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[necromanswers]

Hey folks. PSA for you. Name's Lup, I own Affurgato. Congrats to those who've already met my fabulous self.

As a heads up: I'm a lich. Other terms include: undead, corpse-walker, monster, abomination. Someone screamed "The Raven's Misfortune" at me once and I thought that was delightfully poetic.

If you have a problem with this, you can eat my entire ass. If you want to BRING your problem to me, I'll be happy to set YOUR ass on fire.

Now, are there any deeply personal details I ought to know about you in order for us to be friends? Apparently I have trust issues and aren't accustomed to mortal cultural norms.

that's all, have a great day or whatever

Comments

Text [Private]

[kingkingcxiii]

So that would make you akin to Ardyn?

[Even if the method of their 'creation' was different. Still, that explains a lot about what was has been going on.]

I know there are certain things that harm him that do not harm others. Is there anything I should be aware of?

[He doesn't want to accidentally hurt you, Lup.]

Text [Private] < assumed going forward

[necromanswers]

I can't speak for Ardyn, but he has a similar feel, magically. We're gonna have a talk and then we'll see.

[She appreciates the candid response, as well as the privacy.]

I'm not a huge fan of radiant damage - holy, light, what-have-you - so don't sunblast me or anything, ideally. This body's normal though, so don't do what you wouldn't do to a human and we're gucci

[kingkingcxiii]

I suspect you will find as many similarities as differences. Technically, a lich is a kind of daemon on our world, but neither you nor he are anything like any daemon I've ever run into.

The Ring of the Lucii allows me to use a powerful holy spell. I've had no need for it so far here, but should it use become necessary, I will make certain you are nowhere nearby. Do you react badly to magical healing? I know it is considered something of a divine or holy magic.

[There is a few moments pause and then a second message follows the first.]

Would it be out of line for me to ask how it happened?

[necromanswers]

Stay away from magic rings, got it. And liches have regenerative powers, so unless I took a really bad hit outside of my body, I shouldn't need healing. In-body, it works the same as it does for anyone else.

[And she's certainly not going to broadcast more weaknesses into the wild like this, even if they exist.]

It's a fair question. I was faced with a choice, and this is what I went with. Based on my experience, it was the lesser of two evils.

[kingkingcxiii]

Understood. I may soon have to start making a list of those who the Ring may hurt.

[First Era and the risk of her Echoing off one of the numerous souls in it and now Lup as well. It's certainly something he's not had to think about before.

Though she can't see it, Regis can't help but wince as he reads the answer to his question.]

Fate does like forcing us to make those kinds of choices, doesn't it?

[necromanswers]

[She doesn't answer right away, mulling over her thoughts a little more carefully.]

Depends. Fate herself is a lovely lady, it turns out. But even she can't do much if the universe conspires to make like difficult for decent folk.

[kingkingcxiii]

Fate is an actual person where you are from? Not just a concept?

[necromanswers]

Lady Istus, the goddess of fate. Yeah, she's the real deal.

[kingkingcxiii]

How curious. We have gods--we call them Astrals--and they have Messengers, but none would claim dominion over fate.

[Oh wait...coughBahamutcough.]

[necromanswers]

Your world only has a handful of gods though, right? Where I'm from we've got over a hundred. It makes sense that they'd have to diversify a little more.

[kingkingcxiii]

You are correct. I'm not certain if you can answer this or not, but in your travels, did you ever find out why some worlds have only a few gods and others so many? If all that is required for more gods is diversifying, it seems odd we have no more than we do.

[necromanswers]

Can't say I spent all that much time studying gods, and I sure never worshiped any. Except for like, one year maybe? Had to infiltrate a cult, that was wacky.

I'm no theologian, but from what I know, gods have a hierarchy similar to social ranks. Heroes, demigods, lesser and greater- there's a whole ranking system that depends on how powerful they are and how many followers they have, etc. Even the gods at the top of the social standing are more often than not sourced from another, bigger god. So how many there are would depend on how many the one at the top of the food chain felt like making at the time.

[kingkingcxiii]

[There is a pause before Regis finally replies.]

Just thinking about that makes my head hurt. I think I am glad that we only have the few we do on Eos.

[necromanswers]

Haha, can't blame you there. Your group has more of a connection to them though, don't you? Where I'm from the gods don't especially care about anyone except in very rare cases. For the most part, they let their followers come to them, so it's perfectly normal to go your whole life ignoring and being ignored by all of the gods.

[kingkingcxiii]

That is correct. The Astrals may sleep for the most part now, but it was Ifrit who first gave fire to the people and it was the rest of the Astrals who defeated him when his anger drove him mad. Bahamut was the one who gave my family the duty to guard the Crystal and Shiva rose to cast her wrath down upon the Imperials when they meddled in matters that were not theirs to meddle in. Of course, these events have happens over thousands of years, but it still seems like more attention than most of your gods pay.

[And that's not even an exhaustive list.]

[necromanswers]

I wouldn't exactly say that. The gods of my 'verse are very attentive to those who follow them. I've had my ass saved a few times by the hand of Pan, and I know a guy who's in the personal employ of the Raven Queen. In the eyes of most everyday non-religious folks, though, the gods are more focused on the world as a whole instead of people.

[kingkingcxiii]

[Ah, and he suddenly has an idea where the title 'The Raven's Misfortune' must have come from.]

Your people would find it quite strange then to hear the gods speak or to meet with one of their Messengers. It is said there have been at least 24 of them throughout our history, though not all their names are recorded. I suppose they would find having a Crystal communicate the will of the world to you odd as well.

[necromanswers]

Oh, like celestials? A lot of gods communicate through them, I think. Mostly the ones who can't be bothered to speak directly to their followers. I'm sure life as a god has to be busy, and time isn't infinite for mortals.

Can't say I've seen a crystal like that, though I did travel with one that carried about a hundred souls, and that could talk to robots with resonant souls nearby. I think that's as close as I'd get.

[Sorry Regis, D&D is weird.]

[kingkingcxiii]

I suspect they are similar by the sound of it. Messengers have a good number of powers themselves, so it makes it easier to communicate with mortals wherever they are through them. Titan, for example, still shoulders the Meteor he prevented from crashing into the planet. He cannot just get up and walk to someone he may wish to speak with.

That sounds very different from ours and a story all of its own. Dare I ask?

[necromanswers]

damn, Titan didn't skip out on leg day then, huh. No one ever told him he can put that shit down after it's caught?

Oh, sure, I can share. Actually, this place gives me a pretty similar vibe. About 80 or so years back, we found a planet that was completely empty of life, most of it wrecked or abandoned, except for this one city that had a bunch of robots living in it. Turns out a disease had spread across the world, and the only way to survive was to transfer their souls into robo-bodies. Kind of eerily close, right?

Anyway, the thing that allowed that transfer was a crystal they could house their souls in. They could move in and out of it and communicate at will with each other through it. It was pretty cool.

[kingkingcxiii]

I have always wondered why he did not put it down myself, but I believe it is accepted that it took so much energy to stop the Meteor, his spiritual self immediately fell into a deep sleep, leaving his physical form standing as it still does today.

[When she tells her story, Regis can't help but hold back a shiver. It really is far too similar.]

I suspect the natives would have had an easier time if they had such a crystal to aid them. From what reports we've seen, they lost a great deal during their transition and not just the things you would expect when changing from a flesh body to a metal one.

[necromanswers]

Poor fella. Ah well, I can't judge. I've slept in some weird places myself.

Yeah, I've noticed that about these bots too. The ones I met on this other planet hadn't seemed to lose much in transit, so I don't know whether it's something that went wrong with the method here, or if there was some kind of outside interference.

[kingkingcxiii]

It could be a little of both. We know the process was not smooth for them in the slightest and some even felt they had made a mistake once things were all said and done. When you consider all that is going on beyond the barrier, outside interference is also a very logical possibility. It might not even be a purposeful interference, but one that happened as a result of something else. In the end, even if it wasn't purposeful, it made and already rough journey even harder.

[necromanswers]

Considering the number of times we ourselves have been forced into weird situations while living here, it's possible. The gods of this world clearly have some sway. Might be another reason for the barrier itself- protect what's inside from the outside, including whatever might've done this to begin with.

[kingkingcxiii]

It makes me wish my investigation into the missing gods had turned up more lore. Even if those gods are truly dead, their full stories might give us more ideas as to what is going on. We've been distracted from investigating a lot recently. At least, those around me have been. It's something we need to get back to doing.