∞ 65: Upon the smoldering battlefield [voice]

[chikaidestroyer]

Status reports, everyone. Let's try to account for as many as we can.

If you know of any casualties or disappearances, please note them as well. They need to be kept track of in case the Malnosso decided to act while we were ... preoccupied.

Congratulations are in order. We've survived without losing the village. Now it's time to recover and aid the wounded.

If there are still any able bodies available, I would like a sweep of the perimeter done for any signs of the intruders. Feathers, clothing, armor -- if it's available, it must be studied.

...Please also be aware that the New Feather cycle, if it has returned to normal, will occur beginning tomorrow. Explain the situation to the best of your ability. Newcomers need to know that this isn't the usual state of the village.

Comments

[action]

[chikaidestroyer]

[Assuming his conversation with Buffy has already happened...] This is analogous at best, but are you familiar with the idea of a holy war? The aggressors fight for a lofty goal, oftentimes the appeasement of a high god, and will kill any who do not agree with their terms. There is sometimes an ideal that seeking an enemy's understanding before killing them will 'save' them.

But I digress. This is about what you have heard -- not my analysis.

[action]

[inabook]

It did seem as though his belief was almost religious, but I don't think that was the reason. He didn't seem to think it was possible for me to understand from an explanation - he... said my thinking had been "poisoned" since birth. [She hesitates briefly on the word... it still brought back bad memories, even if the context here was completely different.] When I asked if they'd been brought here like we were, he said that "eternity and life isn't as simple as which universe chooses you," but couldn't explain that. [a pause.] That wasn't getting anywhere, so then I asked why they'd killed Mr. Jacob...

[action]

[chikaidestroyer]

[He won't comment that that's usually the way encounters in holy wars play out, since he's supposed to be listening to Estelle.]

It sounds as if both sides, Malnosso and ... "outsiders," don't want to share much information.

What did he say?

[action]

[inabook]

That the Malnosso are the ones actually trying to kill us - or "finish" us. What they did to Jacob was "saving" him. [and here's the more disturbing part] He... said that there there's no way he knows of for us to leave this world permanently. Anyone who does leave is eventually brought back.

[action]

[chikaidestroyer]

"Finish" us. Like we are some sort of contraption they are building upon. And somehow killing Jacob and removing his internal organs is salvation.

That's a belief that I have thought of before. Once you are in this ... world's clutches, you cannot escape. But how would they know that? Even with all that this General had to say, it sounds as if there are limits to his knowledge.

[action]

[inabook]

He wouldn't tell me how he knew. But he did say that his goal was to free us from the barrier. He seemed to believe that dying was the only way for us to leave here. He said that they could pass through, but if we tried, or if they tried to lead us back, we'd be killed. ...I don't understand.

[action]

[chikaidestroyer]

[He sighs contemplatively.] It's something none of us currently understand. If no one is willing to give us a straight answer, we must keep collecting information.

I do not currently recall if I had mentioned it publicly... [And by publicly, he means over the locked network.] Perhaps the General was referring to the fact that we are not originally set in the barrier. The Malnosso actively take us into the barrier upon our arrival in this world.

[action]

[inabook]

So they're responsible for our captivity... even if not our arriving here.

[she shakes her head.] I asked what was so different between us and them, and he said it was only "knowledge." [a pause...] I was going to leave after that because I didn't seem to be getting anywhere, but he called me back and said that if we really want answers, we should ask the person who sent Mr. Jacob to die.

[action]

[chikaidestroyer]

Correct. And their fluctuating goals are quite suspicious, as we have already ascertained.

Before the intruders--well, outsiders now that they are no longer upon us--attacked, that's what John said as well. Our lack of knowledge makes us very valuable to the Malnosso, and we are sought by the outsiders because we are a threat and a resource to them without knowledge.

From what you have said, it sounds as if the Malnosso's goal to "finish" us is the threat to the outsiders.

The entire situation certainly holds to the "Knowledge is power" adage.