Define 'fairly'. You may have forgotten we have tadpoles in our heads, but I haven't. We have a way to circumvent that for the moment, but until the Elder Brain is fully under control, we have a liability you don't. Genuinely, I have reason to believe we'd have an easier time destroying it than we would bringing it to heel, so from my perspective you're asking me to take a greater risk and gamble on your integrity.
Karlach's situation is evidence that you're willing to betray your allies. I believe your intentions are fair at the moment, but I don't believe you're particularly loyal, yourself. You're demanding I prove myself to you, and I think it should be the other way around. My companions have already proven themselves to me. You haven't, and I'm not signing up to be your right hand or your enforcer. If I'm doing this, it will be as your equal.
That said, I hadn't considered that you might be afraid of her. That's actually sort of cute. You want collateral? I could bring you the Runepowder bomb we were given to destroy your Foundry with.
You might be surprised what price a certain wizard has offered for information about us. I tried to find out who informed him of the divine company we keep, but the buskers outside Sorcerous Sundries only knew so much.
You know, I'd almost like to send Aylin off to flatten him, herself, only it doesn't seem fair to ask her to do our dirty work alone. She could, I'm sure, but she shouldn't have to. Did you see Rolan, by any chance? He might know something.
I briefly caught his eye at the desk, but he vanished by the time I'd made my way over there.
[Maybe that song to encourage Rolan to stop drinking his woes away - which Savvy had improvised right there in the Last Light - has put the lad off of ever interacting with this big lizard.]
[Okay, so, maybe she's showing off a little. What's the point of having a Raindancer staff if you never get to take it anywhere? When she arrives, it's with said staff in one hand, and a basket in the other, and consequently she looks like the good witch in a fairy tale, greeting lost worm children in the woods.
She locates him immediately somehow, possibly a sixth sense, or maybe because he's the only green-eyed worm waving spindly arms at her. She crouches near him, visibly amused.]
We can set up here, if you want, or go back to my camp. I brought the teapot, but if you come back to my camp you can meet the pets. We have a dog and an owlbear and an intellect devourer.
[ Yamada enjoys her amusement. Her smiles mean a lot to him, especially when he's letting his freak flag fly. There are so many people who have problems with what he can do, pity or disgust or fear or whatever. To Tieve’s just a funny little guy. Her current look has his inner monologue include the phrase ‘hmm, it’s a waifu.’ He uses the term ironically, but that's the first step to saying it and meaning it.
His little noodle arms squidge against the side of his front end, though the nub can't technically thoughtfully scratch. There's not enough edge. ]
Do any of those eat worms?
[ To note, he hasn't altered his rough, deep voice at all. The volume is reduced, but by less than you'd expect. ]
[It's nice to have someone around who's a funny little guy. She's never met anyone without a sad story to tell, and she knows Yamada is no exception, but the way he keeps going, experimenting, playing, is reassuring.
The sound of his voice emerging from a tiny worm body makes her sputter with laughter, but she shakes her head.] Scratch would never, and the intellect devourer is on a special diet. Chirp--that's the owlbear--would be the only concern, but he's very good about not biting things I tell him not to.
[Really, he has spectacular self-discipline for an owlbear cub, and he's quite loyal!]
[ Yamada presses one of his lil' sticky orb hands to his tube, roughly like a chest. ]
Phew! You know wee wormies got big worries. [ He holds the little arms up, requesting a lift. He could probably find a way to move fast as a worm but it'd be weird! ] Still... intellect devourer is a pretty scary name. I'd like to keep my intellect.
[That universal 'pick me up' gesture, coming from a teeny worm, makes her laugh all over again. She taps the end of her staff on the ground lightly, though, making sure her fingers are damp enough before she scoops him up. Hopefully he won't be offended if she wants to wash up before she eats anything. He's cute and all, but he has been crawling in potting soil.]
They do eat thoughts. And brain meat. The one I have has decided I'm its best friend, though, and it's fine just eating animals, unless someone attacks it. It's a weird little thing. I ran into it when it had just been born, on a mindflayer ship. It was calling for help, and--well, the process of creating them is terrible, they come from people who have undergone metamorphosis, but it's not really the intellect devourer's fault. They don't ask to be born.
Anyway, I helped it then, and later on I saved it from being kept in a cage. Its name is Us. It's basically a brain on legs, but it has an illusion running so people that don't know it will think it's a cat. You may or may not see it as it is at first.
[ Yamada happily squirms himself into a coil in her palm, splashing his little nubs in the water. Putting on a little show for her which slows down as she describes the brain on legs. He has his issues with brain alteration- that whole thing with brain eating bacteria ruining his life. Nothing major.
Still, Tieve trusts the thing. So it's probably okay. ]
...Okie dokie.
[ In truth, if he was faced with a thinking creature in a cage that didn't deserve to be there, he'd probably rescue it too. But he's a little on edge and thinking about making sure his precious Tieve isn't in danger. ]
[Well, now he knows she is relatively unfazed by things like brains on legs and humans turning into them. Clearly him transforming into tiny cute worms and other innocuous critters will never be a problem for her.]
I think it was me that changed it, actually. [She confesses, turning to make her way back to the crossroads she entered from.] I'm not sure how, but it had broken away from the hive mind. I felt a little responsible.
[She trusts Us, yes. She's not sure what it would do if something happened to her. Go rogue, maybe, and attend only to its own needs and interests. But for now, she has it under her wing.
For what is essentially a trip from one world to another, it's a quick jaunt. She shelters Yamada in the palm of her hand as she steps across the threshold. Immediately on the other side, the scents of the woods are strong and vibrant, laced with the spicy smell of woodsmoke. When Tieve says 'camp' she means it. It's just her and her animals for the moment, but the setup she has is a bonfire, a cooking pit, and a large but rather rustic tent, all close to a well. The skyline of a city is visible in the distance, to the west, and further away, a river or sea.
Closer up, of course, there's the tea party: saucers, cups--one of which is set up like a small table, with a moss tuffet for a seat for him--and a white dog sleeping nearby, patiently waiting for his mistress to return.]
He takes hits so badly, though! So does Astarion, but he gets all shirty if I try to protect him because I'll give away his hiding place if I stand too close.
[Her love language is interfering in everyone's shit in the most gently overbearing way possible.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
@troubasaur
Handsome AND generous! You have to add that much, at least, then.
Is there a number for the price on our heads yet? We should keep track of that, it's almost like an investment.
@gortash
Define 'fairly'. You may have forgotten we have tadpoles in our heads, but I haven't. We have a way to circumvent that for the moment, but until the Elder Brain is fully under control, we have a liability you don't. Genuinely, I have reason to believe we'd have an easier time destroying it than we would bringing it to heel, so from my perspective you're asking me to take a greater risk and gamble on your integrity.
Karlach's situation is evidence that you're willing to betray your allies. I believe your intentions are fair at the moment, but I don't believe you're particularly loyal, yourself. You're demanding I prove myself to you, and I think it should be the other way around. My companions have already proven themselves to me. You haven't, and I'm not signing up to be your right hand or your enforcer. If I'm doing this, it will be as your equal.
That said, I hadn't considered that you might be afraid of her. That's actually sort of cute. You want collateral? I could bring you the Runepowder bomb we were given to destroy your Foundry with.
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You know, I'd almost like to send Aylin off to flatten him, herself, only it doesn't seem fair to ask her to do our dirty work alone. She could, I'm sure, but she shouldn't have to. Did you see Rolan, by any chance? He might know something.
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[Maybe that song to encourage Rolan to stop drinking his woes away - which Savvy had improvised right there in the Last Light - has put the lad off of ever interacting with this big lizard.]
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[Okay, so, maybe she's showing off a little. What's the point of having a Raindancer staff if you never get to take it anywhere? When she arrives, it's with said staff in one hand, and a basket in the other, and consequently she looks like the good witch in a fairy tale, greeting lost worm children in the woods.
She locates him immediately somehow, possibly a sixth sense, or maybe because he's the only green-eyed worm waving spindly arms at her. She crouches near him, visibly amused.]
We can set up here, if you want, or go back to my camp. I brought the teapot, but if you come back to my camp you can meet the pets. We have a dog and an owlbear and an intellect devourer.
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...I meant Rolan, not you, to be clear, but I suppose it goes for all of us.
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His little noodle arms squidge against the side of his front end, though the nub can't technically thoughtfully scratch. There's not enough edge. ]
Do any of those eat worms?
[ To note, he hasn't altered his rough, deep voice at all. The volume is reduced, but by less than you'd expect. ]
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The sound of his voice emerging from a tiny worm body makes her sputter with laughter, but she shakes her head.] Scratch would never, and the intellect devourer is on a special diet. Chirp--that's the owlbear--would be the only concern, but he's very good about not biting things I tell him not to.
[Really, he has spectacular self-discipline for an owlbear cub, and he's quite loyal!]
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Phew! You know wee wormies got big worries. [ He holds the little arms up, requesting a lift. He could probably find a way to move fast as a worm but it'd be weird! ] Still... intellect devourer is a pretty scary name. I'd like to keep my intellect.
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They do eat thoughts. And brain meat. The one I have has decided I'm its best friend, though, and it's fine just eating animals, unless someone attacks it. It's a weird little thing. I ran into it when it had just been born, on a mindflayer ship. It was calling for help, and--well, the process of creating them is terrible, they come from people who have undergone metamorphosis, but it's not really the intellect devourer's fault. They don't ask to be born.
Anyway, I helped it then, and later on I saved it from being kept in a cage. Its name is Us. It's basically a brain on legs, but it has an illusion running so people that don't know it will think it's a cat. You may or may not see it as it is at first.
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Still, Tieve trusts the thing. So it's probably okay. ]
...Okie dokie.
[ In truth, if he was faced with a thinking creature in a cage that didn't deserve to be there, he'd probably rescue it too. But he's a little on edge and thinking about making sure his precious Tieve isn't in danger. ]
Well, I'm sure we'll all be friends in no time.
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I think it was me that changed it, actually. [She confesses, turning to make her way back to the crossroads she entered from.] I'm not sure how, but it had broken away from the hive mind. I felt a little responsible.
[She trusts Us, yes. She's not sure what it would do if something happened to her. Go rogue, maybe, and attend only to its own needs and interests. But for now, she has it under her wing.
For what is essentially a trip from one world to another, it's a quick jaunt. She shelters Yamada in the palm of her hand as she steps across the threshold. Immediately on the other side, the scents of the woods are strong and vibrant, laced with the spicy smell of woodsmoke. When Tieve says 'camp' she means it. It's just her and her animals for the moment, but the setup she has is a bonfire, a cooking pit, and a large but rather rustic tent, all close to a well. The skyline of a city is visible in the distance, to the west, and further away, a river or sea.
Closer up, of course, there's the tea party: saucers, cups--one of which is set up like a small table, with a moss tuffet for a seat for him--and a white dog sleeping nearby, patiently waiting for his mistress to return.]
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I do the same for the others sometimes. Well. For Gale, mostly. [Wizards are delicate.]
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But ah, she brings up another favorite subject.]
He's a former Chosen, Tieve. He's capable of taking care of himself.
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[Her love language is interfering in everyone's shit in the most gently overbearing way possible.]
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