eachdraidh | VIDEO | 21 NOV. EVENING | OPEN TO BOTH COURTS

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VIDEO | 21 NOV. EVENING | OPEN TO BOTH COURTS | whelp shit...

[ The message is broadcast twice, from two separate lockets. The background is a small inn near Daonna, Waver is in the forefront, while Kaldur has maps spread out across a table, and is quietly casting on the maps and making frantic annotations. ]

Good evening. As many of you have heard by now, much has been made about the threat of Reynard the Fox at Redgate. Doubtlessly, you’ve also noticed that since that announcement no other word has come out of the fortress. This is, to say the least, very alarming.

[ Kaldur looks up, briefly, to face the camera. ]

I am attempting to scry for the locations of individuals known to be at Redgate or near Redgate at this time, in light of the threat Reynard poses, in hopes that more information can be found.

If they have already engaged Reynard, and are trying to fight him, hopefully, we will be able to find out.

Until then, or until we have direct information from Saralegui himself, I would like to ask that everyone who is intending to lend aid to Redgate gather in Daonna. This gives us all an opportunity to group up, prepare, plan, and present a united front if things are as bad as they seem right now. Whenever we have word, we can act together. If you are en route, come to Daonna. If you are already up the mountains, please return.

I realize that I have no authority to enforce this, but I do ask that you heavily consider this option before forging on ahead.

[ In the background, Kaldur looks as though he is about to curse, and pulls Waver’s attention towards what he has found briefly, before setting at it again, and speaking towards the feed. ]

I also urge those who are heading to Redgate to gather with us, until we gain more information and can adequately prepare for what we will be faced with.

Thank you kindly for your time. If you have any further information on the situation, both Kaldur and myself would appreciate it being shared.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Honestly? I suspect they drew more soldiers, initially. There is a mindset that lends itself to following such orders. [ Kaldur knows. He has it, to an extent. There is very little that Kaldur would not do unquestioning should Aquaman command it of him. The problem is that he is honestly and wholeheartedly loyal to King Orin, as opposed to raised and trained to follow him blindly. ] But the longer this war draws out, the less picky they can become in those they draw in.

Edited 2014-11-24 04:41 (UTC)

That would make sense. And suggest that they themselves had to become much more calculating with how they handle things. [And perhaps that explains some of why the war has gone on for so long.]

I find it weirdly reassuring that I'm towards the bottom of the barrel.

At least until other worlds to draw from produce more soldiering types to draw from. [ If they are pulling from a multiverse, it makes sense that there are dips in the quality of their recruitment. ] I suspect that, under different circumstances, I would be exactly the type they would wish to draw in.

[ He knows his weaknesses, his susceptibility. If they had drawn him here only just a bit sooner, or a bit later. Sooner, when he was faced with what seemed a betrayal by King Orin, or later, after he had the time to stew upon his faults in regards to Tula's death... He could have very easily been a very good, obedient soldier with a lot of tactical experience. ]

But, bottom of the barrel is a nice place to be. It is where you find all the interesting bits of wreckage.

Or a very grumpy Diogenes.

[The joke is an awful one, but Waver has to make it all the same.]

It makes you wonder why they pick the point in time that they do. If they make errors when they do it.

[ Trust me, it's not the worst joke Kaldur has ever heard, and he appreciates it all the same, with half a smile. ]

My best guess is that, each month of this time corresponds with some strange flow of time the other worlds, and they simply draw from whichever time-point is closest to them.

[ Save energy and all that. Multi-verses are strange that way, man. As someone who had briefly met their King from another one. ]

Sounds plausible, at least. Certainly better than the "I have no idea" that crossed my mind.

[He smiles, wry.]

All I can say is thank God they decided to go with thirty nine year old me, rather than nineteen year old me. I'd have lost my shard by now if they had.

[ ~~You mean that tiny string bean was nineteen?! Cripes.~~ ]

Perhaps you don't give yourself enough credit. [ In fairness to Kaldur, one of his best friends could completely whup his ass most times at the tender young age of thirteen when he was seventeen, so... ] You would be impressed at what talented individuals at that age can do, in the right or wrong sets of circumstances.

[ C'mon, Waver! Believe in the me who believes in you! ]

[~~y u p~~]

While I'm not inclined to disagree, I know I would badly mishandle the politics of this place due to a chronic inability to know when to keep my mouth shut at that age.

[He grins. Waver deeply values how nineteen year old Waver shaped him, but there's no denying that he was also a right brat.]

[ ~~Glaucus preserve us~~

That, Kaldur can believe. Dropping some of his team alone in the Drabwurld? That would go over about as well as logic and reason in a Monty Python movie. Only with more broken bones, probably. ]

Very few nineteen year-olds of my acquaintance would probably do well in the politics of this place. [ Kaldur has problems, and he's much more used to monarchies of this variety than many others he knows.

Though nineteen year old Batman might be a sight... He'll have to have Nightwing ask Alfred one of these days... ]

But you survived, so it couldn't have been too terrible.

Edited 2014-11-28 18:42 (UTC)

You do incredibly well, assuming I've got your age about right.

[Waver shrugs. The next part, Kaldur's earned.]

And only because I had to. Mage politics back home are truly something you either survive, or you aren't a mage. Easy as that.

[ Twenty-one, so probably pretty close. But the rest... something about knowing it seems, important. Or, perhaps, simply something he will keep to himself, for the time being. ]

There is some such politicking in my world among the higher sorcerers, I am told, but Atlantis usually keeps out of it other than our Queen Mera. [ Because she's kind of one of the most powerful sorcerers ever, but that's not here or there. ] Most Atlanteans are magical in some sense, that is how we survived. Some of us are just... more powerful than others.

[ Kaldur's natural electricity, for one, is not a particularly easy trait that he mastered quickly. ]

But, I confess, I have not met many fellow mages who's powers were identifiably magical. [ Bending and boons were one thing, to be born with that talent, or to have learned it otherwise? (Hermione is the only name that comes to his mind). Quite another. ]

To announce yourself as a mage removes any element of surprise that might come in handy later on down the road. You might imagine my surprise when the first holder of this title blurted it out. Flora was kind enough to tell me about that.

[That had been a day, that's for sure.]

To give you an example of how persaive it is back home, genetics are a massive factor in one's powers back home. Because of this, and because we're a small community in the end, arraigning marriages to produce more powerful offspring is a major preoccupation. Older families are more powerful because of their longevity as well as their skills, and so trying to get in good with them, finding allies, and ensuring a family legacy are all massive preoccuptations.

True enough. [ But everything about Kaldur is pretty obvious anyways, as far as powers go. Minus, perhaps his super-strength, and dense skin. But he is already easily identifiable as other, so he saves his surprises in things like... strategical planning, and pervasive and encyclopaedic knowledge of things. Which he will be working more on, in the next few months. Since clearly it is lacking. ]

That would... not be an existent problem in Atlantean communities, for the most part. We are, as a species, all magical to at least some minor extent, though the traits are more dominant in some than others. [ Kaldur, Tula, and Garth, for example are very strongly magical. ] Part of our adaptation to underwater life was first precipitated by magic, and that has remained an inherent trait.

[ The rest of that sounds vaguely like European nobility politics, which Kaldur has almost negative interest in, but does not surprise him in the slightest. ]

Power-games, however, tend to be universal. [ Also, Kaldur would ask about inbreeding problems, but that seems almost rude. It may or not be still written across his face given the brief awkward scrunch of his features. ]

You, I suspect, were not... as pedigreed as could be prefered. [ Something about the lack of deference in tone. ]

[Waver gives a little hm of approval at the lack of hierarchy attached to Kaldur's magic. It's an enviable thing, honestly.]

Sounds like a place we could take a page or the whole damn book from. Although I do have to ask about that plural - how spread out are you?

[Kaldur, you're in Faerieland. Do you think those nobility politics aren't in play here?]

And as far as power games go - I'll admit, that I keep finding similarities here should make me angry. Mostly, it's just exhausting and involves a lot of catch-up.

[Waver does note that scrunch, and tries not to laugh at it.]

New families always crop up, although they struggle to integrate for a while. I'd call myself average, at the very least.

[ They have their own hierarchical problems. Just not necessarily magic related. More racially aligned. ]

Atlantis is, itself a nation, with several large and prominent cities and a handful of smaller communities. Perhaps 50,000 square miles of area? Average U.S. state size, or about the size of Greece, with populations clustered closer about the main cities.

[ Not that all of it is densely populated, and in the span of the Atlantic, a mere piddling of area. though, given how fast Atlanteans can swim when they are pushing it... not very far apart, really, and that is discounting boom-tubes.

Also of course there are nobility politics. But he's Seelie, and since they haven't really made any good alliances yet, they are a bit less pressing and issue, and one that Kaldur knows he would serve better steering clear of. ]

I am... not used to being as uninformed into the subtleties and power players of a world. [ Normally he is entirely on point with this stuff. Here? He's floundering around for some guidance. And information. ]

I feel like such prejudice would be... detrimental to the continued population of magic in your world, but perhaps that is not high in their priorities [ Also known as 'none of this makes genetic sense ever, variety is always better always. ]

Somehow, I suspect I should have anticipated the Greece comparison. I have to admit, it sounds quite lovely.

[At least Kaldur knows it, versus Waver who has decided that his best bet is to slam head first in there and make himself comfy.]

The worst part of it is when you think you've got a handle on it, something brand new pops up. And it'll keep happening for years, since everyone is so new.

[Waver had hoped to ask certain Redgate leaders for further guidance, but that had truly not gone as planned.]

It isn't. Secrecy is. It's all very silly. Although if you want a good laugh, ask Kayneth about the whole set up and see what he says.

I find it beautiful, and unlike much on the surface world.

[ He is glad you liked it. He liked the humor. ]

Or, rather, because we are new, and disrupting the natural order of things.

[ They will never get a break. ]

Kayneth [ Kaldur has heard that name... oh yes. ] Is he from your world, then? I was curious about seeking him out as a potential instructor, as he seems to be one of the few Seelie with more training than I have. [ Not that it will keep him from making a broad search, after all. The more instructors and methods, the merrier. ]

Is the architecture Grecian too, or have there since been developments?

But it's a cycle, isn't it? New shardbearers, same problems, same threat to whatever the current situation is.

[Ugh. Now that he's vocalized it, Waver's realized another reason for the war to have stalled for as long as it has.]

First holder of the title, actually. [it's impossible to disguise the disgusted face Waver makes at the mention of Kayneth as a potential instructor.] I suppose your own status would make him more amenable towards you.

So the question is, rather, did the Shardbearers start it? Or were they an un-intended consequence that worsens itself.

[ If the presence of the shard-bearers had initially precipitated the war... That would mean they should try a different tack to this whole thing. ]

And it is not as though the monarchs are happy with the current situation only that they are not of a sufficient motive or power to try and draw in warriors again.

[ Waver's face at the mention of Kayneth is a sight to behold, truly. ]

Is the first Lord El-Melloi a poor instructor? Or merely a biased one. [ If he's going to be impossible to work with, then Kaldur would need to find a new instructor. ] And, I confess curiosity as to how you were then able to... inherit the title.

All the answers we could have went up in smoke in August, unfortunately. We might get lucky to find another Alyosha, or someone else knowledgable, but that isn't something I want to get my hopes up over. I also suspect that if it's true Shardbearers has started it, the monarchs wouldn't be as involved as they are.

[But it is still a possibility to look into.]

Essentially. But what the monarchs really want, in the end, is a mystery to us all.

[Strong, strong forces in his life.]

A biased one. Given what you've told me, you'll be fine. [Impossible isn't the right word. He's just a classist prick.] After his death, I simply presented myself as the best candidate. Titles among magi aren't strictly blood related.

[ With the Drabkeeper's castle. He still... concerned about that. And the loss of that information, until the Drabkeeper himself can be found. (If, indeed, he can be found.) ]

And will likely remain a mystery, until the achieve it. [ There's no accounting for it, really. ]

So, he would not, per se, be excited to know that you now own said title. [ This could be hilarious. Kaldur so wants to see the faces when that piece of laundry is aired. ] Though, if I can learn from hm, I would welcome the tutelage.

Unfortunately. For all the other powers in this world, it's unfortunate that they are the ones we're stuck with.

[At least the Shuck isn't a bullshitter.]

We've spoken already. [Although his identity as Waver Velvet is still something he's keeping deeply hidden from Kayneth.] He is skilled enough in water and wind craft. It would work.

[ On the other hand, Kaldur has yet to meet an undead individual who isn't majorly screwed in the head. (Ra's Al Ghul, Clayface) Not exactly the sort of recruits he's want to fight with. ]

Few others with the power feel the need to do so, or at least see greater wisdom in not doing so.

[ PLEASE HE DIDN'T WANT TO MISS THE FACE. BUT he hasn't yet okay good. ] Those are where my strengths would likely lie. I could always share the experiences [ gossip party go ]

Proving they're much smarter than who we're supposedly serving, and implying they're worth more of our time.

[Whenever it happens, it will be amazing.]

I will become a very petty, vindictive person if you do. [Look not Mean Girls levels, but.]

That is not a point I particularly feel the need to contest.

[ If Kaldur isn't there you better record it for posterity. ]

Does that mean you would enjoy it, prefer that I refrain?

[ He is totally an enabler for releasing those angered emotions. ]

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btw these numbers are my bs and not DCU approved.

GOT IT

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