Colonizing the Dark Continent (For Weiss Ritter)

[Xatarias]

The transformation in the Sphinx's demeanor is almost comical. She seems to almost shrink in size when you ensnare her in your iron prison and sulkily laps at her injured shoulder, wincing with every shifted movement.... Cry baby isn't something you feel comfortable applying to such a majestic creature, but it seems particularly apt in this instance.

"Not fair," she mumbles into her fur. "I possess the most ancient knowledge, powerful knowledge. My consciousness was born of the musings of philosophers, magicians, and rulers! I'm practically royalty, and yet I'm made to submit to some scrawny pervert and his host of furry minions."

Her tone actually implies that she believes the situation to be some great injustice.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Nathaniel watched the Sphinx almost in disbelief. He half-expected r transformation from sultry temptress to enraged demigod to sulking brat to be nothing more than yet another ploy to get him to lower his guard. Perhaps it was, but if so she acted the part like a natural.

'Pervert'.

Nathaniel's jaw tightened at that word and his lips parted to fire off some humbling retort, but he caught himself. Now wasn't the time to get drawn into petty arguments that might have had more basis in reality than he would have cared to admit to anyone. Not while the rest of what the Sphinx had to say for herself offered so many intriguing possibilities.

"What do you mean 'born of musings'?" He asked with a thoughtful frown. "You implied that you speak for and had some influence over other...forces within the Song. I assumed that meant you were an...entity with the Gift that developed a god complex in life, but you're implying that's possible for truly independent wills to be created within the Song itself...?"

That was fascinating...and concerning. Despite her inhuman body, the Sphinx alternated between acting like an entitled noble and a spoiled brat, but was it possible for a truly alien, vastly more dangerous mind to be spawned from the endless depths of the Song into world where flesh was just an affectation? Perhaps he had been more right than he knew to fret over what instilling the army he'd created with true life would have meant.

"I'm not certain how much you've managed to glean about me and my predicament, but I need power and knowledge relatively quickly," The young man crossed his arms and gave the Sphinx a stern look that may have well felt like he was prodding at her very soul. "Not quickly enough that I can't afford to take precautions, but swiftly enough that my pragmatic streak is beginning to demand that I get results soon and worry about my ability to sleep at night when everyone I know and love is no longer endangered..."

 

[Xatarias]

The sphinx arches a superior eyebrow and gives an imperious sniff, as if you were the one trapped in a cage.

"Most magus train for years, slowly adding folds to their Song as to not be overwhelmed. Meticulous, thoughtful, and cautious. These are the traits of a true practitioner. Honestly, the only reason you haven't been overwhelmed yet is because you allowed not one but several entities to emerge."

You blink and suddenly a house cat is slipping between the bars of your prison, sidling up against your leg with a purr. You notice its shoulder still bears a bullet graze.

"I might be persuaded to form a partnership of sorts... Trust me, you'll need all the help you can get."

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Years? Nathaniel would have liked to challenge the sphinx's estimate even if he had the luxury of studying the Song with all due caution-if only to wipe that imperious sneer off her face and avenge the implication that he was neither meticulous, thoughtful, nor cautious despite the precautions his prisoner had walked right into.

The mention of releasing several entities did earn a wary tilt of Nathaniel's head. More minds circling him in the Song's currents like sharks in the water made him less likely to be overwhelmed? Unintuitive.

The young man grunted at the slight but unexpected pressure grinding and purring against his leg. Plant tendrils were very nearly conjured out of the ground, but with half a dozen burly guards nearby and Forestfolk rangers watching from the rooftops he was able to stop himself.

"Trust you?" Nathaniel looked down at his tormentor-turned-"guest" as figuratively as he did literally. Then he sighed softly. "...Well, I trust you understand that you understand whatever plans you and your accomplices have will amount to nothing if my enemies break me into another of their living tools. Are you familiar with them, or do I need to share some of the pleasant memories I've endured since tapping into the Song?"

He wasn't sure whether he should have been pining for Altestra by now. The matron of the Hillfolk made it clear she wasn't entirely sure if his life was worth much when weighed against even a potential threat to her adopted clan, but at least he could be fairly certain the sorceress had no desire to take his body on a joyride doing gods only knew what!

 

[Xatarias]

Hardened as you are against the wiles of this strange entity, her peal of laughter is not exactly expected. It contains the strain of hysteria, a desperation that sends a shiver down your spine.

"Familiar? More than you might believe... Nathanial, when I said you had multiple consciousnesses wandering your song, I didn't mean to imply that we were some sort of pack united in purpose. There's been a war going on, or haven't you noticed? The headaches, the discordant clamor of voices? Who do you think we've been fighting?"

You find yourself walking in the wake of a beautiful woman, her hands trailing in the flowering plants of the garden.

"It wasn't long after we were born from the aether of memory, that it struck. Like some brutal beast among lambs, consuming, growing in strength..."

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Nathaniel found himself tensing at the...entity's sudden laughter in spite of himself. He'd come to expect a certain mocking and sometimes unjustified arrogance from her, but for once that didn't seem to be the cause of her display. The preening sphinx sounded just short of terrified.

The young man blinked and suddenly found himself following not a cat or mythical beast, but a woman once more. How did she...was that a trick he could learn if he applied himself?

As she spoke, Nathaniel paused in the midst of his garden. He wasn't certain if it was just his imagination or if his sanctuary was truly responding to him, but the air seemed to chill while the rest of the world ground to a halt.

"An amalgamation of every sociopathic would-be tyrant to ever come into contact with the Song...?" His words were more meant for himself than the Sphinx. The notion itself was not terribly difficult to grasp, but what it had the potential to mean...

Lone memories from the Patron's life alone had tormented him enough to steal several nights of sleep and make him fear for his very consciousness. The Patron alone built a powerbase to span the Old World if Alestra was to believed and turned Agatha into the monster she became. What if he was just one part of the...thing hunting through the Song? Even if this twist psychic construct could not employ the memories of the living, what of men and women just like the Patron who'd lived through this secret history of the world Nathaniel had only just became aware of?

"The fact that you are telling me this suggests that you and the others have not been handily holding it back..." Nathaniel's tone was much more dry and reserved than he actually felt about now.

"Is this a warning to ensure I'm not consumed myself? Or are do you believe I can help destroy or shackle this...creation?"

 

[Xatarias]

"It is a thing born of intent rather than memory," the sphinx explains. "A weapon. While the rest of us floundered in the turmoil of your awakening, it moved with singular purpose. Its strength increases by consuming the darker aspects of your song and it is arming itself with the most potent abstractions available to it."

She plucks a blossom from a nearby rose bush, fingers gently tracing its delicate folds. How new this must all be to someone who spent her entire existence in a dessert wasteland.

"I think it is meant to cripple you. Leave you easy prey to another Magus in the physical world. Although how someone could have infected your store of memories with such a creature, I do not know."

You do. Thinking back to the memory of the Patron meeting the siren, you realize that your respective Songs share a thread in common. These past days have been filled with worry of the Syndicate's far reaching hand, but it seems it has been here all this time. Closer than you had ever thought possible.

 

[Weiss Ritter]

Nathaniel frowned as the sphinx explored his garden. Even if this twisted construct wasn't an amalgamation of every dark soul that had been linked to the Song, it was still able to strengthen itself through its rampages. Not only that, but if the sphinx was implying what he thought she was by "most potent abstractions", then it was assembling an army much like the one he'd created to overwhelm him personally...

"The Patron," His jaw and tone were both tense. It wasn't a huge leap of logic to me. Truthfully, Nathaniel had toyed with the notion of attempting a similar thing himself. The Patron's memories were within the Song after all. Obviously, if such a thing were possible at all, it was beyond his current capabilities, but the thought had occurred. Unfortunately, it seemed the Patron had already taken such a tactic to an extreme even Nathaniel hadn't quite been able to anticipate.

"If what you say is true, then the sooner we excise this entity, the better. It's only going to grow stronger if left alone, and at least one other gifted foe will be arriving in a few weeks."