1st Mantra - Honesty to Oneself and Others

[nobold]

Greetings, everyone. I am Cecil Mortimer Winterscales V of unit B. Please, just call me Cecil.

I confess part of the reason I'm writing to you all is to test the Liber Nuntiorum's capabilities myself, but I wish to posit a theory on the goings-on of this world. In my world, my companions and I learned of a cataclysmic scheme put together by the prince of demons, Demogorgon. This demon god has two heads and both hate the other. So strongly, we learned, that he sought to destroy his other half through powerful Shadow Pearls that could very well end existence as we know it.

I do not know if this scheme has reached so far as to effect others, but on my arrival, this was one of my first thoughts. I do not fully understand the destructive capabilities of the Shadow Pearls, but do not deny the possibility that they could distort and fragment a world like this in high enough concentration. I'm afraid I don't know how far along his plan is, but if this is an isolated incident, I will take solace in the existence of worlds beyond Demogorgon's reach.

And for the rest...I admit is more of a personal inquiry than anything else. To determine what commonalities, if any, lead to our arrival here. Any close brushes with death, perhaps. Especially before descending from the stars.

Comments

[lizardtits]

That sounds a bit similar to my world. There are two... well, they're beyond gods. We call them "boogedys" thanks to one of our group but they're mostly cosmic entites. Two halves of the same whole that are seperated by a wall of souls. One half can't pass through that wall, but the other, if left unchecked, can eat the wall. If the two rejoin, our world is obliterated. ...Worse, actually. Anything consumed by the entity becomes totally forgotten, as if it never existed. Even texts and pictures of it become unreadable.

It's an interesting thought. If a lot of us were brought here due to our worlds being in danger, and this one has already suffered an ending... There's a possible thread to follow, there. Cadeuceus was telling me he was trying to save his world from destruction, too.

If nothing else, this may be part of the reason we specifically were chosen to come here.

-Velo

[nobold]

I see. It only makes sense to choose those experienced with such cataclysmic events. Tragic that there are multiple happening across the multiverse, but at least they're not as widespread as I feared.

I almost wonder if the current state of the world signifies our arrival may be too late. Instead, I'm convinced this is a desperate move before it ultimately is too late. Desperate not necessarily out of a lack of trust, but because they must leave the fate of their world to others.

[lizardtits]

A wild, desperate move, leaving things up to chance because the current state of things is too bleak...

If that's their angle, then they may have pulled the right person. Sending everything into chaos and picking up the pieces before anyone else can is something of a specialty of mine.

And throwing wildly different people from wildly different worlds into a city-sized chunk of dirt will, if nothing else, create chaos. My gut says things are about to get weirder before any real difference is made, either way.

[nobold]

The old "fight fire with fire" routine, yes. Ours may be the brand of chaos to make a difference, but it may involve things getting worse before they get better. It's only natural, as rogue elements begin sorting things out through unfamiliar territory. I'm no rogue, but my chosen attire doesn't mean I always play by the rules. Perhaps I may join you in stirring up trouble.

Or at least cleaning up the inevitable mess afterward.

[lizardtits]

It's always the clean ones that can cause the most trouble, both good and bad.

At this point, though, we have nothing but speculation. Better to lay low, play along, and get a feel for the situation first before starting a revolution. Hard to tell who to trust right now.

[nobold]

Agreed. Too many unknowns, so a bit of reconnaissance is in order. Fortunate, then, that our interests takes us to every corner of the city and a bit beyond. The various guilds are sure to have their own insights and takes on matters.

It's just a matter of waiting and compiling our findings.

[lizardtits]

So long as they're forthcoming. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure who to trust yet outside the other Starfallen.

[nobold]

Trust is like glass: difficult to forge, but easily shattered. For now, fellow Starfallen is not a bad place to start. We're all facing the same stakes. I believe most of us have learned to approach such matters with caution.

Yet I feel in your case, things are more likely to explode during shows of sharp distrust.

[lizardtits]

You know, some might take that as an insult. I would like to say I'm more subtle than that in my plots for revenge but then I remembered I blew up a casino to piss someone off so it's not entirely untrue.

[nobold]

An explosive middle finger to the establishment, then. If nothing else, it may force the recipient from thinking twice about betraying your trust.

But I do not exactly the high ground on that subject. There was a particularly unsavory fellow my companions and I had to endure. He was jealous of his sister's success, so he was stealing her inheritance and slowly ruining things through town. A little oil on his clothes and a quick strike of flint made it very clear we meant business.

[lizardtits]

Nothing like a heated argument to establish a point of order.

All told, though, I'd prefer to avoid such drastic measures right now. Friendship and trust always tend to be the better options in the long run, if at all possible.

[nobold]

Indeed it does. One of my companions always favored that option whenever possible. Quite the outgoing drow; people and animals alike were spoken to as if they were already friends. Strange, but it paved the way for quite a few long term benefits.

And one instance of riding seals so we could quietly approach a ship.

[lizardtits]

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<font face-"courier">Good to know my group isn't the only one to make the weirdest of friendships with any and every animal we come across. Haven't gotten the opportunity to ride anything, though. Most of the time it's crows or rats. Or a crocodile.

[nobold]

Oh, I would need to exercise caution around crocodiles. Friend or not, I'm afraid I'm rather.

Bite-sized.

Rats and crows, however, are much more manageable. Ears to the ground and eyes up above sound like welcome allies.

[lizardtits]

Our resident druid loved mice and crows. I swear, every time we entered a city she'd be feeding them and suddenly we had a local information network.

There was also the time she raised an army of seagulls in order to torment someone we were supposed to meet in case they turned out to be an ass. I will never underestimate a bird again.

[nobold]

Oh goodness, no. Never underestimate anything that appears in great numbers; a ton of feathers still weighs a ton.

I may be biased in that regard, but that doesn't change the truth. It would be quite handy if similarly druidic powers existed in this world; we could make friends in high and low places and call on a swarm when necessary.

[lizardtits]

Sadly, I haven't seen much use of natural magic here, at least not yet. Maybe someone can figure that out. With as small of an island this is, it wouldn't take too much effort to get an information network going.

[nobold]

We even have our high and low perspectives already. From magicians in their high towers to cutpurses in Concord's underbelly. A little finesse and reasoning can tell us all that we need to know.

They're not as easy to convince to swarm someone, but that's only a minor setback.

[lizardtits]

All it would take is the right motivation.

Either way, that will take time. We'll need to do our best cultivating our relationship with the locals if we want to get any favors from them.

[nobold]

Agreed. For now, time is on our side. I have no doubts that we'll make the best of it.