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[Chevaleresse]

L

"Yeah. I. . ." never got to say goodbye, either. Thinking of that day hurt, and not just because of the physical parts, and it showed on her face. "I understand how you feel. We're coming from different angles, but the thoughts are the same." She rubbed at an eye with one hand, suppressing a yawn. She somewhat belatedly remembered that there was a third person in this conversation, and glanced at Mira. The other swordswoman seemed to be armoring herself in as much silence as metal, and L didn't care to try breaching it right now.

The change she'd noted was curious, too. A shift towards a more bestial form, in someone who already had external nonhuman traits. L couldn't help but draw the parallels; were they even more similar than she thought? Though, there was another curiosity in there, something tying back to a question she still needed answered. "Your master is a man?"

[Sutoratosu Akira]

L, Mira, Ehto

"Yes." Ehto nodded. "My Father, to be precise. He made me, and all my siblings too. Taught us everything we know. If not for him, we'd have all just grown up to be ordinary dogs like our ancestors... not that there's anything necessarily wrong with such an existence, but... I like having self-awareness, being able to reason. And having hands is a lot more useful than paws. He's a brilliant sorcerer, and an even better person. Even if he doesn't think so himself... even if he kept some things hidden because he was afraid it would change the way we feel about him."
    She paused, realizing there was more to the question than what she was addressing. "Oh... sorry, is that not normal where you're from? I guess I never figured it would be weird to people from other realities. Male and Females have been equal under the law since the founding of the current council around uh... I think it was somewhere around fifteen hundred years ago? Used to be that women weren't even allowed to practice sorcery, but well... one sorcerer had a daughter, took her as his apprentice, and one thing led to another and she ended up becoming a hegemon of sorts. I take it your world has some type of matriarchy, if having a man as a mentor is a strange precedent."

[Chevaleresse]

L, Mira, Ehto

"Uh, yes. I've never heard of a man being in charge of much of anything important outside of fiction. _{Because obviously a world run by men would always be a dystopian hellhole filled with even more pointless violence.} She rolled her eyes as she muttered under her breath, before remembering she was, in fact, talking to someone. "It's been like that for all of human history in my world. It's gotten better in some places, but it's not exactly great anywhere as far as I know." L glanced down at herself; specifically, the blade in her chest. "Their lives aren't exactly valued by most people."

[Sutoratosu Akira]

L, Mira, Ehto
"Oh, I see. That's very..." What? Barbaric, idiotic, counterproductive? I can't just be that rude, especially towards someone I just met... "very unfortunate to hear. Sounds like it makes for a lot of wasted potential in society, if roughly half of it is considered expendable... perhaps its best to change the subject, though?" She glanced at the sword in L's chest much like L herself had, but seemed to pay it little attention. Or more like she was pretending not to. And failing fast at that, given her eyes kept lingering back to the weapon even after she pulled them away.

How are you even alive right now? That looks... incredibly uncomfortable.

[Chevaleresse]

L, Mira, Ehto

"No, it's fucking idiotic and counterproductive and generally just shits on everyone for daring to be something other than the perfect little template the church wants them to be. Not much to say about it." She huffed in irritation, momentarily riled up - though the hostility wasn't directed at Ehto. The other dog girl's less-than-subtle glances drew her back down to earth, her expression settling back into a somber one. "They probably don't have holy weapons where you're from. Right?" The way she said the term seemed to indicate that "holy weapon" was a specific category.

[Sutoratosu Akira]

L, Mira, Ehto
Oh...well then. guess I didn't need to hold back just now after all.
"Nope," Ehto said "There's ton of enchanted objects though; artificers tend to make a killing no matter where they set up shop. Even lay people get to benefit from sorcery thanks to them, but uh... it's been a really long time since anyone's claimed to have any artefact or blessing from a god. Let alone shown any evidence of it. We're not even sure if there are any still around."
    She of course neglected to mention the popular theory that the horrors were none other but the gods in a new form. That would only spawn a tangent away from what she really cared about here: swords. in chests.
    "Um... does it hurt, by any chance? I mean, it's just that, well... It looks like it would. A lot."

[Chevaleresse]

L, Mira, Ehto

"It doesn't right now, but it did. When a holy weapon integrates itself with its user, it takes its time. Three hours, in my case." She looked down at the sword again. "It took my life as payment for the one sacrificed to make it." She glanced up at Ehto. "You could technically call my holy weapon a blessing from a goddess, but the goddesses aren't involved at all normally. You just need living metal, crystallized virtue, an offering, and a sacrifice." Her dreary expression shifted to regret. "Remember the whole thing about men being expendable?"

[Sutoratosu Akira]

L, Mira, Ehto
Shrolynder's Marbles, things in her world are much worse than I thought... The blood visibly drained from Ehto's face as she took in the full implications. She was beginning to wish she'd never pursued this line of questioning after all. But it was too late to back out now. "Oh. Ooh. That's.... uh. Wow. I can why you got so upset earlier then. Um, how common is this practice, exactly? Is this something incredibly rare that's only used in dire times, or... is it common enough that whole military structures are built off the back of these 'holy weapons'?"

She didn't know why she was even asking anymore. Morbid curiosity, at best. She probably wouldn't like the answer either way.

[Chevaleresse]

L, Mira, Ehto

"It's a last resort. I can't even imagine what it would look like if you started making holy weapons for soldiers as a regular thing." L looked disturbed by the concept. "That would be horrible." She wrapped her arms around herself as if feeling a chill. ". . . of course, it's not like the price is all that high." Her words dripped with a blend of sarcasm and disgust. She closed her eyes for a moment, then shook her head. "Sorry. I shouldn't keep beating myself up over what's been done." You know you're not going to stop doing it. Clinging to your past is why you exist at all. "There's plenty of horrible things going on here without me rattling off my tragic backstory at you to set the mood."

[GodofGamingRWBY]

L, Mira, Ehto

For the briefest of moments, Mira's still frame twitched at the mention of 'human sacrifices', one of her folded arms raising as if reaching for her chest before suddenly being put down again. She had no reason to care about it at all, aside from the strength a Holy Weapon could possess. That was the only thing a weapon like her had to care about.

Nothing else.

[Sutoratosu Akira]

L, Mira, Ehto

"Well, thats slightly less terrible... I guess." She shook her head, still taken aback by what she'd learned from this conversation. Luckily she finally found an avenue to escape the squick of it all. Potentially, at least... "What do you mean by that last part? What's going on here that's so bad? Well, aside from the obvious existential dread that comes from fighting eldritch abominations, that kinda comes with the territory."

[Chevaleresse]

L, Mira, Ehto

"That's all I meant. World-eating horrors are pretty bad. Well, and what the world I'm from is like. I'm sure it's not the worst out there, but there's. . . a lot of bad stuff. Like Kallisto, possibly the worst person ever." Lilith, I hope you can stop her on your own. Or maybe you already did. "But if I get started on her, we'll be here all week." The silver-haired swordswoman shook her head. Maybe I should tell them? We'll see how they react to Kallisto's name - if they do at all.

[Sutoratosu Akira]

L, Mira, Ehto

A small but audible whimper emanated from the sorceress. In spite her speaking voice thus far sounding completely human, the vocalization was nigh identical to a common dog's. Her ears had long since fallen and her tail stopped wagging.
   "I think I've heard enough for now, thanks." Ehto said, "Maybe some other time though. Anywaaaays... about logistics- where does everyone sleep around here? I've only seen the garden and this hallway so far, but I can tell just by the scent that no one's taken care of this place for a long time. Wouldn't be surprised if there's nothing but rot and mildew and broken furniture in most of these rooms..."

[Chevaleresse]

L, Mira, Ehto

L scratched the back of her head, shooting an apologetic look at Ehto. She supposed she was just a bit desensitized to everything, after all the events that happened after that fateful camping trip. "I just came from the barracks, and this area is some suites, I think? There might be more places to sleep elsewhere." She turned to Mira, giving the other swordswoman a questioning look.

[GodofGamingRWBY]

L, Mira, Ehto

Taking in L's glance, Mira gave a short shrug in response, "I don't know the castle's layout from top to bottom yet, but the barracks are adequate enough. You could probably claim a suite of your own if you felt the need to."