[ maybe if he's quiet enough while studying this information, gale will fall asleep.
despite knowing several languages, this book is still cryptic linguistically to him; however, the illustrations provide a introductory understanding. he bookmarks this page with a ring finger and continues perusing, looking over the pages from below the white lashes. hmmm. ]
Well, your "Dethrone" sounds not unlike a dunamancy spell called Ravenous Void.
[ tara will come up and sit directly next to the book with her wings folded back, also, apparently, trying to read it. gale is just face down on the desk, but somehow still sounds interested once Essek starts talking spells.]
Does it? I wouldn't be entirely shocked, there does seem to be some overlap between Netherese magic and your dunamancy, if not precisely the same.
[ the diagrams show the components for a spell - and are collectively called the The Regalia. A crown, a sceptre, and an orb. Presuming Essek has spent countless hours studying the profiles of course (no), but the shape of the crown might be familiar too, considering it appears on gale's profile image.]
[ oh......... hello, miss tara. this is apparently something he is accustomed to experiencing, so he does not mind. sort of looking at her....... then kind of turns the book and papers so she can also read. ]
Perhaps they are the same sort of magic, but called different things.
[ hmmmm. he isn't too sure he likes this book all that much actually??? sorta. when a book is interesting as hell, but kinda questionable. ]
What exactly... are you trying to accomplish with this book's enigmatic information? What are your plans when you uncover what you can of its riddles?
well, okay. fucking cat behavior. for a moment, essek makes the most pathetic attempt to try lifting the edge of a page to sort of..... look at it "around" tara's obstruction, but then gives up because she is across the whole thing.
he glances at gale, then reaches over and forcefully pushes gale's head back down onto the table. go to sleep. ]
[ TABLED? anyway tara clearly agrees on the absolutely not statement and will continue laying here to be a reading impediment. gale, face in the table: ]
[ he screws up his face, because he is, actually factually, kind of mad and sulky about being told no. probably a little glimpse into the uglier sides of his ambition, and it's barely even being touched upon yet. ]
I would entertain such an idea because I can see it so much more clearly than him. I see exactly where he made his mistakes. His errors, his sloppiness, his lack of a thousand years of magical advancement since his time and I could - I could fix it. Do it better. Actually help people, instead of simply hurt them. A near endless well of magic, my magic, that Mystra herself could not touch or threaten to pull from my grasp.
[ stop pouting. why does HE have to be the one to talk gale down from this, hello. he was literally ass deep in a similar circumstance. ]
And what do you think you would have to give up to obtain such a thing? Your morals? Your friends? Your empathy? Were you not the one who told me Mystra lacked the understanding of humans? There is always a price to pay.
[ is he still being face-dunked into the table. he is trying to sit up now, contested strength check.
he has arguments prepared for all of this, a while fucking spiel about how the trade would be worth it, that a god with the morals of a mortal would be objectively better wouldn't it? but that statement pretty much cuts to the quick of this particular insecurity and leaves him stunned into silence. enjoy the quiet for like 2 seconds. ]
[ both white brows rise slowly as he looks a shockingly quiet gale directly in the face. ]
That's what I thought, young man.
[ he taps the edge of the book. ]
Outside of the possibility of a way to remove the orb, there isn't any thing in here useful to you. The wisdom of warnings. Study them to your heart's content, fix the mistakes, but anything else will turn you into something no better than the woman who told you to kill yourself. I can promise you that.
I never wanted to be a god, but I have spent four times your age trying to learn all I could of magic, trying to master all I could. [ ... ] I am telling you this because there is something I have not told you about myself, but something you should probably hear.
there is a little hesitation at first on essek's end. he draws in a quiet breath and then sighs, resigned. ]
First, a explanation. For context. My people are drow, but we and the goblins and the duergar don't live in the Underdark. We live in a city above ground, Rosohna, where we have crafted an eternal night, or throughout the rest of the territory, Xhorhas. Ironically, my people worship a deity of light called the Luxon, and we have uncovered several magical artifacts which my people have... attributed to being pieces of this deity. Those are the Luxon beacons.
They are quite powerful relics. Those who go through the ritual of "consecution" with them are then able to, upon death within the radius of a beacon, have their soul reincarnated into a child recently born in the vicinity. This, they believe, is the gift of their Luxon.
well he has about a billion and a half questions about all of that information out of a deep and genuine curiosity, but he recognizes that he is in the middle of a story here so will hold under the end. and anyway there's quite a bit of sympathy for the hesitation, it's not as if he hasn't had to tell his own little sordid tale of hubris before the fall exactly like this.]
I... do not really hold the same beliefs as my people. I don't care much for religion personally, and I have always thought they were wasting great opportunity to learn more about the beacons. What all they can do, why they were likely created. My people refuse to research them, refuse to question them.
And I... wanted nothing more than to prove them wrong. To find out all I could about them. So... I... stole two of them. I stole two of the beacons, and I took them to one of the only places I knew, a collective of powerful mages called the Cerberus Assembly. But this group is a part of the Empire, and the Empire and Xhorhas are adversaries.
[ it's hard not to see the parallels. the sins that ambition hath wrought. all of that frustration and pressing at the boundaries and desire to prove everyone wrong finally boiling over into a mistake that isn't leading anywhere good.
essek had told him he thought gale would judge him for this, but he's having a hard time seeing anything but a mirror. war's moniker is starting to make sense, at least. ]
And I imagine the sudden transference of ownership of artifacts containing the souls of Xhorhas did not go particularly smoothly.
They are tethered, bonded to the beacon. Thankfully not housed. However, losing one beacon, much less two, when your reincarnation depends on its nearby radius... Well, yes. You can imagine how poorly it went.
We aren't the only people or power with them. They were... excavated from ancient ruins during an age of expansive magical growth and engineering. Not unlike the one you told me about from your world. Something similar.
[ ... ]
No one knows. Not my mother, the Umavi of our den, not my younger brother, not the Bright Queen I serve, and definitely not my... friends. The leader of the Cerberus Assembly I never particularly cared for; he is a cunning, ambitious elf. But his collective... was the only place I thought I could go to find what I wanted.
And I was fine. Before here, even at the start of here. I was nervous, of course, but I had no qualms with what I was doing. Not until... I met Laudna. And that is how I know this book will give you nothing except regret, a regret you won't even recognize because gods rarely feel shame.
[ firstly I don't know he knew Laudna and Essek were from the same world??? news to him. this is so funny help.
secondly - he doesn't reach over to just grab his hand but he will hold a hand out if essek cares to take it. ]
You said before my opinion of you would change if I knew the truth, and I would like you to know that it hasn't. Perhaps it might have, if you said you held no qualms and no regrets even now, but that is the important difference isn't it? The very mortal feeling of caring enough to regret it.
Do you know what happens? If Laudna does ...
[ also a great reason not to ascend gale is its not a good look for him. and essek is entirely right it turns him into a real douchebag. ]
[ the violet eyes lower to regard the hand in a very what is he supposed to do with that rhetorical sort of way. it takes a moment, not unlike a cat actually, for him to hesitantly put a purple, ringed hand in the one offered.
he does not enjoy being perceived so well he becomes flayed open and vulnerable, so he does not acknowledge the first very truthful half. ]
My assumption based on conversation is Laudna comes from... my future. She knows who I am, but I do not know her. Things in that future are not going very well at all.
[ good. putting his other hand on top, so essek's is clasped between. he looks tired, still, some of his hair falling out of place and huge dark circles, but offering a smile. ]
Alright, but ... [ well he knows a little about laudna is dealing with from that perspective then. and can put together some dots on that. ] Alive. So whatever has unfolded between then and now has not ended you. So you have a future. Your endless possibilities, yes?
[ his pinched brows soften slightly. gale looks like a disaster, but he supposes caleb also looked like quite the disaster. is this a white man wizard thing? to be disheveled?
he doesn't try to yank his hand back. ]
I don't want to hear that reassurance from you of all people. [ ... ] That is but one timeline made by who knows how many countless choices. I myself may never even reach that timeline at all.
... Both Karlach and Astarion remember me as alive, in their memories of home. I made a different decision. So I believe I understand rather well the fact that there are timelines in which I live and ones in which I do not. I think the difference may lie in being able to rely upon the people you care for. I for one, think you will be alright.
[ he's not sure whether this is a comfort, or not. it is, but also he feels like being pedantically stubborn. the violet eyes watch gale's face for a moment. ]
I think you shall be all right as well, even though you may think otherwise. [ well. ] If you quit obsessing over this book, that is.
Do Karlach and Astarion know what it is? I'm sure they would have something to say to you about it.
[ he'll meet the gaze for a moment or two before he shrinks a bit, suddenly a little shy after saying all those very sincere things, giving him another pat on top of the hand before gently letting go - moving to pull the book over again, turning a page or two idly. ]
I don't know. They both seemed to recognize it, but perhaps not the details of the contents. [ ... ] As it stands, there is little I can do with the information while in this place anyway. The Crown of Karsus remains out of my grasp and held by the Absolute, and the Orb firmly implanted in my chest.
I'll admit I haven't spoken to them much about their memories of me beyond my own recollection.
[ well, that's very funny in a stupid charming sort of way. gale becomes the timid cat, and essek continues to just look at him without wavering, watching him. his hand remains in the air for a moment before it slowly draws back to himself.
does tara go with the book? gale's mother has been watching him be gay and hold a man's hand. ]
If you don't mind the unsolicited advice... I would implore you to not. Your brain seems to already have enough worries spinning around inside of it. Listening to them describe a separate timeline, a separate Gale with separate decisions will just make you question everything you do.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
despite knowing several languages, this book is still cryptic linguistically to him; however, the illustrations provide a introductory understanding. he bookmarks this page with a ring finger and continues perusing, looking over the pages from below the white lashes. hmmm. ]
Well, your "Dethrone" sounds not unlike a dunamancy spell called Ravenous Void.
no subject
Does it? I wouldn't be entirely shocked, there does seem to be some overlap between Netherese magic and your dunamancy, if not precisely the same.
[ the diagrams show the components for a spell - and are collectively called the The Regalia. A crown, a sceptre, and an orb. Presuming Essek has spent countless hours studying the profiles of course (no), but the shape of the crown might be familiar too, considering it appears on gale's profile image.]
no subject
Perhaps they are the same sort of magic, but called different things.
[ hmmmm. he isn't too sure he likes this book all that much actually??? sorta. when a book is interesting as hell, but kinda questionable. ]
What exactly... are you trying to accomplish with this book's enigmatic information? What are your plans when you uncover what you can of its riddles?
no subject
lifting his head up again, flipping through his notes, trying to interpret them again. ]
... It seems to speak on the nature of the orb, yes? Perhaps it has some way to get rid of it. [ drumming his fingers on the table. ] Or use it.
no subject
well, okay. fucking cat behavior. for a moment, essek makes the most pathetic attempt to try lifting the edge of a page to sort of..... look at it "around" tara's obstruction, but then gives up because she is across the whole thing.
he glances at gale, then reaches over and forcefully pushes gale's head back down onto the table. go to sleep. ]
Absolutely not.
no subject
Excuse me?
[
no subject
I said absolutely not. Why would you entertain such an idea? The latter one. Nothing beneficial would come of that. [ ... ] Trust me.
no subject
I would entertain such an idea because I can see it so much more clearly than him. I see exactly where he made his mistakes. His errors, his sloppiness, his lack of a thousand years of magical advancement since his time and I could - I could fix it. Do it better. Actually help people, instead of simply hurt them. A near endless well of magic, my magic, that Mystra herself could not touch or threaten to pull from my grasp.
no subject
And what do you think you would have to give up to obtain such a thing? Your morals? Your friends? Your empathy? Were you not the one who told me Mystra lacked the understanding of humans? There is always a price to pay.
[ bestowing upon gale a frown of judgment. ]
You are a much better man as you are.
no subject
he has arguments prepared for all of this, a while fucking spiel about how the trade would be worth it, that a god with the morals of a mortal would be objectively better wouldn't it? but that statement pretty much cuts to the quick of this particular insecurity and leaves him stunned into silence. enjoy the quiet for like 2 seconds. ]
no subject
That's what I thought, young man.
[ he taps the edge of the book. ]
Outside of the possibility of a way to remove the orb, there isn't any thing in here useful to you. The wisdom of warnings. Study them to your heart's content, fix the mistakes, but anything else will turn you into something no better than the woman who told you to kill yourself. I can promise you that.
I never wanted to be a god, but I have spent four times your age trying to learn all I could of magic, trying to master all I could. [ ... ] I am telling you this because there is something I have not told you about myself, but something you should probably hear.
no subject
... Go on.
no subject
there is a little hesitation at first on essek's end. he draws in a quiet breath and then sighs, resigned. ]
First, a explanation. For context. My people are drow, but we and the goblins and the duergar don't live in the Underdark. We live in a city above ground, Rosohna, where we have crafted an eternal night, or throughout the rest of the territory, Xhorhas. Ironically, my people worship a deity of light called the Luxon, and we have uncovered several magical artifacts which my people have... attributed to being pieces of this deity. Those are the Luxon beacons.
They are quite powerful relics. Those who go through the ritual of "consecution" with them are then able to, upon death within the radius of a beacon, have their soul reincarnated into a child recently born in the vicinity. This, they believe, is the gift of their Luxon.
[ that's the set-up. ]
no subject
well he has about a billion and a half questions about all of that information out of a deep and genuine curiosity, but he recognizes that he is in the middle of a story here so will hold under the end. and anyway there's quite a bit of sympathy for the hesitation, it's not as if he hasn't had to tell his own little sordid tale of hubris before the fall exactly like this.]
Your orb, I take it?
no subject
Yes, something like that.
[ he, too, had a metaphorical orb. ]
I... do not really hold the same beliefs as my people. I don't care much for religion personally, and I have always thought they were wasting great opportunity to learn more about the beacons. What all they can do, why they were likely created. My people refuse to research them, refuse to question them.
And I... wanted nothing more than to prove them wrong. To find out all I could about them. So... I... stole two of them. I stole two of the beacons, and I took them to one of the only places I knew, a collective of powerful mages called the Cerberus Assembly. But this group is a part of the Empire, and the Empire and Xhorhas are adversaries.
no subject
essek had told him he thought gale would judge him for this, but he's having a hard time seeing anything but a mirror. war's moniker is starting to make sense, at least. ]
And I imagine the sudden transference of ownership of artifacts containing the souls of Xhorhas did not go particularly smoothly.
no subject
They are tethered, bonded to the beacon. Thankfully not housed. However, losing one beacon, much less two, when your reincarnation depends on its nearby radius... Well, yes. You can imagine how poorly it went.
We aren't the only people or power with them. They were... excavated from ancient ruins during an age of expansive magical growth and engineering. Not unlike the one you told me about from your world. Something similar.
[ ... ]
No one knows. Not my mother, the Umavi of our den, not my younger brother, not the Bright Queen I serve, and definitely not my... friends. The leader of the Cerberus Assembly I never particularly cared for; he is a cunning, ambitious elf. But his collective... was the only place I thought I could go to find what I wanted.
And I was fine. Before here, even at the start of here. I was nervous, of course, but I had no qualms with what I was doing. Not until... I met Laudna. And that is how I know this book will give you nothing except regret, a regret you won't even recognize because gods rarely feel shame.
no subject
secondly - he doesn't reach over to just grab his hand but he will hold a hand out if essek cares to take it. ]
You said before my opinion of you would change if I knew the truth, and I would like you to know that it hasn't. Perhaps it might have, if you said you held no qualms and no regrets even now, but that is the important difference isn't it? The very mortal feeling of caring enough to regret it.
Do you know what happens? If Laudna does ...
[ also a great reason not to ascend gale is its not a good look for him. and essek is entirely right it turns him into a real douchebag. ]
no subject
he does not enjoy being perceived so well he becomes flayed open and vulnerable, so he does not acknowledge the first very truthful half. ]
My assumption based on conversation is Laudna comes from... my future. She knows who I am, but I do not know her. Things in that future are not going very well at all.
no subject
Alright, but ... [ well he knows a little about laudna is dealing with from that perspective then. and can put together some dots on that. ] Alive. So whatever has unfolded between then and now has not ended you. So you have a future. Your endless possibilities, yes?
no subject
he doesn't try to yank his hand back. ]
I don't want to hear that reassurance from you of all people. [ ... ] That is but one timeline made by who knows how many countless choices. I myself may never even reach that timeline at all.
no subject
Fair enough.
[ humming at the second part though. ]
... Both Karlach and Astarion remember me as alive, in their memories of home. I made a different decision. So I believe I understand rather well the fact that there are timelines in which I live and ones in which I do not. I think the difference may lie in being able to rely upon the people you care for. I for one, think you will be alright.
no subject
I think you shall be all right as well, even though you may think otherwise. [ well. ] If you quit obsessing over this book, that is.
Do Karlach and Astarion know what it is? I'm sure they would have something to say to you about it.
no subject
I don't know. They both seemed to recognize it, but perhaps not the details of the contents. [ ... ] As it stands, there is little I can do with the information while in this place anyway. The Crown of Karsus remains out of my grasp and held by the Absolute, and the Orb firmly implanted in my chest.
I'll admit I haven't spoken to them much about their memories of me beyond my own recollection.
no subject
does tara go with the book? gale's mother has been watching him be gay and hold a man's hand. ]
If you don't mind the unsolicited advice... I would implore you to not. Your brain seems to already have enough worries spinning around inside of it. Listening to them describe a separate timeline, a separate Gale with separate decisions will just make you question everything you do.
(no subject)
(no subject)