Spell 04 -- Video

[eye_of_isis]

[Sadie, if you know her, actually looks a little distressed.

She's mostly annoyed, though]

Right. So. That--and you all know exactly what I'm talking about, don't pretend you don't--but that? That whole incident? That is why you don't say the name of things you don't want showing up at your doorstep. Words have power. Names have a lot of power, and true names? True names can be used to kill. Whoever called that Thing--thanks a lot! If anyone needs me, I've got some potions to prepare before going to see if that Thing is actually in the city or if it was just projecting itself psychically.

[As she cuts it, you can hear her grumbling about "stupid mortals" and "honestly, don't you people watch television or read?"]

Comments

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[cmdreffingshepard]

The kedan believe the story. That's not evidence.

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[eye_of_isis]

And in my experience, there's usually a reason for people to believe a story, particularly when the thing in question is real.

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[cmdreffingshepard]

Or it could be manipulating all of us. I think it's probably also smart to not take anything it claims of itself at face value. Or at least acknowledge the ways in which it benefits from these stories.

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[eye_of_isis]

How would it benefit from us not saying its name?

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[cmdreffingshepard]

I can think of quite a few benefits to making everyone so afraid of you they think you're omnipotent. Or sowing discord within a population so they spend more time arguing about a name than they do trying to figure out how to fight you.

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[eye_of_isis]

It's not really arguing when one party has dealt with something very much like this before, is it?

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[cmdreffingshepard]

I'm seeing a lot of pointless arguments.

Maybe instead of pointing it out, those of you who've dealt with it before could explain how it was fought. Seems like it'd be more helpful in the long run.

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[eye_of_isis]

I've never fought this, just something like this. And unless Carter shows up I can't even see if how we beat Apophis will work on this guy.

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[cmdreffingshepard]

Doesn't mean it wouldn't give us a place to start. And it'd still be more constructive than constantly harping on the name.

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[eye_of_isis]

I'm not "constantly" harping on anything, except how careless and stupid whoever called that thing was.

[Honestly]

I need to find out more about that thing before I suggest execration.

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[cmdreffingshepard]

A lot of people sure are, though, and it's not helping anything. Nor would it help to have someone - or multiple someones - to blame. It's no one's fault. The thing was here already.

You could always tell us what "execration" is - maybe we could pool our knowledge and compile some better information than what we already have? Working with each other is always going to be more constructive than working against each other and seeking to blame people.

Re: video;

[eye_of_isis]

Neither of which I'm doing!

[She's getting really annoyed]

It's the complete unmaking of a person or thing but I don't know enough about that guy to suggest it.

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[cmdreffingshepard]

[Sigh. Shepard's taking a moment to close her eyes and pinch the bridge of her nose.]

Look, I get it. We're all frustrated, and frightened. I am, too. That thing - whatever it is - is obviously very powerful and very dangerous. And we know very little about it.

Which is exactly why we should all be pooling our knowledge and resources. You may not know enough about it to solve the problem all by yourself, but if you share what you do know, and others share what they know, it's possible we'll get somewhere. At the very least, we'll collectively know more than we did, and the more we know, the more powerful we will be.