nexus_sages | (no subject)

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Without warning, someone emerges into the Nexus through a swirling portal of light.

The smartly-dressed young man, one-handedly adjusting a pair of dark-framed glasses on his nose as he walks, appears to be quite involved in paging through a book of some sort, hence not noticing that he is most likely not where he was actually intending to be. It's only when he finally looks up from the book--

"--I can't be sure as of yet, but it appears...that it...might..."

Yes, this is definitely not where he meant to end up.

He blinks slowly - once, twice, three times, absently taking a bookmark from his pocket so he can close the book and take a very good look around.

A brochure from a nearby table finds its way quickly into his hands, and while it doesn't really explain things to his satisfaction, at least it gives him a bit of an idea to work with. Now...a question. Which involves picking one out of the multitude swirling round in his head.

"...How - hypothetically, mind you - would one go about showing their appreciation to someone who was kind enough to take them in? Without overstepping their boundaries," he hurries to add the last bit, looking sour.

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"To grant all wishes would, I think, be worse than granting no wishes. Let us imagine two warriors on opposite sides. Each wishes for the strength or the skill to defeat the other. What happens? If there are more fighting in the name of an evil cause, do their greater number of wishes mean that overall, evil wins the day?" He shakes his head mournfully, tucking his hands into his sleeves. "It is a troubling prospect."

Kazuma has also said some things about the nature of divinity in his world that need processing. "She would cease to be? That, too, is troubling. If even the gods are so ephemeral..."

"Well, there is some free will to it. A god may choose to answer one specific wish, or set of wishes, over another. It's mostly just the obscure gods forced to answer any wish that comes, good or evil." He chuckles; he knows a rather obscure god himself. "I believe Lady Bishamon makes every choice she does for a reason. Not once yet..."

He pauses - amends that. "Once. Only once have I been forced to call her decision into question, as she was acting influenced by the pain of an old wound, and may have harmed myself and the other shinki inadvertently had she carried on. She is reasonable; she backed down immediately and was grateful I had stopped her."

"...She can carry quite a grudge, though." Which makes the 'old wound' sound an emotional one rather than physical. Which is true.

"Ah? That is better, then. A choice is always better than blind obedience." The young man's answer seems to settle his worries somewhat. "Thank you, also, for sharing the tale of her misstep. Some detractors, I know, would take it as a sign she is flawed. Some supporters would hide it, for fear of the flaw it exposes. I take it well that your faith in her is sufficient that you can speak truly, even of her missteps, and also that she is willing to heed friends and advisors with regard to those errors, and to avoid or amend them as necessary."

"Would it be prying to ask to what the grudge in question pertains?"

"Prying? No, not at all." Kazuma lets out a quiet chuckle. "One of those obscure gods committed a sort of crime against her - thousands of years ago, when there was no other choice but kill or be killed. She hasn't yet forgiven him, and I doubt she ever will. Not that I entirely blame her - it is painful to lose something precious, whether one is a god, a shinki or a human."

"May I ask what, or whom, she lost?"

Kazuma hesitates a moment, his face going solemn.

"...Her former clan of shinki," he answers finally. "That obscure god was forced to kill them...so she wouldn't die."

"A tragedy, indeed," Shade-Seeker sighs, bowing his head for a moment in respect for the fallen. "I gather the circumstances were complex."

"Terribly complex." Kazuma lets out a sigh, but at the same time, he looks grateful for Shade-Seeker's respect.

"I am the last remnant of those shinki, as it so happens. Thank you."

"I hope that your more recent works have been less, hm, harrowing?" he offers.

"Yes, thankfully." That gets a bit of a smile out of him. "I might even go so far as to call it fun."

"Even when your work is war?"

"I do find it quite entertaining to wrangle seven shinki who all want to do their own thing." He says it blandly, but he isn't kidding. It's really become a source of endless amusement.

"I imagine they must make for very entertaining personalities?" he prompts, always glad to hear people's stories.

"Oh, quite. We have a whip with no sense of direction, an armor with no sense of modesty, twin weapons who like to constantly argue with one another..." Kazuma shrugs in amusement. "But they're all family, and honestly I wouldn't trade them for anything."

"Are those... titles?" the puzzled lizard needs to ask.

"...I suppose it is confusing," Kazuma admits, looking a bit sheepish. "Shinki exist primarily for the purpose of protecting the god who has named them, and as a result they have two forms - their human form, like this," he gestures to himself, "and their battle form, which can be a weapon, a piece or suit of armor...or in my case, an earring. As coordinator of the other shinki, I do not do battle directly, but instead assure all their efforts go smoothly."

He considers that for a moment, before his expression lights up with understanding. "Ah! You are a little like the daedra of my own world, perhaps. They are spirits who may exist in a living form, or who may be summoned and bound into the form of some useful tool--armor, a weapon, as you say--for a short time."

"Exactly like that," Kazuma agrees, looking pleased and relieved that Shade-Seeker has something to compare to for easier understanding. "I don't think there's a limit on how long a shinki can be summoned in their tool form, but you've got the exact idea."

"Is it your goddess, only, who can summon you thus? Or would a mortal with the proper knowledge be able to do so as well?" He tilts his head to one side thoughtfully for a moment. "In either case, I would expect gods to be able to do things beyond mortal reach."

"A shinki can only be summoned by the god who has named them - marked them." A hand is raised to show the mark on the back of it. "Though there are some with multiple masters - but that is the sign of a bad master and a bad shinki both. Any self-respecting shinki will not let themselves be named by more than one god, and any god who would do such is clearly a depraved individual with no morals or common sense."

"Do the shinki have a choice, when gods are offering, ah, names?" Shade-Seeker hesitates only a moment to seek the correct terminology.

"You know, I'm not entirely sure. I don't think so, though." Thoughtful Kazuma is thoughtful.

"Respectfully," he suggests, "it might be ungenerous to denigrate the character of the shinki who serve many masters, if they may be without choice in the matter."

"No offense taken, truly." Kazuma's pretty mild-tempered. "But think of it this way. It is...hm, how shall I - ah, yes. A stray shinki, serving many masters, is like a person dating multiple other people at the same time, stringing them all along. Stray shinki, having many masters, have no true allegiance to any of them, and may betray them at any time. A god who still names a stray is...rather desperate."

"Have we not all been desperate, at some time?" the lizard points out gently. "As for the simile of one who maintains many lovers, can we say with certainty that such love could never be valid? It is one thing to keep each in secret, deluded with the conceit that they alone hold the wanderer's heart, but if all parties know--and consent in knowing? I at least would not be prepared to pass judgment upon their character."