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Tumunzahar makes Menegroth look like a contract project. Which, the Dwarves assure her, it was. The stonework is astonishingly careful and beautiful, silky to the touch up close while from a distance it gives the impression of stretching on forever above, a sky of stone with crystals for stars. Vast natural cave systems are connected by dozens of perfectly smooth, gently sloped broad stone pathways from which the fall, if she fell, would be several miles down. There are handrails. "We use those to move materials carts," someone explains to her, "we're not going to be reckless."
There's an amphitheater, a place where a hundred of the stone walkways twine around to create space for a hundred thousand people to sit in close proximity, and someone is giving a lecture or a demonstration at the base of it, the seats closest to him filled with eager, tiny, bearded Dwarf-children.
And they spiral down, and down, and down, past waterfalls and egg-sized gemstones left half in the rock and halls of crystal. Everything grows gradually more ornate and more perfectly maintained and the clang of hammers fades behind them. "People say," her guide says, "that we only have a council instead of a single King because there were nine winners of the competition to design the throne so we couldn't just select one person to sit it." And they push open the doors to reveal, indeed, nine thrones so elaborate it would be hard to choose between them, and nine squat bearded people sitting them.
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You can send emotions through osanwë, yes? If you're experienced with osanwë, you'd never confuse a communicated emotion with a innate one, you're hearing one and experiencing the other. If you're inexperienced with osanwë, it's more of a problem - by convention we don't send emotions to children except very sparingly, or while saying "I'm sending you what being angry feels like".
Love songs communicate love, they don't induce it. But they communicate it very intensely and viscerally, and if someone is not sufficiently familiar - the difference between the Maiar and us is as large as the difference between us and Men, and we're overwhelmed - overwritten, even - should they desire to overwhelm us. I do think Melian wronged Elu, though not intentionally.
Love songs communicate love, they don't induce it. But they communicate it very intensely and viscerally, and if someone is not sufficiently familiar - the difference between the Maiar and us is as large as the difference between us and Men, and we're overwhelmed - overwritten, even - should they desire to overwhelm us. I do think Melian wronged Elu, though not intentionally.
purposeful_glory
Well that's horrifying and I'm glad I was introduced to osanwë by benign persons.
I keep thinking what would have happened if you'd landed in Angband.
purposeful_glory
...Depends a whole lot on what strategy they took with me. Wouldn't've had my nonremovable suicide method figured out.
Could've taught you to distinguish osanwë. Couldn't have taught you anything about ice powers.
purposeful_glory
I mean, if I were introduced to a Balrog at some point I'd have figured it out, but if Morgoth decided to go straight for the heavy mindfuckery no guarantee that would happen soon enough.
As a rule I think they do conventional torture first. I always thought it was considerate of them; if you get sent back and all you can say is 'he gave me hallucinations' no one will understand, but they can look at scars and missing limbs and missing - and then you don't have to explain the really bad parts, you can let the things that weren't really so bad cover for them -
purposeful_glory
- I actually don't know how unpleasant I'd find being conventionally tortured, what with the ability to heal myself multiple times a second if that's what I need to be doing. Uh, should I apologize about your scars...?
I think the political advantages to being visibly recovering from torture are outweighed by the advantages of having full mobility and a not-alarming face and a body that will work properly once I have the time to correct my instincts surrounding it.
purposeful_glory
Okay. I originally considered making an option in the spell to leave scars in case I ever acquired some battle injury that would definitely scar and I was witnessed doing it, but I didn't, it just seemed like a stupid feature for a healing spell.
If I wanted scars I could give them to myself.
I don't think I'd have the slightest trouble killing myself but cutting myself superficially would be difficult. Luckily as far as things to unlearn that one is far down the list of priorities.
Eating took about three months. I really expect I'll have my head all sorted in a decade, then it's just waiting for sufficient evidence that real time has passed.
My family's going to want to hug me when they move in and I'm going to be perfectly able to do it.
purposeful_glory
...I'd say 'that's good' but 'able' is not the standard I actually apply when assigning goodness to family hugs.
I need them to be able to convince themselves I'm fine.
purposeful_glory
On the subverbal level, or are you planning to tell them you think they're real, too?
Case-by-case basis.
purposeful_glory
How do you case-by-case that? They'll talk to each other.
No one's going to ask me 'do you think I'm a hallucination?' Well. Moryo will and I'll tell him 'I give it around an 80% chance', Tyelcormo will and I'll tell him 'I thought that even before Angband'. Everyone else will try to feel it out and they'll stop poking once they feel safe.