aionchat | PLEROMA | A HELPFUL PSA

[Estinien's presence will finally surface in the Pleroma's communion space, a few days after the time of his death. There is a sense of deep sullenness and seething anger in the message he imparts, like a storm on the horizon.]

For those concerned, the reports were true. If our Shards are spared, our bodies can be resurrected... just as mine has been.

[There's still a weariness to his spirit after the fact, but his anger is driving him forward regardless. While he had initially planned to leave it at that, a courtesy to those that may wonder, a disturbing conversation with one of the Kenoma has gifted him with some more forceful words to impart.]

As it stands, I can see little virtue in leaving the bodies of the Kenoma unscathed. If they can be defeated, if their Shards can be claimed... you would do well to take the opportunity while you can. They will not show you the same mercy in return, and the fate you face at their hands is far worse than anything we could offer them.

The time for hesitation has passed.

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[Estinien doesn't consider himself a man easily disturbed, but this whole situation has been admittedly getting to him. Maybe it's because it's so familiar, and because he's seen so many men fall to similar ends. He'd always considered the Scions so fortunate, to have never lost one of their own to such a fate... and now...]

When I was reborn, I was... physically changed. Not as severely as when the disease had overwhelmed me, but yet...

[It's extremely noticeable, and he'd been avoiding Greentruth's core settlement for that reason.]

...There's a phenomenon in my homeland called 'Tempering'... it comes about when a god-like creature called a Primal bathes a mortal in its power, changing their aether to match its own. In the past, this meant certain death. The Tempering would suppress their sense of self, robbing them of their will and replacing it with that of the Primal that corrupted them, sometimes going on to mutate their physical bodies...

I've never experienced it myself, but I've heard accounts...

[He hates to admit this. Part of him want to dismiss it completely, comforting himself with the fact that he had control of his faculties. He couldn't be corrupted that way. But yet...]

Shortly after my body was destroyed, I could... feel the creature's power washing over me. Wave after wave, I felt, searing my spirit with its presence, to the point I felt like all I was might be burnt away...

[His worries become clear, for a moment. Some part of him is afraid, as much as he tries not to let it steer him.]

My mind is my own, as far as I can comprehend... but yet... it felt much like what I'd always imagined Tempering would. Its presence lingered the entire time I Was locked within my Shard, smothering me...

[ There's no hiding the sense of unease that Ernesto is radiating from his end. Tempering in and of itself sounds too much like what the Kenoma already managed to do to so many people, but the fact that there are so many other forces out there that they'll have to contend with in order to keep themselves... themselves...

No, what Estinien is describing right now sounds even worse than what the Kenoma has done to people. As warped as it seems to make people, there's some degree of choice still there, and certainly full control of their bodies still, even if it makes some uncomfortable alterations in a person's way of thinking.

And who the hell knows how many other forces are out there that this world happens to have tucked away?

It's not a particularly comforting thought, and the fact that Estinien is making it clear that he wasn't able to completely bounce back from whatever it was this thing did to him makes Enresto feel a little queasy. The sense of guilt spikes again alongside his unease. ]

And now? Do you still feel like it's doing that to you?

[Unease is only natural. Estinien is uneasy too, thinking about this, and a big part of that is not knowing the answer to Ernesto's question.]

... I no longer feel it's presence so strongly. My body, however... I was reborn changed. As if the illness still held me in it's grasp.

[ There's hesitation on Ernesto's part as he tries to figure out the best way to tactfully ask about these changes, before deciding he's already been prying a little too much in this conversation. Might as well go for broke... ]

There were a few people went through... which ones stuck...?

[ Things like Ernesto's faded color is unnerving, but livable, but if Estinien's body is fragile and breakable the way some people's bodies were while sick, well...

He's not entirely sure what they'll do for him then. ]

...Nothing with more than superficial effects.

[He doesn't want to give the wrong impression. He's deeply unnerved, but a lot of it is because of what the changes represent, and not because of them hindering his daily activities. Maybe it's foolish to be so concerned with them.]

I am still mobile, if that's your concern.

Aha... It kind of was, yeah. I'd hate for you to be in a position where you couldn't defend yourself, Ser Estinien.

[ Especially given the man just escaped death once. He'd rather Estinien not cut it so close again. ]

Though hopefully after everything that happened, the Kenoma will give us some breathing room for awhile.

[ Not that he's counting on it. ]

PLEROMA | A HELPFUL PSA

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