A Talk with Eiphraem [8/3] Evolution Dev

[00:46] Eiphraem Kang says, "Well, an invitation was delivered unto me. I am here to offer and exchange information, and hospitality."
[00:46] Eiphraem Kang says, "And I am certainly willing to offer more... Tailored services, if you request within my bounds."
[00:46] Esso Invidia says, "Honestly, I didn't come here for anything other than to see familiar faces."
[00:46] Tahldrig says, "It was truly impressive Eiphraem, I've never been in a battle that long before."
[00:46] Ardith says, "...Alright, alright. I can maybe work with that."
[00:52] Ardith sweeps some dust from her shoulders and boldly steps in front of the towering Archon, towering even for her relatively gangly standards. She tilts her head back and looks up at him right in those reptilian slits of his.

She speaks, but not allowed. This business is hers and not for the ears of 'would-be-cleansers'. The worming intrusion of telepathy enters Eiphraem's mind.

'I've been workin' on furthering my evolution with mutations. It's how I can even do this. Rituals. Runes. Illyothian artifacts. All that junk. I know there's more. I'd like your help. Or advice.

It ain't just for me though. I'm more a...proof of concept. Illaron told me about how your people were mutated by the Spires. I want to fix it.'
(Ardith)
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[00:52] Eiphraem Kang says, "Please tell her I am not disappointed in her. I am pleased even if the world could not be fixed."
[00:52] Esso Invidia says, "Agartha's recurring problem for the last thirty years has been failing to recognize the evil standing next to you."
[00:53] Esso Invidia says, "The Briars being one example. I think Isaac is another."
[00:53] Esso Invidia says, "Maybe I should pay Est a visit."
[00:54] Esso Invidia says, "Once, long ago, she was like a little sister to me."
[00:54] Esso Invidia says, "I still remember our summit where Perseus, Eiphaem, she, and myself met with Rikona, Calael, Noel, and Kirsi."
[00:55] Esso Invidia says, "I don't know if they ever told you when they met."
[00:56] Eiphraem's attention snaps forwards when Ardith makes her formal request, however.

He stares back down into the minotauric occultists' eyes, his own placid- Lacking the telltale scarlet reflected even in her own.

His mind to mind contact is formal, at first- But there's a certain emotion and energy behind it- Quick. Peppy, almost, excitably intense in spite of the weight and phrasing of them that is completely lacking in his dull drone from his physical voice.

Ah. You seek to bridge the gap between yourself, and my kin with Lord Illaron's work. An admirable goal.

Do you understand what I am? My nature?

His eyes wander, and he speaks with the others- But there is the soft white noise of continued contact.
(Eiphraem Kang)

[01:00] As far as telepathy goes, Ardith has only ever felt Lord Illaron's. This is new. A little bit exciting. The pep is somehow infectious too as she straightens up in spite of the poison in her veins and multitude of bruises.

It has a personality all its own. Intriguing.

'That's right. Exactly right, actually. I kinda' know what you are. Illaron said Daemons were broken. I've met two now that ain't. You and Atl's Chieftain.

I know that normally the broken ones ain't have sentience. They can't do telepathy like this. They can...they can just scream.'

The Accursed, for all her prickly exterior, shivers at the last word.

'But you're broken too. Ain't you? Why aren't you like them? You got any ideas on how to fix it?'
(Ardith)
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[01:01] * You have been awarded 1 Roleplay Points! *
[01:14] Not all of them are truly broken from 'the curse of the Spires'- Not directly.

To express what occurred unto my kin, my Lady ventured into the depths of our ruins- I, myself, and others have gone deep into those remnants to try to put together what happened. Our kin touched on the moon, of things far beyond us, of the ways to refine and expand our understanding.

But.

Our kin are steeped in war. Even before the Cataclysm, we were changed from our exposure to them. Improved, beyond what demons of other continents experienced. We were not influenced by humanity- Merely the time and reign of our Archons, and the Umbral Lords standing atop the pinnacle.

We were previously empowered to be separate from humanity's dictation. To dance with our own kind. I know of this from artifacts, recordings, translated documents.

I am defective, and yet- I have endured. I have lasted. I was raised by human hands. Cared for. Nutured. I am not, perhaps, the ideal face of my kin in order to express what was done to us.

But what primarily occurred was the sterilization and deformities of those that followed. All of our kind begins in a feral, brutal state- Many are stunted, and can never achieve sapience. Many eggs are hollow and rot.

There's a passion rising as he speaks, a quiet undertide of intensity.

One of our kin linked themselves to the Spires themselves, in some way. They are tainted- Cursed. This is what makes them so dangerous, even for humanity. It is an act of war, of mutually assured destruction between our kin.

The Cataclysm was an accident, but one made of a match being struck that should not have. It was a weapon gone beyond all means, that severed us from our previous heights.

If you asked me what fixing our kind would mean, it is difficult. I have watched what has happened to the 'correctly' formed of our race. We put our slowly restored numbers upon the table to seize and bring order to Agartha- And so many of my kin were slain.

Our numbers are low. You have seen what most 'replenishment' results in. I... Admit. Seeing humanity's numbers, masses seizing the continent is demoralizing to thinking of how to best restore our kin.

I do not know if it would assist us in survival, when I look at the fate of the Lords I revered above myself.

... It would be a better question to ask what we can change in my kin. I do not know if it is possible to go back, but- It would be some way to adjust our reproductive functions to permit intelligent offspring once again, and perhaps to imitate humans in incorporating traits. To adapt.

It would ultimately lie in studying the curse that lingers on one of the Spires themselves, though my kin cannot approach them safely.

Samples could assist.

(Eiphraem Kang)
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[01:15] Esso Invidia says, "Admittedly, I've been out of touch with Agarthan events since Crafthold's fall. I retired to a farm to raise my children."
[01:15] Eiphraem lets his eyes go to Percival.
(Eiphraem Kang)
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[01:15] Esso Invidia says, "I've gotten more active again recently, but things look worse than before."
[01:16] Eiphraem Kang asks, "What do you intend to do?"
[01:17] Percival lays in the water. His crystal wards hop around, shaped like little birds.
(Percival Kang)
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[01:17] Eiphraem Kang says, "I proclaimed what would come of Calael's goals."
[01:17] Eiphraem Kang says, "What would repeat."
[01:17] Eiphraem Kang says, "What would unfold."
[01:17] At his address, Perseus slides in place, hovering for a half-instant to pivot to Sima, facing him properly from eye-height. As if as part of the answer, his aura begins swelling with more and more mana, those tendrils of pale light beginning to twirl and twist into more substantial shapes, solidifying as they coalesce into identifiable limbs, snaking back behind him.

He allows himself to sink through the thickening mist.

"A spirit of the moon is my faithful guide, through life and death." His expression alights with warmth as he approaches Sima, but his tone remains solemn and hollow.

"Through learning to know myself - through slaying those parts of myself which were undesirable, and striking out at the world when it struck me -"

The tendrils begin to rip apart at their seams, seeming to writhe and gnaw at one another as they are spun into a kind of rough, chaotic fabric that melts and drips into itself, sublimating into a blue, freezing vapor.

"Through knowing when my body hadn't the strength to survive alone, and drawing on the bindings which held my mind and soul together despite their threadbare make -"

The tendrils finally melt together into an orderly, if amorphous, form, beginning to freeze in place from the base. The air around the undead is drawn into his being, its temperature and mana stolen as the surfaces of mana completely freeze over.

"I transcended circumstance, as a will which can only exist in the tenacity of surviving death itself allowed me to overcome the cruel shadow of life that had been thrust upon me."

Shards of ice explode out from the undead with dozens of thunderous cracks, mana forming into blades that splice together, dripping at point and blade as they melt into place. Two arches hold together the frame of molten mana-wings, spun in moonlit fabric.

"So, if you seek something similar, it is simple.

Face death and smile. Or cry, so long as it helps you resist succumbing."

Perseus grins.
(Perseus Kang)
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[01:18] Eiphraem Kang says, "It was not made in ill intent."
[01:19] Eiphraem Kang says, "I merely expressed what would come of the path."
[01:20] Ardith might not look it, but beneath the horns and hooves is something of a scholar, and what Eiphraem offers is a trove of knowledge.

He gives her not only that, but an interesting perspective that, as she ponders it, her eyes widen. Her tail swishes as her mind works through several things in sequence.

'Then...maybe furthering my own evolution could still help? I got the telepathy things down. Maybe...maybe there's other mutations. Adaptations.'

Is there any reason that if a human could be mutated with the essence of demons, the opposite couldn't be done to help them achieve some sort of sapience earlier in their life stages? There's a lot to unpack here from what the Archon offers.

'Sample from the Spires doesn't sound easy. I could maybe try.

...Thank you. This helps a lot.'
(Ardith)