nexus_sages | (no subject)

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Jim Kirk enters the Nexus in a mild daze, still a little stunned at the news he's just received from Command. He doesn't look like he's shaved for a few weeks, but his black Starfleet Academy instructor's uniform is clean and his hair is neatly combed, so it's not like he's been letting himself go or anything.

He gets a cup of coffee on autopilot, before finding a seat to really think over what the hell just happened, a look of hopeful disbelief on his face, like he's been told something that's too good to be true.

"Have you ever had a dream job you never expected to get?" he asks after several minutes, looking up. "For those that haven't, if you knew you wouldn't be home for a couple years, what would you not leave without?"

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"It could be," Jim agrees, thinking back. It seems like a lifetime already. Though he himself hasn't noticed, he's traded some of his youthful exuberance for a growing maturity, thanks to the events of a few months ago. "It's good to hear I don't look like a wreck anymore, either way. I had to spend some time in a hospital not that long ago and getting back to normal's been a trip and a half."

"The path to wellness can be a difficult journey," Shade-Seeker intones soberly, "and I am pleased that you have made it. I am anxious to hear of what you find in your travels--even crossing from one province to another brought so many changes to my life, it is exciting to consider what awaits in yours."

"I'm eager to see what we find too," Jim agrees, smiling. "What's the most interesting thing you've discovered so far?"

"So far?" Shade-Seeker gives a thoughtful rumble, scratching under his chin. "It is difficult to say. I have interfered with divine politics, confronted one who sought to transgress the boundary between life and death... but I think perhaps the implications of the Oblivion Gates and the sigil keeps beyond intrigue me most. If they were not such an imminent threat to the world, I would be quite excited to study the means by which they are created."

Uh-oh. Oblivion Gates are all interesting and stuff, but it's the one before that that catches Jim's attention, and his gaze sharpens a little. "Back up a sec... the boundary between life and death? Like raising the dead?"

"Indeed," Shade-Seeker sighs. "The self-styled 'King of Worms' gathered a cabal of necromancers for that very purpose--although he was also fairly adept at enslaving the living."

"Is it safe to assume that anyone he brought back wasn't... whole?" He's not sure how else to phrase that, but he sure hopes that was the case, rather than there being some kind of... taboo against interfering with completely resurrected beings.

Edited 2017-08-10 02:02 (UTC)

"He was not interested in whole people," Shade-Seeker replies grimly, "only puppets of meat or shade. But he also bound the souls of the people he slew, and used them in the crafting of his tools. The gods permit the souls of animals and daedra to be used in this manner, but forbid so entrapping the mortal races."

"That's messed up," Jim says, frowning deeply. Inwardly, he's a little relieved, though. Not that he was planning to mention that he spent a little time on the other side, but should that ever come to light, he hopes that won't threaten the friendliness between the two of them.

"I can see why you'd wanna stop him."

"Indeed it was," Shade-Seeker agrees, nodding soberly. "Thankfully, his overconfidence was his undoing. Well, that and a little alchemy on my part." He gives a low chuckle.

"Credit where it's due," Jim agrees, smiling slightly. Whatever the case, he's glad to hear that this King of Worms guy has been stopped. "So these Oblivion Gates... there's no chance you'll get the opportunity to study them, or is it way too dangerous to risk it?"

Shade-Seeker takes a little bow, flashing a glimpse of his pointed teeth as he grins. Defeating a master mage with simple poisons and classic Argonian swamp-fighting tactics was a pleasure for him, and a reminder that a simple oversight can bring down the mighty.

But Jim has asked a practical question, and it pulls Shade-Seeker back to the subject. "There may be some opportunity for study," he admits, "but as they are the tool for a daedric invasion of my world, closing them takes priority over learning to replicate them."

Jim nods a little, understanding and accepting the necessity. "Research gets outweighed by battle strategy," he says knowingly. "Happens a little too often, but it sounds like there's not much you can do about it."

"I can be attentive during the conflict, and draw what conclusions I may in peace," he muses. "Making the best of it, eh?"

"Better than missing out entirely," Jim agrees. "Is there anyone else observing who'd know what sort of things to look for? Maybe you can compare notes when it's all over."

"There are others involved, yes," he confirms, "and I certainly intend to ask for their observations as soon as peace is restored. There is much learning to do, and I am eager for it."

"Here's hoping that'll be soon, then," Jim says, saluting Shade-Seeker with his coffee. "The sooner the war's over, the sooner you can get back to your studies, right?"

He nods in agreement. "Just so. Although I will concede, war has driven my studies to results I would not have considered in peace."

"Necessity breeds invention. Anything particularly interesting? Or is it something you'd need a background in magic to fully appreciate?" Jim's always interested to learn more about other cultures, regardless of who they might be.

"I devised a variation on a spell of rage which needs no background in magic to appreciate," Shade-Seeker offers. "The spell clouds the mind with unreasoning anger, and the subject is driven to attack those nearest, be they friend or foe. My variant adds a splash, covering a wide area and affecting all within. Cast while infiltrating a stronghold of the enemy, it proves very effective so long as I go discreetly."

That sounds kind of horrifying, if tactically useful. Not a great spell to have in the wrong hands, but if the people you're fighting won't back down... well, anyway. "So it's like a kind of... anger grenade. Make them distract themselves."

In the wrong hands, it would indeed be horrifying. Even as part of himself is proud and pleased to have wrought this spell, another part of Shade-Seeker shivers at the thought of it. "This word, grenade, is unfamiliar, but the context seems correct."

"It's a sort of portable bomb," Jim explains, since they're doing the cultural knowledge exchange thing. Seems only fair that he should elaborate on something Shade-Seeker is unfamiliar with. "Early types were pretty much confined to concussive force and shrapnel, but these days they make grenades with different effects, like incendiary or stun. They pretty much all work the same for deployment; you activate it and throw or roll it into a group of enemies, and it goes off a few seconds later."

Shade-Seeker considers that for a moment, then gives a quick nod. He grasps the premise, although another unfamiliar word has come up. "Shrapnel?"

Oh, hmm. Maybe it's another terminology difference, or perhaps magic hasn't come up with a use for such a thing yet. "Little sharp bits, usually metal, that an explosion can fling at high speed. The more bits there are, the more dangerous it is to be around."