)]
no subject
This demon is a threat. Not just for his danger, which seems to be considerable, but for how he misleads people and pulls them astray. That’s what they’re meant to do, apparently, but where Fane might just let others make their mistakes, he can’t here. If Meridian can’t be trusted to do their own work, then it affects them all.
So. With that in mind, he asks gently: ]
I cannot promise anything, mind. But perhaps something of the sort could be made. Is that something you’d like for me to work on?
no subject
She doesn't even think she'll understand the answer, but-]
... How. How could such a thing be made?
no subject
[ But he turns thoughtful as he starts to explain the theory, working through the idea as he explains it. ]
I do not know its intimate workings, but I had a collar placed on me by Magisters that prevented me from using Source, and I would follow a similar theory with this. Far better, of course, since I have Eternal engineering on my side, but nevermind you that. There's much that can be made with Source Orbs, and I'm at least no slouch with that even if I'm not an expert.
[ A thoughtful noise, then: ]
But the collars continuously drained the innate well of Source, and this could do something similar. The demon may call it something different, but from my studies, it is the same. Magic and strength both come from the well of life energy, so stem the flow and it will not die outright from the placement, but it should not be able to draw upon it so readily.
omg so sorry this one got lost in the inbox sauce
Unless it was tried...]
If you could make me such a thing as that...
There is little I would not do for you in turn, though I know not what I can offer a man capable of that type of feat.
[It wasn't something like idly teaching a magic amateur how to use their Meridian spells. She cannot easily imagine him doing it for free, or for something like archery instruction.]
no subject
[ But there’s a gentle sense that it’s not something that Fane is worried about. He understands not wanting to feel indebted to people though, since he’s the same way. It feels right to him to offer something in return for good work, no matter what it is, but he’s also admittedly not sure what he’d want… But he doesn’t want to say that, since he can’t think of a way to phrase it without sounding entirely dismissive. ]
If it’s any comfort, this is partially my own curiosity. I would have examined the Source collar that I was fitted with if I’d had the chance, but I simply didn’t.
[ He gives a dramatic sigh as he steps to sarcasm, but it’s joking… Mostly. This really did happen, but, ]
Being beset upon by a gaping maw and tentacles has a way of getting in the way of research. So. All of that was left behind at the Joy, though good riddance for it.
no subject
Meridian kept asking her to do that.
It also kept her listening to absurd things with no context like, you know, "gaping maws and tentacles" and whatever the "Joy" was, but.]
Then we will factor in your own curiosity when the debt needs to be paid.
[He at least seemed to understand that. The duty of it.]