Of The Morrigan

Recent events have caused certain facts to come to light, and a worried Prophylaxis has been busily making sure that nobody who survived their encounter with Yeenagi had any unfortunate lingering side-effects. His focus has been on making sure one person in particular wasn't turning into a monster from the inside out or something, however.

That is, Schneider, who had basically eaten an energy field larger than his head and may or may not be host to a malefic deity who wishes reunification. Thus far, nothing in the game's lore has confronted the existence of the thing called the 'Morrigan,' but...

Now it has appeared, using a bugged monster as a host-- and the Enigma Pieces as an apparent vector for infection. Worse still, one source of lore in particular has been... if not /inciting/ the infusion of enigma pieces into players, they have at least not played any role in preventing it.

Prophylaxis has sat Schneider down in one of the empty rooms at the Tolbana Clinic, and seems to be scrutinizing him heavily. Medical Inspection is a little bit more hands-off than traditional techniques, but it gets the job done... well enough.

They're waiting for someone else as well-- not for /this/ exactly, but because, given the threat that the Morrigan might pose, Prophylaxis feels that knowledge should be shared.

And that someone does finally walk in the door. Loremaster represent. "My apologizes Doctor, it is a bit of a trip to get to the tower." Fortunate enough that Shiruba wasn't back over in the Palace Lands to continue their operations with getting the large number of people freed by the Statue reaccomidated with the rebels. There were a few that had to be kept eyes on, possibly loyal even without the Crowns. But for the most part it hadn't been too much of a hassle. "It would be good to get a more thorough reaccount of some of the things that came up doing the Yeenagi encounter though."

Schneider has, ironically, been feeling entirely fine after our close call with Tri-Edge at Yeenagi's unravelling. "I'm fine," he keeps insisting. Sitting calmly in the clinic, his pure white hair, which is slightly paler than it had been when it started the game, floating a bit in air currents that don't effect anyone else. But that's Schnieder's own doing, because he thinks it's cool.

"I dunno, other than that the monster had a ... an enigma piece, I guess, kind of like mine, but I think it must be because he was a monster, it didn't work right. When /I/ purified /his/ corruption, the monster went away, you saw?" He looks back and forth. He may be tapping his foot to an unheard sone, but given his spell list, Schneider and music -do- have an association, sort of.

Prophylaxis grimaces as he lowers his Inspecting Arm. It's a weird sensation just being able to gesture forcefully at someone to get a readout of their current medical status, but Prophylaxis takes the perks he can get. "Medically speaking, you are correct. I can't see anything wrong with you, except maybe stress from the fight. But I /also/ can't inspect your hair, which is /quite/ concerning."

The doctor shakes his head, ".../And/ I can hear... something resonating in you. That song, the one that the gnoll's shadow was singing, it's in you, now. Fading, slowly, but still." He sighs, as Shiruba enters. "...Right. Welcome. Sorry I had you come all this way, but the clinic has most of my equipment." And it's a private place he knows he can speak on sensitive topics without being overheard. "Go ahead and close the door. I'll share what I know, and what I hypothesize. This is particularly relevant for Schneider, seeing as he's an Enigma Host, so it's only right that he hear it too."

Shiruba nods, and steps back a moment to shut the door. Then walks over to join the other two, grabbing a seat for herself. "You did mention a few bits during the encounter, but it wasn't really a good time to delve into specific details with how... tense it got at the end."

She gives a nod to Schnieder. Or more specifically his hair. "And I've seen what happens to people that tinker with the Enigma Pieces before. It's all another big knot of questions we have very few answers for."

Schneider hrms to Prophylaxis about not being able to inspect his hair. "Of course not, it's part of me, it wouldn't inspect separately, would it?" he asks, puzzled. "But you were /with us/ when I got it. You saw me jam the two shards together and Tri-Edge following our airship until we got to the station and lost him when we hustled up the Tower stairs?"

He nods to Shiruba, and says, "Yeah, if anyone had told me -before that- that mashing the enigma pieces together would draw /his/ attention, I wouldn't have done it. That's the sort of detail I think might have been useful before the science experiment." He grumbles as he looks at Prophylaxis. "You knew he would show up, and never warned me," he accuses. Of course his own mitigation, using the flying boat, was exactly the mitigation that was needed, but that was a fortuitous accident, not clever planning. But it felt a lot like clever planning afterwards. "The thing I'm wondering is if I use the piece I got from the spectre if it would power me up further?"

"In my defense, I had no idea that he really /would/ show up, and I did warn everyone that what we were going to do was very dangerous. Tri-Edge appearing once when two enigma pieces are brought together is an accident. Tri-Edge appearing every single time it's happened is not." Prophylaxis answers with a shrug. "And yes, I know I was there. My point is that I /can't/ examine the hair. I can't even get /you/ when I examine the hair. It's like it's separate from you entirely. No, I don't think it's strictly just 'part of you' anymore. Not after what we saw."

He nods to Shiruba, before moving to take up a seat on a cushioned examination desk. "Well. More answers now than we did before. Seeing the gnoll, I think, helped to put some things together. So, the Morrigan. The Morrigan, in myth, is a triple-goddess. It's typically viewed as an omen of war, doom and fate. But I think its nature as a 'triple-goddess' is of particular interest given the trinity of goddesses we know of."

"I think," he puts forward, "And I say this mostly out of conjecture, as my evidence to any sane mind would look like a conspiracy board. I think that the Enigma Pieces are 'fragments' of the Morrigan. Under the right conditions, multiple Enigma Pieces can be joined together, and from there grafted to a player or non-player character. Thereafter, they take on a symbiotic relationship with their host, replacing a body part or aspect of the character model. Hair, for instance, or hands, or the shadow. Thus far, anyway, I've not seen evidence suggesting that their presence is /harmful/. Yet."

Yet.

"But I think they're not entirely benign. It seems like the goal of these parts of the Morrigan are to... reintigrate with their missing components. You heard the voices during the fight, no? The shadow made it very clear what its goal was. And when I mentioned the thing by name, it tried to rip /something/ out of me. It wanted to consume or become one with its missing parts."

"But there are definitely many questions," he thinks aloud, "...Why is it that some parts of the Morrigan are so much more aggressive than others? What is the nature of the Morrigan, why was it broken into so many pieces, why does it appear to be strongly associated with violations of the Law of Alba, and why is it that Tri-Edge is so dedicated to pursuing instances of the Morrigan's reassembly? What is Tri-Edge, anyway? There are so many rumors surrounding him, but the one we encountered seems... far more reactive than proactive. It only appears when Enigma Pieces are combined-- when the Morrigan pieces consume one another and are rejoined. It was only attacking Yeenagi up until the gnoll's enigma pieces were... destroyed? And then it began pursuing Schneider. So."

"Yes, there are many questions. Until we know more, Schneider, please do not try to eat any more Enigma Pieces unless you absolutely have to-- like if we were in another Yeenagi situation."

Shiruba snorts softly at the mention of conspiracy boards. The one she had done while tracking the gnoll cult down was still sitting in her room/office of the Alliance HQ in Shibuya. As a reminder both of what good they finally accomplished because of it... and of just how crazy the 'Strange Moods' can get. She folds her arms as Prophylaxis explains his theory. ".. And the way Yeenagi was mutating from it's influence. We've seen monsters given what should be impossible powers before, but that was the first time the change has been so... physically abrupt. Taking up too much Enigma power might not be a very good idea."

She raps her fingertips against the opposite arm thoughtfully. "If this Morrigan is in some way a counterpart to the Goddesses, breaking the laws of the world instead of regulating them..."

Schneider smirks as Prophylaxis incompletely describes the situation. "So you didn't realize?" he asks. "When I broke that shade's efforts, Tri-Edge killed it, but the shard that it had came to /me/. I now /have/ the shard that Yeenagi's alter-ego had. That's why Tri-Edge pursued me." He smirks smugly. He knew a thing Proph didn't. He's going to savor this moment, it's unlikely to ever happen again. "But as to that, I thought about trying to combine it with my current pieces, but it seemed like a bad plan. This piece seemed to be laced with bad energy." He nods at what Shiruba says about Yeenagi mutating under the influence. "And anyhow, I don't need to expose anyone's cosmosphere. But I thought I ought to hold onto it for safekeeping. If I buried it or something, it'd just get burgled when we're not looking. This way, it's out of circulation." He considers. "On the other hand, maybe the powers you get from it depend on /you/, so what I'd get is different than what Yeenagi got?"

"I don't think Yeenagi was under its control," Prophylaxis answers, thoughtfully rubbing at his chin. "The way it reacted when the shadow was destroyed was closer to grief. But it was definitely being physically altered by the shadow's power. Regardless, yes, making excessive use of Enigma Power is probably not the wisest idea." Nevermind the HORRIBLE SCREAM that tended to sound whenever anyone used the things. "Defintely makes me concerned about what the Mage Tower is doing, gathering them up the way they have been."

Beat. Schneider gets one up on the doctor!? "I figured you got something out of that," Prophylaxis says, canting his head. "I'm just relieved that it didn't automatically get shunted directly into your soul, or anything like that. I'd assumed that it was automatically added to your Enigma Hair, but... I don't suppose you'd be willing to let me inspect it? It might give us more clues."

He thinks for a moment, then adds: "I don't think you took all of it. Just one part. Remember, you had to put two enigma pieces together to get that hair. So it's not unlikely that Yeenagi's shadow was made up of two or more enigma pieces as well."

"... That's probably an experiment we don't want to do. Still too many unknowns." Shiruba says with a shake of her head. And she's really glad she didn't try to find any of those pieces. She's seen enough from watching other people deal with putting fragments together. "But yes, doesn't tell us much of what The Morrigan's motivations may be, trying to empower monsters farther like that. And all those other divergent gnolls dealing with that cult. It's hard to tell what might of been her influence, Yeenagi's, hers through Yeenagi, and so on."

Schneider agrees with Proph, "I didn't get a complete set of pieces, no. I did get a larger piece, though." He will pull it from his inventory and let Doc run an Inspect on it, and Shiruba, too, if she wants. He's not trying to hide anything. As to shunting it directly to his soul, that'd probably be too useful. "I will admit I didn't quite understand what was going on exacdtly other than us beating it, and it dying and Tri-Edge finishing it off. But if it hadn't attracted Tri-Edge's attention but I did, that's kind of crummy. Or was it not breaking the Law like I was?"

He can only shrug to Shiruba, "Yeah, it does sound like a bad plan in general, but I think our strategy was sound. I -would- like to hear more about how other people dealt with Tri-edge and combining shards." He looks at Doc. "What are you not telling us about what happened to others?"

"Mmmm, it's hard to say. Yeenagi was summoned by the elders of the Gnolls, wasn't it? They're the ones behind most of what happened-- but I guarantee you it was actually that Demiurge guy and his minions pulling the strings. Everything about this incident sounds like their M.O." Prophylaxis huffs. He's dealt with /that guy/ enough times by now, it seems. "...But it's possible that the Morrigan is known to them as well. If so, they may be working with it to some degree. What bothers me is that, if the Morrigan is some kind of dark reflection to the Three Goddesses... Then what /is/ it? Why does it exist? Why is there no mention of its existence /anywhere/? You'd think something like that would get as much billing as the Scrapped Princesses, but there's no mention of it in the lore anywhere. As far as I've been able to find, anyway."

"The Mage Tower /probably/ knows more. Seeing as they've been collecting Enigmas."

Prophylaxis squints at the piece when Schneider brings it out. It looks... like some of the others he's seen in the past. It is definitely a larger chunk, though. "Remind me, we used smaller pieces than this, didn't we?" He cants his head, then shakes it. "I think it's more like Tri-Edge was pursuing a target of opportunity. It saw that you'd weakened Yeenagi's shadow and went to finish it off, and then lost interest in Yeenagi once it no longer possessed an Enigma Piece. I /think/ it was less after you and more after... your hair."

Schneider asks for more information. Prophylaxis frowns. "It almost killed me," he says, quietly. "It's unstoppable once it sees its quarry. It broke through several members of Plant Hwyden, most of a fortress, and then pursued us into Alne. It was only the intercession of the Bandit King that saved us."

"...The Bandit King used some kind of song to stop Tri-Edge entirely, and then seemed to call it off its chase afterwards. I don't know how they're related to Tri-Edge or why they interrupted its hunt, but they seem to approve of Enigma Users on some level."

"And they don't like to share what they know," Shiruba remarks with a hmph. That's half the reasons things like the set of Libraries and her Museum came to be.

She tilts her head as songs are mentioned. "I'm not really surprised. I've been around Uta and the people working with her on studying Elder Tale's unique aspects utilizing song to know it has a very deep connection with this world. It likely influenced Tri-Edge on a level we aren't even aware of yet, considering how much of an implacable pursuit he is normally. Only seems to give up when it's for certain he can't reach his intended target."

Schneider hrms about Yeenagi. That's all news to him, of course, and he looks blank at the mention of Demiurge. Another unfamiliar name. "If there's nothing written about it, maybe it's new?" he suggests. "Most of our /Lore/ is from five hundred years back. Maybe this is more current events?" The mage tower draws a shrug, and he nods at what Shiruba says. "We need to get one of the invisibility things the Palace Landers had and sneak in. And they never answer anything, so far as I've heard, the bums."

As far as piece sizes, he shakes his head. "One of the pieces I combined above Karluin was this size," he explains. "The other was a little smaller. I do now have another pair of the sort I combined above Karluin, I -could- have another go? For science." It's an idea. He frowns as Proph discusses his own attempt at shard combining. "That sounds bad," he agrees. "But kind of cool if the Bandit King stepped in."

"...A new phenomena...?" Prophylaxis pauses, his expression turning thoughtful. "...When the Bandit King saved us, he told us that 'the ones that invaded this world' were looking for the Enigma Pieces. That it seems to be the singular purpose behind their 'invasion.' Could they have brought it into the world as well? Chased it here...? If that's the case..."

"Why does it use the same 'architecture' of the world, if it were new...? Unless it was added with the expansion...?" That might be why the Mage Tower is so interested in studying it. If it's novel phenomena...

"We're not trying to combine any more Enigma Pieces. Not until we're ready for it. Tri-Edge, or something else, that is. I don't think the flying trick is going to work twice."

Just a hunch, and a desire to not put every egg in a single (flying) basket.

"I don't like the idea of destroying Tri-Edge either, if it's trying to... 'contain' the Morrigan somehow. Not until we learn more about it. It may be that we'll have to put the screws to the Mage Tower until they tell us what they know. Or..."

What Schneider said. They /could/ always sneak in...

"And once more, a few answers just eneds up leaving us with even more questions." Though by this point Shiruba has gotten use to it. "Though it's also possible The Morrigan and the invaders are at odds with each other. Yeenagi and his cultist clan could of been her attempting to pull more of that Enigma power to herself before they take and use it." Gives her head a shake, ponytail swaying. "But it's all so hypothetical, beyond what we know of the Outsiders have stolen items of power before."

Schneider nods as Proph seems to pick up on the direction he was musing in. "It's got the same architecture because the game devs were a bit lazy making new content and re-used a lot of their old data structures because that's the whole point of object-oriented coding, isn't it? Reusing old stuff for new things?" He nods about not combining new shards, "So, I'm fine with that. I -would- like to learn more about the Morrigan before I go further down this rabbit hole." He nods to Shiruba, "It's all speculation at this point. The Morrigan could be anything at this point. But most of the people that come to the game from other places, they generally seem pretty much bent on hurting /us, too/ and doing generally bad things, so anything they're chasing is probably /good/ isn't it?"

"It's probably more complicated than just 'good' and 'bad,'" Prophylaxis says with a slight grimace. "Though if they managed to drag us all in while they were 'invading' this world, then I plainly have one heck of a bone to pick with them. It is all speculation, though, yes. That said, I think we all agree that, whatever the Morrigan is, it's probably something we need to look into."

And there's only one way to do /that/, as far as anyone here is able to tell.

He cants his head at Shiruba, then. "Hm? Outsiders stealing items of power? That may be new to me. May be something I've forgotten too. Care to trade a story for a story?"

"Remember the mirror? That was taken from where it was locked away to prevent misuses, and there's no way normal monsters would of been able to get past that arcane security." Shiruba folded her hands together. "They're making problems to try and keep us preoccupied from interfering with whatever it is they're doing. But it all comes down to we need more information, and the biggest potentional for that information would rather horde it over our heads than share."

Schneider hrms as Proph asks Shiruba about the Outsiders, and he will listen up also. This is supposed to be about trading information, right? "I can check our library," he offers, in reference to finding out more about the Morrigan. "But if it's new, probably no one has written about it yet?" He huhs to Shiruba, "Mirror?" he asks. He wasn't part of that, he thinks. "But I can dig around in our library if that will help? Or I can maybe help someone infiltrate the mage tower if we want to sneak in?"

"Ohhh, /those/ Outsiders," Prophylaxis nods slowly. "Sorry, there's a lot of information swirling around up here," he taps at his noggin, "Sometimes, some of it gets lost. Thanks for the reminder. That said... It's possible that we're all from the same 'world.' Or rather, that this planet we're on is made up of several different 'worlds', each corresponding to a different server. The Outsiders may just be..."

He pauses for dramatic effect...

"...European, or something."

To Schneider, he shakes his head, "No, no. That won't be necessary. I remember now. It was the mirror that went to the Realm of Goblins. It was snuck under Mac Anu. But no, we've retrieved that. Information on the Morrigan, though, may be useful to acquire. There are a handful of people who I know may be interested in sneaking into the Mage Tower, but it's definitely not something to be handled lightly. We'll want to have teleportation gems on hand, at the very least."

Shiruba mmhmms, nodding. "The relationship with them is already... strained. Something like that could have serious reprecussions if it goes badly. It shouldn't be pursued without considerable preperation, and exhausting any other options beforehand. I don't think we want the largest collection of magical talents coming gunning for all three alliances." Her tail gives a flick as she hops off her seat. "Unlike them, I appreciate the sharing of information. Thank you Doctor, for clarifying some of the details that were coming out during the event. Add it to the rest of the other fiends with alterior motives we've got harassing us."

Schneider is still clueless about the outsiders, even after the reminder. Though if outsiders are European, he wonders, "Shouldn't they inspect as players even if they're from another server like Palace Landers do? I thought the Outsiders inspected weirdly?" He only half-remembers what he'd been told so long ago. Though he vaguely remembers a mirror? "Didn't someone wind up on the goblin moon?" he wonders. "I seem to remember something about that?" He nods to Shiruba about not annoying the Mage Tower. "I'll follow whatever lead you want me to do. I'm just dangling with no direction now, and it's a bit .... uncertain. Give me a task."

"Maybe the problem is that they're from an entirely different 'game' altogether," Prophylaxis considers, tapping his chin. "The mis-match of code might explain why we can't Inspect them cleanly. Or maybe it's something else. Something to do with how we're somehow 'destroying' their 'world.' They still haven't told us anything about that."

Prophylaxis nods to Shiruba, then. "Of course. Please keep your ears open for any more information about the Morrigan. I'd appreciate anything you might learn. As for you, Schneider--"

"We have an immediate need in fighting the Palace Land on their home turf. But other than that, if you want to start looking into the Mage Tower, I'd suggest putting together a team and preparing /well./ Try to exhaust the diplomatic approach before taking more extreme action, as well. As Shiruba says, we don't exactly want them to take overt action against the Alliances. There may be another way to handle the situation, aside from just sneaking or breaking in, but we'd need to be cautious regardless."