Jaskier ♫ The Sandpiper (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rollstoseduce) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
victory_road2021-08-03 04:38 pm
rollstoseduce) wrote in victory_road2021-08-03 04:38 pm
Text | Evening of August 2nd
[It's finally time for the fantasy trio to leave for Kanto and start a new badge journey, and like last time, they're taking a night train to sleep through it. Or that's the idea anyway - because also like last time, Jaskier wants to take the chance to chat a bit with the network. And after a little misunderstanding from the steward regarding Kiri, there's a topic that won't leave his mind.]
Many a similarity I've found among the realms us otherworlders hail from, yet there's one thing from mine (besides witchers!) I haven't found anywhere else: the Law of Surprise.
It's a custom as old as humanity itself, the granting of a seemingly impossible wish, the price a man who saves another can demand:
"Give me that which you already have but do not know yet".
It is a request for something which neither the savior nor the saved knows the nature of, until the saved man returns home. It could be a cute little pup or a mere crop, mayhap a new pair of shoes... or even a baby. So many heroic stories from my world were starred by a Child Surprise, often known as the Children of Destiny.
So imagine yourselves, if you will, in front of a powerful king or queen that asks you what reward you'd like for your service. What is your answer?
Do you ask for gold? A lady's hand in marriage?
Or do you dare to ask for the Law of Surprise to see what Destiny has in store in for you?
((As always, Jaskier needs to be super extra with his font. Lmk if you need me to drop it!))
Many a similarity I've found among the realms us otherworlders hail from, yet there's one thing from mine (besides witchers!) I haven't found anywhere else: the Law of Surprise.
It's a custom as old as humanity itself, the granting of a seemingly impossible wish, the price a man who saves another can demand:
"Give me that which you already have but do not know yet".
It is a request for something which neither the savior nor the saved knows the nature of, until the saved man returns home. It could be a cute little pup or a mere crop, mayhap a new pair of shoes... or even a baby. So many heroic stories from my world were starred by a Child Surprise, often known as the Children of Destiny.
So imagine yourselves, if you will, in front of a powerful king or queen that asks you what reward you'd like for your service. What is your answer?
Do you ask for gold? A lady's hand in marriage?
Or do you dare to ask for the Law of Surprise to see what Destiny has in store in for you?
((As always, Jaskier needs to be super extra with his font. Lmk if you need me to drop it!))
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I'll take that as a yes, then. I do not think the distinction is meaningless, however. Many a kingdom have risen against their leader. Many a leader have been nothing but puppets to the whims of their council. Ignoring that distinction may result in dismal political decisions.
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Why, such a king would be no different than a mad tyrant, don't you think?
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Oh, I do agree! But you see, you made a clear distinction there - that's definitely a case of the monarch being at failure, not the kingdom. Unless you blame the people for not stopping the mad tyrant in time?
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It takes far more than one man to do that; it requires an ungrateful populace, who cared nothing for the man that fought in their defense.
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Fear is idea-crippling. Success-stalling. Limb-freezing. Fear is the foundation of most governments. I applaud your bravery, Ardyn, for standing up to those tyrants. Many a realm need more heroes of your kind. But the average villager has been manipulated into submission.
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And did they think their savior beyond fear? He who sacrificed body and soul to heal their ailments and save them from oblivion? He who they chose as their king, and yet when he was slaughtered before their eyes they fell in line with his murderer one and all and acted as though no such man ever existed?
Their chosen king asked naught in return, and nothing was exactly what he received. Am I truly expected to sympathize with cowardice on that level?
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No, I don't expect you to sympathize with them. I've looked down on some actions made under the excuse of cowardice myself. But I think it's unfair to equal a tyrant to his people or even his lords, which is why I don't think the distinction is meaningless.
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You faced the gods themselves and yet they had no answers for you whatsoever? No words on the meaning of life, death, and destiny?
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When I spoke to our realm's Draconian, he was very clear in his answers and the meaning of my very existence.
I was born not to be the world's savior, but its most terrible plague that someone else would rise and strike down. To spread darkness throughout the world, that my brother's blessed descendant could purge the star of its scourge.
The gods held answers for me. I simply chose to curse them all.
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You... cursed the gods.
If you had such power, did that not make you a god as well? Was their prophecy a magic binding on you or merely orders that could be ignored? Your first message said that Destiny's never had much of worth in store for you. This sounds like exactly the opposite!
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Even my attempts at rebellion were what Bahamut wanted me to do. It was all pointless, and I was naught but a pawn to him. I was born to become a monster and die at the hands of his most beloved piece on the board.
Destiny treated me like nothing but garbage. Why should I hold any stock in it now?
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MAYDAYMAYDAYMAYDAY
He should end this conversation. If they were face to face, he would definitely be slowly backing away. But these communicators provide a distance that allows him to indulge his curiosity, so for now he keeps going.]
I am failing to see where or how, exactly, you rebelled. The gods wanted you to be a monster so you killed and destroyed as one? Rebelling would've been moving to a farm and raising chickens! If it held so little meaning to you, why kept trying? It almost spounds as if you had been bored and destroying was the only thing you knew, like a puppy.
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[Maybe, in this place where lying served no purpose, he wanted to finally speak the truth and have it be heard.]
Because I was angry. And who wouldn’t be? Slain by my own brother’s hand, locked away in darkness while his descendants became kings and queens beloved by the divine?
I deserved my revenge. And perhaps that is how I rationalized it. House Caelum would fall by my hand, and Bahamut getting what he wished was incidental.
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Slain by your own brother's hand? Merely because of some sort of prophecy? Or your revenge had already begun before the fratricide?
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[Probably because he had--Ardyn liked to explain his horrible trauma in enigmatic bits and pieces.]
Because he wanted power. My little brother was an unpopular tyrant of a royal, you see. Chose to burn out the impurities that I sought to heal, and was feared by the people as a result.
He saw an opportunity, and chose to take it.
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Things like this always make Jaskier feel so pathetic over his own resentment towards his family, geez. The answer takes a while to arrive because he isn't sure how to reply. He wants to show sympathy over this particular bit of the story, but also, he still thinks it doesn't excuse Ardyn for going on a destruction rampage. DECISIONS, DECISIONS.]
"Ruthless murderer, armed with madness, implicated innocents to suit his desires." The fact that can apply to both you and your brother says a lot, I believe.
For what is worth, I do mean it when I say sorry your family was garbage.
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[Sort of.]
[On the other hand...]
Well.
It's thoughtful of you to say as much.