wants_the_phd | Court inbox

I don't doubt it! And I can see why a whole crew has accepted you as their leader.

Does everyone in your operation have a Forte?

Hah! I keep telling them I'm the best Captain in the whole world. Now I'll have someone else supporting my statement.

Roccia and I are the only Resonators in the Troupe - though we do have our Honorary Captain joining us from time to time, and some other allies. Even without a Forte, though, our Troupe got our share of good fighters.

I imagine it would have to, given what you're fighting.

How long have you all been doing it?

It's been fifteen years for me. Everyone else has joined later, at different points in time. The Troupe is made up of some of the people we've rescued over the years — Roccia included, so for everyone else, the amount of time they've spent with the Troupe is different.

Though our newest member is someone I've met here, and personally invited.

Yeah? Who?

[ look at the brightest smile ever ]

Lyle.

[Laughs]

Ah! That makes sense. You seem like exactly his type. No surprise at all he'd love you.

[This is going to provide more context when Lyle calls him "my captain" later.]

Well! Congratulations on your newest recruit...!

[ he will actually blush a little at her saying HE'D LOVE YOU. but it is true, isn't it ]

He cares for you, so I'm not surprised you'd know his type. But that should also give you a good idea of exactly why he told me what happened.

I think he cares for me the way he'd care about anyone. Some people [she looks at Brant pointedly] simply cannot seem to abide the thought of someone in distress, no matter who they are. Even if they're a stranger or an enemy.

[ a little laugh because, well. SOME PEOPLE do be like that]

No surprise at all that I'd love him.

[That's right. Linnea is always right about everything.]

Yes, you're made for each other...!

When are you shipping out?

If you mean to ask when we'll be sailing, that will have to wait whenever we are done in this place. We do still have our goals here.

What is your goal?

I'd like to secure a safe haven for the Troupe. The Elysium is a good home, but it is still inside a cave, and the Tacet Discords still pose a danger. As good as we are, not everyone is a fighter.

I believe in building things with my own hands. But for something like this, I won't mind a shortcut.

Right? Especially If you're able to achieve it by doing fun things you would have enjoyed doing anyway.

That's a sweet goal. I hope you get it someday.

[ he smiles at her, and shifts so his hand is fully holding her finger, squeezing it a little ]

What about you my friend? Here just for the thrill of exploration?

[She decides right away that she doesn't find any joy in having her finger held, so she wriggles her finger out of his grip and fully takes his hand instead, like a normal person, like he intended in the first place.]

I came here to meet interesting people, hear stories, access new libraries, learn new things... In hub worlds like this where there are people from all over, you get to see a tiny cross section of their world through the life they've lived in it. New fields of research, new breakthroughs in technology, exotic assortments of species... It helps me decide where I'll go next.

I don't think I'll actually stay here long enough to get the wish, especially with the current competition.

But if I did get a wish... I'd like to live a bit longer.

[ that first part is nice - but it's the last one that gets his attention ]

—is your lifespan short?

For my caste, it tops out at around 25 years.

That's pretty exceptional, though.

[ That's fucked up. That's literally how old he is RIGHT NOW. ]

Then I also hope you will be able to live longer.

[Imagine having the lifespan of a housecat!! Fucked up for real!!]

I'm doing my best!

--And a big part of that is NOT losing my mind and going on a rampage, picking fights with sorcerors and monster slayers and so on. I feel pretty rattled, knowing how easily that could have gone another way if I'd attacked the wrong person!

Can I ask how old you are now? Had you fought with someone else, would that have pushed you close to your limit?

I'm thirty-one.

...The truth is that I died of old age when I was twenty-eight.

A wizard I knew at the time caught my soul right after he euthanized me, and used necromancy to make a prosthetic body for it to live in.

What you're looking at isn't my original body, but it's similar, with all the same weaknesses, plus a few new ones.

I'm no stronger, more capable, or more resilient than before. It would be easy to kill me again.

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1/2

2/3 actually

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