un: swordsmith | text

[artofrevenge]

Greetings fellow Etrayans,

I write to you because I am in need of information or assistance. My horse has arrived, and as I live in the apartments, it is not suitable for her to live with me. What are the appropriate options for housing and caring for a horse here in Etraya?

I know the wild horses that arrived in February run free and are looked after, to some degree, by Aurora's assistants. However, provided access to the right resources, I am perfectly capable of caring for Kai myself and would like to do so.

Communications from people who know about this matter would be appreciated.

Comments

[oblige]

I would like to see my own world do the same.

It is indeed a noble skill, being able to build and repair. I believe he has become quite good at it, though I suspect you would be a better judge. Where I hail from, dragons also serve as mounts, but chocobos are quite common across the continent. I'm born of nobility, though it is of no consequence here, and unfortunately it is as you say even in my world. Far too many forget they are stewards of the land, meant to serve the people.

[artofrevenge]

Perhaps you can make it happen.

I only know enough to do what needs doing when there's no one else. I would not call myself a carpenter.

[ Mizu pauses in her missive. He is nobility, and though he acknowledges what she says as true, he certainly considers himself an exception. Mizu has little way to learn whether that is true. Further, he is friends with Clive and Joshua. Should their monastery serve best to help Kai, it would behoove her to remain some level of civil with him. It's with more self-restraint than she usually bothers with that she continues. ]

Wealth and power over others corrupts most people. Nobility would need to have far less of it to truly act as stewards.

[oblige]

Given the opportunity, I would try.

My own practical skills are primarily those that best served in an army camp, so I'm even less an expert.

[ He considers the rest with his own pause. Across worlds, it seems a simple truth. There are good leaders, good stewards, but they seem far too few compared to those who are either wholeheartedly callous or oblivious to the needs of their people. Yet a nation is naught without its people. ]

Privilege shields one from the hardships of the general populace. Some are so distanced from those realities that they care not, or think nothing of making matters worse. Then there are those like myself, ignorant of too much for too long, and no better for it.

[ Dion had always wished to serve his people, to better their lives. Yet as he was deployed to one battlefield or another, he had so little knowledge of his nation's failings. He had wanted to believe in his country's leaders, in his father, until he no longer could.

And so, he believes "Swordsmith" is right. His eyes were their clearest in the Hideaway, among those society had wronged. ]

[artofrevenge]

There is no try. Do something, or do not.

There are many warriors here, as may make sense. However, there is time to gain other skills, whether carpentry or something else useful. As important as missions are, we are granted remarkable free time we may most of us never have back home.

At least no one is nobility here, not in the way that they are in their own worlds.

[oblige]

It is as you say. 'Tis only a matter of whether I yet live upon my return. I do not expect it.

[ He doesn't believe that he did. But he had done his part in the battle against Ultima, and he had expected his end. Joshua had seen him fall, had perished soon after, and he doesn't know whether he could bear outliving his friend for a second time.

Yet all of this is irrelevant to the conversation at hand. ]

But there is no harm in learning practical skills regardless, and I have been endeavoring to do so. Much of my life has been spent in military service, and thus I have learned a little, so I have begun with what I knew. There remains much room for improvement.

[artofrevenge]

Does Echo bring people who are dead? If not, you're alive. Stay that way. There's clearly more your world needs you to do. Giving in only guarantees your death.

[ It hardly matters to her whether he lives or dies, but it annoys her to hear him talk as though it's decided. Until he's dead, it's not. Don't do your enemy's work for them. ]

What are you learning to do?

[oblige]

It would seem, based on a friend's account, that death is mere suggestion to one such as Echo. I'm reluctant to doubt him [ He will never doubt Joshua ] but there is much Valisthea will need.

[ This he can agree with. So much needs to change, in a world absent Dominants, Bearers, and crystal. ]

I began with cooking and resuming my studies in statecraft. I'd no time once it was decided that I should serve my nation in the field, but I had once held hopes of relying on diplomacy. In addition, I've been endeavoring to understand the workings of technology here. My people would benefit greatly from what may seem utterly mundane to most here.

[ So, even though he's so sure he met his end... ]

[artofrevenge]

Be that as it may, even should your friend have seen you fall in battle, you've come here. When you return, you have the chance to determine your fate. Don't waste it.

[ Cooking is the most practical of the activities he lists. Statecraft is fancy speak, and while Mizu appreciates that diplomacy, over war, can save the lives of many of the common people, it still falls well within the purview of what the rich and noble do. The shoguns brought peace to Japan, and the last shogun, freshly deceased, closed the borders. However, he still accepted money from Fowler, and that greed brought him downfall. So diplomacy, while good, hardly sets this nobleman apart.

As for technology, she has doubts as to how well he could bring it back to his world, with only what he can place in his mind. ]

As much of the technology here comes from beyond my time, I understand the benefits it may bring. However, I am in no position to make it of use to the people in my land and time. So I cannot say it's been of similar focus for me. May you have the aptitude to match your opportunity to bring it back.

[oblige]

I will bear your council in mind.

[ It's the best that Dion can offer in the moment, yet uncertain that he has more life to live. If Echo's system caught him just before his death, and he is returned to that moment, he isn't sure how he would live.

Yet it is true that he cannot know with absolute surety. ]

I am acquainted with someone who has technical knowledge far surpassing others. My hope would be to get that information to her, for she would make better use of it than I. Doubtless it would not be the same, but I would trust her inventive mind.

There is another I would tell of the treatment for an affliction that has been terminal in my world. If it were possible to devise similar methods, many would benefit from it.

[artofrevenge]

See that you do. Avoid a pointless death.

Then should you have an excellent memory, you can at least put enough of it to mind that she can do the rest.

[ She has to pause at the second example. It... whatever the affliction would truly help people. Well, he's at least not as big an ass as many nobles. ]

You've learned of a cure here? That is remarkable. Now you really must live.

[oblige]

I will do my utmost. There is much my people yet need, for a great change is coming, and our ways must adapt with it.

Doctor Romero stressed that it is a treatment, but it is effective. I volunteered for testing the technology myself, for my case is not as advanced as others. Had something gone wrong, at least one in worse condition wouldn't suffer for it. Were my world to have such treatment, lithification would no longer be a slow-encroaching death.

[ He doesn't imagine freeing the world from the curse would retroactively remove its influence from those already suffering its influence. Yet if they could be saved, that would mean everything. ]

[artofrevenge]

[ Mizu has to stop and check that the translation provided is in fact the one she first processed as provided. It is clear. Yes, it is. His people... turn to stone. It's a disease Mizu's never heard of nor anything like it. Yet it sounds terrifying to experience, to slowly turn to stone, with no hope of halting it nor curing it. A slow march toward death with a constant reminder that grows and grows as their lives grow more limited.

There are wonders in the world, but there are also horrors. Unlike demons, that one cannot readily be fought.

Mizu gives pause. It may not be what Bahamut thinks kills him, but it is a promised death even should he survive. She doesn't feel sorry for him, but she acknowledges even he is in a terrible situation. ]

Treatment is a start, and from such a start, much good can come. There are more wonders in this place that I've yet to see. I am glad there is one that may help your people with such an odd ailment. At least some good comes from diseases being in many worlds.

[oblige]

Much of what is offered here medically is a marvel. I only wish I were a physicker, that I might better grasp more of it. But I will do all that I can to understand it, and I've spoken with another from my world regarding the same. Such a treatment seems nothing short of miraculous.

Does your own world suffer such ills?

[artofrevenge]

I have not needed to make use of the medical services here, but I am glad that they are available should they be needed. There is the potential for missions to be dangerous. It is also good for it to improve our worlds, not only preserve them.

It suffers disease, such as fever or infection, sure, but no one turns to stone.

[oblige]

I agree. Salvation need not only mean survival. Our worlds can have and be better.

It's relieving to know lithification is not a shared affliction. 'Tis not something I'd wish on any world.

[artofrevenge]

That only seems the right course when worlds are going to die. Those that survive should improve.

Every world has its peculiarities, some good, some bad. Yet now I can appreciate something new about my world I never would have considered.

[oblige]

All of this does lend perspective we might never have had otherwise. My people have no notion of the universe being so vast.