Talla's Frontier Temple: Chapter 13
Added 2024-02-28 12:27:40 +0000 UTCComments
"Reavers did it? Do you know how many times a man in my position hears that?" I was a Firefly fan, once upon a time, but it never occurred to me that the breeding plan of the Pussy disciples was similar to the thing that created the Reavers on Miranda. The passages I wrote were meant to indicates that none of these younger women have had any training in how to be a Source for upgrades, so there's a bunch of stuff they just don't know how to do properly. And Del, being pretty wise, knows about her own ignorance and is being very careful. Zhair'lo and Talla both have the ability to impart skills directly into each other's bodies, more like they're taking over the other's muscles. Zhair'lo could control Talla running through the forest or doing archery. She could lead him from one place to another and show him images to help solve problems. How much of the skill remains when they aren't connected? They haven't given much thought to the minor powers they might rx as they get upgraded at the low levels. The shield becomes available at the 10th upgrade (Second), the lightning with Perfection. Certainly no one is *teaching* the lower levels what powers they might have. And Zoe, yes, is completely a foil. That's the whole purpose of Facial within Form. The ninth Discipline, the outsiders, the ruiners of 'the perfect clockwork' in favour of beauty and happiness.
Xavier Torch
2024-06-14 11:59:42 +0000 UTCSo Talla can only transmute abundance, make sense since its her highest upgrade by far, I imagine there would be some kind of minimum threshold to transmit, we also know she can transmit doubles, if the are starting from 0. I also wonder how officer track and high officer progress works (probably beyond the scope of this story). When Talla started she was asked how many times she wanted to serve a week, (1-5) she chose 5, how much weekly credit do fighters get? It sounds like they serve almost every night. She is still due Point from the battle of Breshenna, and possibly more (for nearly a year of service on maximum frequency) We can see from Del how useful lips would be together from her other sweetness upgrade. It would be interesting to see if Talla could manipulate her magic in other ways, we know seconds and sorceress can generate blasts and shields with it with conscious effort, so far Talla hasn’t seemed to try to consciously try to use it beyond her telepathic link already forged with Xhairlo. We know Del is really curious, and determined to figure it out, with only 6 or 7 upgrades maybe she can only manage a soft of light, but she clearly has some kind of aptitude for it. Where would a temple store such knowledge, could she get to it? Talla and Xhairlo are pretty resourceful on their own when they see a compelling need, and Del adds interesting capabilities. The other form women might not help, but I bet the pilgrim girls would if asked. Even the Telepathic link is really impressive. Xhairlo is a masterful archer he managed to teach Talla archery from miles away in a fraction of the time and effort normally required, what other skills, talents or knowledge could they teach each other. Men normally are not taught engineering, but we know Talla has been describing/explaining materials properties, architecture and other stuff through the link. I don’t think they are completely unique in this either. Certain men like Master Kendrik, long did he wield his sword, seemed to have a deep personal relationship with Gern’s Queen of Form, that seemed to begin when she was but an Officer - at times they seemed to finish each others sentences. No one would accuse her of monogamy but only because she waited until was just barely proper, not wanting to cause the appearance of impropriety. The other women of form showed great respect/deference, to Hendrick, did he display a great deal of knowledge generally not available to men? There is evidence he did. Not that he would ever advertise it. But when he spoke, the Form woman never questioned his words. When the courier from Breshenna started babbling, Kendrick AND Gillian shut her down and proceeded to do damage control. Their relationship reminds me a lot of Talla and Zhairlo and I suspect that once Gillian and the other senior Form women saw the interaction and had a chance to reflect on it, I suspect they saw the similarity as well - thus normalizing it. Suspicion became Citations. It seems like Gern might have been one of the smaller cities, with both Beshenna and Turiksa being larger, more prosperous and advanced. We have seen several cities, I wonder what Prima will be like, is it just a holy site, or a holy site in which a city has grown up around it like Jerusalem or Istanbul. Is it some ancient site of catastrophe when A.I.’s/Computers layed out a project to recuperate humanity after some war or experiment gone wrong? The enraged remind me a lot of “The Ravagers,” from The Firefly TV series, where we eventually discover that they were the unintended evolutionary reaction of a galactic governments orwellian covert attempt make its citizenry more docile, pliant and subservient. An attempt that backfired with catastrophic results. I really hope Zoe brought some canvas or art-book to record it’s wonders, spending weeks visiting such a historic place and not being to share it with people back at home just seems like a wasted opportunity. I’m sure such a work If well executed would get her serious cred from her sisters from Facial. In fact the more I think about it, I wouldn’t be surprised if they loaded her up on old lore and legends fully expecting her to bring back more. H’reena certainly knew she was going, and was the only officer that in Gern that didn’t treat the pilgrimage to Prima as an inconvenience/problem/Cause-for-concern. Zoe certainly met it as an opportunity. Zoe acts a great foil for the other more serious sisters of Form.
Stephen
2024-06-14 10:23:11 +0000 UTC
