RE: The Ballad of Adler Young, Canto 2.5
12-22-2020, 12:44 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-22-2020, 12:48 AM by typeandkey.)
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Spoiler>Adler: Get back to Ash. He'll be suspicious if you're gone too long or a time slip might happen. You get back to see Ash with his ear perked up.
>Ash: Adler is lucky that it's only been an hour on your end. Also, the trees have told you Adler just now dispatched a messenger. You're going to give Adler the benefit of the doubt and believe he is merely being cautious and not outright rejecting your proposal.
>Typantronn: *flies past* Find the sisterhood, find the sisterhood, excuse me, find the sisterhood..."
>Adler: . . . When Typantronn gets back, you are going to have a serious discussion with her about the concepts of stealth and subtlety.
>Ash: . . . A messenger to the sisterhood apparently. Really? The same Sisterhood that tried to emasculate and mind control him so he couldn't use wiles or be a danger to them? That Sisterhood? If the best allies Adler can call on want to castrate him, he needs your help far more than he realizes.
>Adler: Get angry and call Ash's bluff. He claims he has dirt on your, but if he spreads your life story around all that would do is prove you innocent!
>Ash: Sigh in disappointment. You suppose another boon to Adler should he agree to your offer is learning how to get things done. You don't have the time or inclination to be a teacher, but he could learn a lot by watching you work. Why on earth would you exonerate Adler in the eyes of the elves? The dirt you have on him is, from his own words, you know who all of his enemies are, you know they're looking for him, and all you have to do is tell them where he is and hold the door open for them. Even if you did spill Adler's entire story word for word, it's nowhere near as redeeming as he thinks. He will go from a bloodthirsty, malicious tyrant to a bumbling fool unfit for the throne. If one were to write a story about Adler's life as it is right now, "The Ballad of Adler Young" would be a monument to idiocy and failure. Would the lowfolk be willing to follow an elf who can't walk from one place to another without accidentally causing a genocide? Adler will need to learn to be much more shrewd and ruthless if he wants to get ahead in this cruel, unfeeling world.
>Adler: Get flustered. If Ash already knows you are the true emperor, then demand he treat you like it and demand to know who exactly he is. No more mind games.
>Ash: For a brief moment your mask of jovial patience falls off and you get a glint of deep seeded rage in your eye. You would love to tell Adler everything about your successes and exploits, but you can't. You are forbidden from telling anyone. When you were banished to "Never be able to lay eyes on nor cross the threshold to Faerie" your name and legacy were also taken from you. You are bound to say no more than you backed the wrong horse during a power struggle and were "thrown under the antcart" as the lowfolk would say. You are and shall continue to be an unperson until the emperor pardons you. Believe it or not, you do have some small amount of sympathy for Adler's plight. Your different paths took you to a similar destination. Adler can think whatever he wants of you, but you did what you had to survive in the manner you are accustomed and entitled. Adler is more like you than he realizes. You want back into Faerie to reclaim your name and legacy and you want to travel freely between worlds to take your acquired resources with you. You have no real malice towards Adler, the only reason you're holding a metaphorical flintlock to his head is to make sure that happens.
>Ash: Adler is lucky that it's only been an hour on your end. Also, the trees have told you Adler just now dispatched a messenger. You're going to give Adler the benefit of the doubt and believe he is merely being cautious and not outright rejecting your proposal.
>Typantronn: *flies past* Find the sisterhood, find the sisterhood, excuse me, find the sisterhood..."
>Adler: . . . When Typantronn gets back, you are going to have a serious discussion with her about the concepts of stealth and subtlety.
>Ash: . . . A messenger to the sisterhood apparently. Really? The same Sisterhood that tried to emasculate and mind control him so he couldn't use wiles or be a danger to them? That Sisterhood? If the best allies Adler can call on want to castrate him, he needs your help far more than he realizes.
>Adler: Get angry and call Ash's bluff. He claims he has dirt on your, but if he spreads your life story around all that would do is prove you innocent!
>Ash: Sigh in disappointment. You suppose another boon to Adler should he agree to your offer is learning how to get things done. You don't have the time or inclination to be a teacher, but he could learn a lot by watching you work. Why on earth would you exonerate Adler in the eyes of the elves? The dirt you have on him is, from his own words, you know who all of his enemies are, you know they're looking for him, and all you have to do is tell them where he is and hold the door open for them. Even if you did spill Adler's entire story word for word, it's nowhere near as redeeming as he thinks. He will go from a bloodthirsty, malicious tyrant to a bumbling fool unfit for the throne. If one were to write a story about Adler's life as it is right now, "The Ballad of Adler Young" would be a monument to idiocy and failure. Would the lowfolk be willing to follow an elf who can't walk from one place to another without accidentally causing a genocide? Adler will need to learn to be much more shrewd and ruthless if he wants to get ahead in this cruel, unfeeling world.
>Adler: Get flustered. If Ash already knows you are the true emperor, then demand he treat you like it and demand to know who exactly he is. No more mind games.
>Ash: For a brief moment your mask of jovial patience falls off and you get a glint of deep seeded rage in your eye. You would love to tell Adler everything about your successes and exploits, but you can't. You are forbidden from telling anyone. When you were banished to "Never be able to lay eyes on nor cross the threshold to Faerie" your name and legacy were also taken from you. You are bound to say no more than you backed the wrong horse during a power struggle and were "thrown under the antcart" as the lowfolk would say. You are and shall continue to be an unperson until the emperor pardons you. Believe it or not, you do have some small amount of sympathy for Adler's plight. Your different paths took you to a similar destination. Adler can think whatever he wants of you, but you did what you had to survive in the manner you are accustomed and entitled. Adler is more like you than he realizes. You want back into Faerie to reclaim your name and legacy and you want to travel freely between worlds to take your acquired resources with you. You have no real malice towards Adler, the only reason you're holding a metaphorical flintlock to his head is to make sure that happens.