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A man grumbles at the cold. He always grumbles at the cold, here. Everyone does. There's no escaping it. You can wear the warmest clothing possible, sit by a roaring fire, and still the cold bites. It doesn't numb, either, you'd think that after a while you'd just go numb - no. It's not that kind of cold. The victim shivers and curses and bundles up with a thousand layers and still it's so cold that it hurts. Almost everyone here travels from tiny insufficient fire to tiny insufficient fire to insufficient and drafty bar run by a terrifying dragon, trying to stave off the cold. It never works, but it makes it slightly less torturous. And cursing and grumbling at it always helps.
He is not staying here any longer than he has to. He is not going to fucking stay here, no way. He's been through too much to languish as a sacrificial lamb in the eighth circle of hell while an archdevil goes on a rampage. Cania's for traitors. And he's not one. He was loyal until the day he - well, not died. Was banished. And he doesn't deserve to be here.
He'll find a way out. Eventually. And then someone's going to have a very bad day.
But he's not thinking about that right now. He's thinking that he's pretty sure some vital parts are going to turn blue and fall off from the cold, so he's picked the warmest of his available frigid options to try and plan his next move. He'll take the bar with the dragon. He opens the door -
...
And this is not the bar with the dragon. It's much, much warmer.
His head screams trap, but he can't bring himself to close the door and walk away. Inside he goes, shivering. Warmth.
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furtive_heroics
furtive_heroics
"Subtle arts?" he asks, because the only subtle art he's ever heard of is the art of cheating at cards without getting your teeth knocked in.
subtly_artistic
"Maybe you call them psionics or something? Not a technical term, but whatever. Oh, and I am not reading your mind, I don't have that problem."
furtive_heroics
"Oh! Psionics! Yes, I know what those are. Okay. Thanks for not reading my mind, I appreciate it." He is good enough at controlling himself that he doesn't scoot away, and - well. He's fought mindflayers. Mindflayers. Walked into their base and then said, 'Why no I do not want to give you the magic thing you want instead you can go straight to hell' instead of not doing a stupid crazy suicidal thing like that. A psionic in college is kind of - not as scary, in comparison.
(Though he prods at the mental techniques The Seer walked him through for resisting mind tampering. Up they go. Safety.)
"Is it a specialty school or something?"
(Though he prods at the mental techniques The Seer walked him through for resisting mind tampering. Up they go. Safety.)
"Is it a specialty school or something?"
furtive_heroics
"Huh. Cool. Good luck with it." Pause. "... I technically never graduated from my school, did I, huh."
subtly_artistic
"I don't blame you. But you are not a volunteer practice subject, so."
furtive_heroics
He considers.
"I don't mind being a volunteer practice subject if you need the practice, I could use the practice on the defensive side too. Keep the mindflayers on their toes if I have to fight more of them."
"I don't mind being a volunteer practice subject if you need the practice, I could use the practice on the defensive side too. Keep the mindflayers on their toes if I have to fight more of them."
subtly_artistic
"That's not usually the kind of practice I'm assigned, but I guess it probably wouldn't hurt? As long as this is, like, shield defense and not offense-is-the-best defense."
furtive_heroics
"Shield defense. I'm not trained in, uh, subtle arts offensively. Just defense. A bit shoddily, too, we were kind of in a rush. And I wouldn't stab you or anything."
subtly_artistic
"Read surface thoughts, read memories, knock you unconscious, it gets a little more not-so-much-for-practicing from there?"
furtive_heroics
"Surface thoughts works. And yeah, let's not go with not-so-much-for-practicing."
subtly_artistic
"Sure. And I will back off if you think that you wish you had not just thought a thing."
furtive_heroics
"Thank you for not being terrible. Ready when you are. ... Though the, uh, Bar might want us to move or something."
None of the described falls definitively under establishment violence rules apart from unconsciousness.
furtive_heroics
"Okay. Making sure." Pause. "The bar's sentient and is the bartender, by the way. And can conjure drinks and books and food."
furtive_heroics
"When."
He thinks slippery thoughts.
This makes him actually really tricky to read.
He thinks slippery thoughts.
This makes him actually really tricky to read.