Faerzen-Lyra chat; Shieldwraith

[11:12]  * visceralVanguard [VV] began conversing with snuffshotMartyr [SM]
[11:12] <visceralVanguard> Lyra? Are you there?
[11:12] <snuffshotMartyr> Here
[11:13] <snuffshotMartyr> I'm coming
[11:13] <visceralVanguard> Are you having difficulty getting out of wherever it is you are?
[11:13] <snuffshotMartyr> I'll be fine
[11:13] <snuffshotMartyr> Just gimme a bit to get back
[11:13] <visceralVanguard> Are you sure? You've been a while.
[11:13] <snuffshotMartyr> It's fine
[11:13] <visceralVanguard> ......
[11:14] <snuffshotMartyr> Ran into an enemy
[11:14] <snuffshotMartyr> Made it away
[11:14] <visceralVanguard> What sort of enemy?
[11:14] <snuffshotMartyr> You don't want to know
[11:14] <snuffshotMartyr> Think Maskwraith
[11:15] <snuffshotMartyr> Maybe worse
[11:15] <visceralVanguard> What happened?
[11:15] <snuffshotMartyr> Not totally sure
[11:16] <snuffshotMartyr> But I think the convention dictates I name it Shieldwraith
[11:16] <snuffshotMartyr> *him
[11:16] <visceralVanguard> That isn't terribly reassuring, Lyra.
[11:16] <snuffshotMartyr> Maskwraith is the evilest possible Nickolai, yeah?
[11:16] <snuffshotMartyr> The one nothing went right for?
[11:17] <visceralVanguard> Well, at least a great deal didn't go right for. I'm very hesitant to say that it isn't possible for any given thing in this game to not possibly be worse.
[11:17] <snuffshotMartyr> Hah
[11:17] <snuffshotMartyr> My point is
[11:18] <snuffshotMartyr> This is gonna sound stupid
[11:18] <snuffshotMartyr> Just a feeling I have, y'know?
[11:18] <visceralVanguard> What is it?
[11:19] <visceralVanguard> Are you implying with your name you think whatever that was might have some relation to Alex?
[11:19] <snuffshotMartyr> Eeyup
[11:19] <visceralVanguard> What makes you say that?
[11:19] <snuffshotMartyr> Hard to say
[11:20] <snuffshotMartyr> It's just
[11:20] <snuffshotMartyr> A display of power, y'know?
[11:20] <snuffshotMartyr> Killing me and then bringing me back
[11:21] <visceralVanguard> If you aren't sure what happened, what do you think happened? Or what did you perceive happening?
[11:21] <snuffshotMartyr> He killed me
[11:21] <snuffshotMartyr> With magic or whatever
[11:21] <visceralVanguard> .....and?
[11:22] <snuffshotMartyr> Thunder, tree-sap rain, darkness, cold, scarring
[11:22] <snuffshotMartyr> Earthquakes
[11:22] <snuffshotMartyr> Disintegration
[11:22] <snuffshotMartyr> Oh, leeches in my chest cavity, that was fun
[11:22] <visceralVanguard> Are displays of power something Alex is prone to?
[11:22] <visceralVanguard> Also, that sounds terrible.
[11:22] <snuffshotMartyr> Coulda been worse
[11:23] <snuffshotMartyr> Paralysis, that was a big one
[11:23] <snuffshotMartyr> Then he stabbed me with my pen
[11:23] <snuffshotMartyr> Like a jerk
[11:23] <visceralVanguard> Okay, Lyra, I think I might have some information that could help shed some light on the situation.
[11:24] <snuffshotMartyr> I'm listening
[11:24] <visceralVanguard> I am trying to think of how to phrase this that would be the least confusing.....
[11:24] <snuffshotMartyr> Don't bother
[11:24] <snuffshotMartyr> Everything's confusing
[11:24] <visceralVanguard> That is quite true. Though perhaps less so than you might think. Or, at least I hope.
[11:25] <visceralVanguard> I have made some progress in understanding how that communicator I gave you functions.
[11:25] <snuffshotMartyr> Oh, right, the necklace
[11:25] <snuffshotMartyr> Fat lot of good that did
[11:25] <visceralVanguard> I still have yet to figure out how to get the remainder of the functions I believe it has up and running
[11:25] <visceralVanguard> But I was able to get one thing working.
[11:26] <visceralVanguard> During that whole cave experience you just described, I had a visual on you.
[11:26] <snuffshotMartyr> ...
[11:26] <snuffshotMartyr> You've been watching me.
[11:26] <visceralVanguard> I was able to see you and your surroundings, hear what you were hearing, see what you were seeing
[11:26] <snuffshotMartyr> Around what time was it that you figured this out, exactly?
[11:27] <visceralVanguard> I figured that part out relatively soon after I gave you the necklace, but I've had the information stream from it turned off for quite some time since then.
[11:28] <visceralVanguard> I only just now turned it back on when I just contacted you asking you to return to the surace.
[11:28] <snuffshotMartyr> Uh huh
[11:28] <snuffshotMartyr> Great
[11:28] <snuffshotMartyr> But you don't know what happened with Shieldwraith?
[11:28] <visceralVanguard> I do have some information on that front, yes.
[11:28] <visceralVanguard> It isn't a complete story, but it may help.
[11:30] <snuffshotMartyr> I'm listening
[11:30] <visceralVanguard> When I first got the visual feed working, I was able to see and hear what was around you, but I was not able to perceive anything that was said directly to you via telepathy or mental thoughts.
[11:30] <visceralVanguard> For example, when you were talking with Abyss, I could hear you speaking, but not it because it was talking to you inside your head.
[11:30] <snuffshotMartyr> Only at first?
[11:30] <visceralVanguard> That is still the case.
[11:30] <snuffshotMartyr> Wait
[11:30] <snuffshotMartyr> You said it was turned off
[11:31] <snuffshotMartyr> How did you see the parts of that before you got there?
[11:31] <visceralVanguard> I said after I got the information feed working when you were on Derse I turned it off.
[11:31] <visceralVanguard> It was on for a bit when I first started using it to figure out how it worked.
[11:31] <snuffshotMartyr> So that was the talk Carl and I had on Derse
[11:31] <visceralVanguard> Yes.
[11:32] <snuffshotMartyr> Alright then
[11:32] <visceralVanguard> I could hear you speaking, but not any of Abyss's responses.
[11:32] <snuffshotMartyr> And then you missed the whole Maskwraith mess
[11:32] <visceralVanguard> I prefer not to think about Maskwraith if at all possible considering what he did to me, so if we could not discuss him further I would greatly appreciate it.
[11:33] <snuffshotMartyr> Yeah yeah
[11:33] <visceralVanguard> As you saw, it was hard enough for me to contain myself at the trial.....
[11:33] <visceralVanguard> Anyways.
[11:33] <visceralVanguard> Now, in the cave.
[11:33] <visceralVanguard> I do not know the details of all the horrors you said you experienced.
[11:33] <visceralVanguard> What I saw happening to you was you were in a cave.
[11:33] <visceralVanguard> You collapsed on the ground and lay there for quite some time
[11:33] <visceralVanguard> You were shouting a lot at nothing in particular
[11:34] <snuffshotMartyr> ...
[11:34] <visceralVanguard> Then you pulled out your pen and stabbed yourself in the hand
[11:34] <snuffshotMartyr> I did not stab myself!
[11:34] <visceralVanguard> Then pulled the pen out and continued shouting.
[11:34] <visceralVanguard> You most certainly did.
[11:35] <snuffshotMartyr> No, I didn't
[11:35] <snuffshotMartyr> So Shieldwraith's got a way around your paravoyance
[11:35] <visceralVanguard> Since I could not perceive any of Abyss's dialog with you because it was inside of your mind, and I could also not see or perceive any of the horrific scenarios you described, I find it a natural conclusion that these were of a similar nature.
[11:36] <snuffshotMartyr> That was another thing I'd considered
[11:36] <snuffshotMartyr> Another voice in my head
[11:36] <snuffshotMartyr> This one in charge of senses
[11:36] <snuffshotMartyr> Lovely
[11:36] <visceralVanguard> It isn't a terribly pleasant thought, but it seems the most probably at this point that whatever just happened was a psychological experience.
[11:37] <visceralVanguard> A sort of hallucination, if you will.
[11:37] <snuffshotMartyr> I'm not hallucinating, Faerzen
[11:37] <visceralVanguard> That is why I said "sort"
[11:37] <snuffshotMartyr> You really wanna get into that can of worms?
[11:37] <visceralVanguard> There is a difference between a hallucination and a psychological experience externally imposed on you
[11:38] <snuffshotMartyr> Because I'm not 100% convinced this entire game isn't some ridiculous dying dream
[11:38] <visceralVanguard> I have basically no evidence to distinguish between the two so I will not even attempt to further explain what happened to you.
[11:38] <visceralVanguard> That is entirely possible.
[11:39] <snuffshotMartyr> It's almost comforting to think
[11:39] <snuffshotMartyr> Is that bad?
[11:39] <ATtheorytime[DM]> < Man that trial is gonna be a breeze >
[11:39] <snuffshotMartyr> ((We all know we're going to lose.  Winning would imply it's possible for things to NOT get worse))
[11:39] <visceralVanguard> ((after all of this damn time we're pouring into talking about this trial, we better get /something/ out of it at least :P ))
[11:39] <visceralVanguard> It is very difficult to distinguish a dream from reality when you are currently immersed in that world.
[11:39] <visceralVanguard> I cannot say whether or not that is objectively bad.
[11:40] <snuffshotMartyr> Okay
[11:40] <snuffshotMartyr> So Shieldwraith, or some other all-powerful entity, is now residing inside my head
[11:40] <snuffshotMartyr> Heh, maybe that's what Mask-Lyra was counting on
[11:40] <visceralVanguard> Or, exists in the cave area and has left.
[11:41] <snuffshotMartyr> Also possible I guess
[11:41] <snuffshotMartyr> But then Sabath loses out on the "chip away at everything that makes you a person" points
[11:41] <visceralVanguard> It is very difficult to say what happened to you when my supposedly objective external information is in such conflict with your internal experiences.
[11:42] <visceralVanguard> How are you feeling now?
[11:42] <snuffshotMartyr> I'm fine
[11:42] <snuffshotMartyr> I told you
[11:42] <snuffshotMartyr> Hand hurts, but I'm okay
[11:42] <visceralVanguard> I know you told me, but a short while ago you seemed very far from fine.
[11:42] <visceralVanguard> I just wanted to make sure.
[11:43] <snuffshotMartyr> Faerzen, you and I both know Sabath doesn't do "fine"
[11:43] <snuffshotMartyr> I'm as good as can be expected
[11:43] <snuffshotMartyr> And so are you
[11:43] <visceralVanguard> That is all I can ask for.
[11:43] <visceralVanguard> I honestly wonder whether it is ever physically possible to be truly fine ever again, but right now this is the best we can do.
[11:43] <snuffshotMartyr> Of course it's not
[11:44] <snuffshotMartyr> It's building us up to be these symbionts, right?
[11:44] <snuffshotMartyr> Can't let anything inoptimal survive the transformation
[11:44] <visceralVanguard> Indeed, that would seem to be how this works, yes.
[11:44] <snuffshotMartyr> On the plus side
[11:45] <snuffshotMartyr> Not much left for me to lose
[11:45] <snuffshotMartyr> So that's nice
[11:46] <snuffshotMartyr> Heh
[11:46] <visceralVanguard> I am pretty sure there are some cheap painkillers somewhere in the gas station shelves, so would you like to rendezvous there? I am currently discussing legal matters with both Regent and Reggie as per our recess agreements.
[11:47] <snuffshotMartyr> Sure
[11:47] <snuffshotMartyr> I'll head over there
[11:47] <snuffshotMartyr> Again
[11:47] <visceralVanguard> Why do you have a gas station in this game instead of a house like everyone else I have seen?
[11:47] <visceralVanguard> Just out of curiosity.
[11:47] <snuffshotMartyr> I was on a road trip with Dad
[11:47] <snuffshotMartyr> He stopped for the night
[11:48] <snuffshotMartyr> I was online, forced to download Sabath
[11:48] <visceralVanguard> Oh, so the game brought in whatever structure you were currently nearest to, and that happened to be this gas station?
[11:48] <snuffshotMartyr> I guess so, yeah
[11:48] <visceralVanguard> Interesting.
[11:49] <snuffshotMartyr> Fingers crossed Dad managed to die, and not get brought in in the car
[11:49] <visceralVanguard> Probably not terribly significant, but you never know. I'll file that bit of info away.
[11:49] <visceralVanguard> My mother disappeared soon after we appeared in this game.
[11:49] <visceralVanguard> I still do not know what happened to her....
[11:49] <snuffshotMartyr> Be real
[11:49] <snuffshotMartyr> She's dead or worse
[11:50] <snuffshotMartyr> See: Maskwraith, Shieldwraith, et al
[11:50] <visceralVanguard> That does seem to be the most likely fate, but I would prefer not to speculate so much in both something so unpleasant to think about and something I have so little information about.
[11:51] <visceralVanguard> I hope to figure that out eventually, for better or for worse.
[11:51] <visceralVanguard> We shall see.
[11:51] <snuffshotMartyr> S'pose so
[11:51] <snuffshotMartyr> I'll be there soon
[11:51] <visceralVanguard> Okay, I will see you hopefully soon if I can finish up this discussion with Regent without getting tangled with Abyss.
[11:52] <visceralVanguard> Talk to you soon.
[11:52] <snuffshotMartyr> Likewise
[11:52] <snuffshotMartyr> Good luck
[11:52]  * visceralVanguard [VV] bid farewell to snuffshotMartyr [SM]