Yeah, we were kind of stuck together. Hard to tell. We wanted to test something else, but... it wasn't really viable with this kind of movement restriction.
[ wry smile. he owes Styx a drink after this. but he did promise Minuet that he'd warn him about all and any mist trips, so ]
You're not gonna manifest feathers if I tell you that we're planning on going back in, are you? With a more... suitable weed. This time avoiding the shadow beasts.
[a slight pause. well he just got told and he's not manifesting feathers, so probably Minuet, who has had at least a hundred fifty years more practice, will not go full mcchicken at the knowledge]
Haven't really mentioned how you'll be avoiding them, when that didn't seem like it was on the table this trip.
Our real objective was to test shadow travel in the mist. We found out that stormclouds don't work, but... 'fanged beasts' aren't bound by the same laws as us. Maybe their powers don't have blanket restrictions.
Specifically — we wanted to test whether a weed could teleport from one shadow beast to another via touch. So we decided to kill one. I can't say for sure, but avoiding it did seem possible at the time.
We were going to do that too originally, but things got weird with the contact requirement. Either way, the option of avoiding that one multi-beast was there. And fleeing was still an option even after we'd started attacking it.
Angel Devil's coming on the next one. He has some sort of invisibility spell. I can't sense him through it. Who knows if the mist beasts will be able to, but... every little helps, right?
Try testing the power at the mist's edge, yeah? Put two things that cast shadows with each of you, enter it separately, get out again and regroup. You don't need to keep tight hold of someone for just that.
[stop overcomplicating the parts that don't need to be.]
Are you looking for anything specific this second trip?
[ possibly getting the birds to talk to the Wolf King on their behalf. but let's not go there, he promised that this would be quick ]
Should be a normal scouting mission. See what we can find without alerting anything, then retreat as soon as there's immediate danger.
...
Although. What do you think of bringing sheep with us? One from each barn, maybe. We don't know how those interact with the mist. I can hold them at a distance pretty easily.
If they can smell Blossom on us already, no need to involve those little guys.
[he can honestly see the merit -- you could spread them out as alternative bait markers, like the goat for the T-rex in Jurassic Park -- but there are probably a bullshit amount of beasts in the mist. also if mist beasts can possess or infect the barn sheep who can't really tell you when they've been a bit injured and have only barely and unpredictably started displaying sentience, that is some extra bullshit nobody needs.
also he thinks Minuet would cry at the prospect of having agreed to kill fluffy little sheep. bad deal all around.]
Fair enough. Just recon, then. No tests, unless we have to improvise. If we do, though...
[ Charon would actually be useful for this kind of planning but he's not gonna say that after flaming the guy. why does he have to be so inconvenient. ]
You wouldn't happen to have experience negotiating with eldritch monsters, would you? Since you were gonna summon a demon and all.
[Charon is also absolutely the guy you want talking with eldritch monsters if you don't want to leave loopholes, and to his knowledge Minuet does not have experience, unless whoever 'that other guy involved with deciding the fate of No Man's Land' merited negotiation and not just a metric ton of bullet lead.
Well, on the tiny chance that our canine overlord is willing to hear us out, I'm not above telling him I'd betray Blossom. Even if I'm not willing to turn against the pasture... I could pull that part off truthfully. Even then, I'd expect him to laugh at us and kill us on the spot, but who knows.
[ makes a face. this is clearly above his paygrade. this is clearly above Minuet's paygrade. god, why is Charon such a stringent dumbass. ]
— Anyway, on the tiny chance that a negotiation works... if he ends up sealing me in a way that forbids me from talking about it, we should have some kind of... code. My lighthouse doesn't work out there, so I can't exactly record what happens. And if it's a seal, then... looking might hurt you.
[deadeyes him right back. get perceived, loser who says the next trip is to get in and get out and then requests this in the next breath while calling other people reckless]
[ the lighthouse cube blinks into existence, projecting a video recording of the exchange that just happened, from "You wouldn't happen to have experience...?" until "What've you got in mind". dismisses the lighthouse straight after. ]
Once I'm back, ask me how it went. I'll play this immediately once we're in private. If I don't — or can't, without being able to explain why — you'll know something's up. Recording is fudged in the mist, but the only time I can't sense the lighthouse altogether is when my powers are off. And that situation would be obvious anyway.
Deleting footage only takes a split second. If I feel any sort of mind warping going in, I'm fairly sure I can delete that segment while it's happening.
[ unless his powers get turned off while the warping is happening but. no need to overcomplicate this further. ]
[ squints. he is curious, but he's already overrunning his promised 'short' debrief. ]
Fine. I'll tell the other shepherds about the weed contact; seems like a waste to get stranded on a technicality. I can include Lethe, if you'd like. You know more about his plans than I do, so it's up to you.
I don't think I need to tell you this, but... be nice to the apothecary if you see her. She's competent at what she does, and quite brave; the 'regular' mist creatures didn't even faze her. But the Wolf King himself was a bit — much.
[ Minuet knows cues, he doesn't have to describe the absolute freeze response a regular human teenager would have. ]
Don't patronize her, just — well, you're better with kids than I am.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
featherduster) wrote2023-06-15 02:30 pm
Re: -> later
...
[ looks him straight in the eye. contemplates. ]
On a scale of one to ten, how stressed are you?
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You ask that like we're not into imaginary numbers by now.
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You're not gonna manifest feathers if I tell you that we're planning on going back in, are you? With a more... suitable weed. This time avoiding the shadow beasts.
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Haven't really mentioned how you'll be avoiding them, when that didn't seem like it was on the table this trip.
Re: -> later
[ sighs ]
Our real objective was to test shadow travel in the mist. We found out that stormclouds don't work, but... 'fanged beasts' aren't bound by the same laws as us. Maybe their powers don't have blanket restrictions.
Specifically — we wanted to test whether a weed could teleport from one shadow beast to another via touch. So we decided to kill one. I can't say for sure, but avoiding it did seem possible at the time.
Re: -> later
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We were going to do that too originally, but things got weird with the contact requirement. Either way, the option of avoiding that one multi-beast was there. And fleeing was still an option even after we'd started attacking it.
Angel Devil's coming on the next one. He has some sort of invisibility spell. I can't sense him through it. Who knows if the mist beasts will be able to, but... every little helps, right?
Re: -> later
[stop overcomplicating the parts that don't need to be.]
Are you looking for anything specific this second trip?
Re: -> later
[ possibly getting the birds to talk to the Wolf King on their behalf. but let's not go there, he promised that this would be quick ]
Should be a normal scouting mission. See what we can find without alerting anything, then retreat as soon as there's immediate danger.
...
Although. What do you think of bringing sheep with us? One from each barn, maybe. We don't know how those interact with the mist. I can hold them at a distance pretty easily.
Re: -> later
If they can smell Blossom on us already, no need to involve those little guys.
[he can honestly see the merit -- you could spread them out as alternative bait markers, like the goat for the T-rex in Jurassic Park -- but there are probably a bullshit amount of beasts in the mist. also if mist beasts can possess or infect the barn sheep who can't really tell you when they've been a bit injured and have only barely and unpredictably started displaying sentience, that is some extra bullshit nobody needs.
also he thinks Minuet would cry at the prospect of having agreed to kill fluffy little sheep. bad deal all around.]
Re: -> later
Fair enough. Just recon, then. No tests, unless we have to improvise. If we do, though...
[ Charon would actually be useful for this kind of planning but he's not gonna say that after flaming the guy. why does he have to be so inconvenient. ]
You wouldn't happen to have experience negotiating with eldritch monsters, would you? Since you were gonna summon a demon and all.
Re: -> later
why does Blood Fiend have to be so inconvenient.]
There's a first time for everything, right...
Re: -> later
Guess so.
Well, on the tiny chance that our canine overlord is willing to hear us out, I'm not above telling him I'd betray Blossom. Even if I'm not willing to turn against the pasture... I could pull that part off truthfully. Even then, I'd expect him to laugh at us and kill us on the spot, but who knows.
[ makes a face. this is clearly above his paygrade. this is clearly above Minuet's paygrade. god, why is Charon such a stringent dumbass. ]
— Anyway, on the tiny chance that a negotiation works... if he ends up sealing me in a way that forbids me from talking about it, we should have some kind of... code. My lighthouse doesn't work out there, so I can't exactly record what happens. And if it's a seal, then... looking might hurt you.
Re: -> later
...
What've you got in mind.
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[ the lighthouse cube blinks into existence, projecting a video recording of the exchange that just happened, from "You wouldn't happen to have experience...?" until "What've you got in mind". dismisses the lighthouse straight after. ]
Once I'm back, ask me how it went. I'll play this immediately once we're in private. If I don't — or can't, without being able to explain why — you'll know something's up. Recording is fudged in the mist, but the only time I can't sense the lighthouse altogether is when my powers are off. And that situation would be obvious anyway.
Deleting footage only takes a split second. If I feel any sort of mind warping going in, I'm fairly sure I can delete that segment while it's happening.
[ unless his powers get turned off while the warping is happening but. no need to overcomplicate this further. ]
Re: -> later
Reeeeeeally would like if if there was an extra backup that didn't rely on anyone's powers altogether. Seeing as how they're erratic and all.
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expression closes off a little. fights it. he did just straight up offer to let Minuet into his head. ]
... Go on.
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...
No. Bad thought. Let's keep it at the lighthouse idea for now, I need to chew it over. I'll get back to you on it if it seems solid, though.
Re: -> later
Fine. I'll tell the other shepherds about the weed contact; seems like a waste to get stranded on a technicality. I can include Lethe, if you'd like. You know more about his plans than I do, so it's up to you.
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That's everything for now?
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[ ... well. sighs. ]
I don't think I need to tell you this, but... be nice to the apothecary if you see her. She's competent at what she does, and quite brave; the 'regular' mist creatures didn't even faze her. But the Wolf King himself was a bit — much.
[ Minuet knows cues, he doesn't have to describe the absolute freeze response a regular human teenager would have. ]
Don't patronize her, just — well, you're better with kids than I am.
Re: -> later
You get some rest too, all right?
Re: -> later
... Thanks, Minuet. For everything.
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