Dawn of the Jedi ~ Act I: There is no Emotion, There is Peace

[Minchandre]

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It made me wait 4 seconds before posting, so here're the rolls again:

Attack: (1d20+3)[11]
Damage: (2d6)[10]

[The_Snark]

Rosa

"Hm." Well, maybe it runs in the family. Predictably, I thought of another question right after asking my last, and I spring it on her now. "Well, while you're in an answering-questions mood, why don't you want to tell me who you are?"

[Ascension]

Jo

"You missed," your opponent notes, although for some reason she does not seem eager to capitalize on your overextension, "You could be dead now."

Rosa

"Well now that would ruin all the fun, wouldn't it? If I just told you who I was? The joy is in the discovery."

[Minchandre]

Jo

"I could be," I agree. "That strike was sloppy. I not only missed but left my guard wide open. The question is, why am I not? Not only could you easily have struck me, but you might have done the choking thing again. That was Bogan, wasn't it?"

[Ascension]

Jo

"The Bogan is an abstract concept," your opponent scoffs, "That was applied telekinesis."

[Minchandre]

Jo

"Psychokinesis," I correct, "Telekinesis technically refers to any action at a distance; this is movement caused by the mind. Still, I get your point. Again, though: why am I still 'alive'?"

[Ascension]

Jo

"TK, PK, what does it matter?" your opponent replies, sighing exasperatedly, "As for why you still live... You must. I couldn't kill you any more than I could kill myself."

The figure removes its mask, revealing a face identical to your own.

[Minchandre]

Jo

I let out a gasp, obviously not particularly surprised. "Oh my! It was me all along. How shocking!" I shrug, and the fencing gymnasium is replaced by the den at home, where I used to go to take refuge when I was younger. Chalk and sweat are replaced by brandy and burning wood even as the worn floor grows dark plush carpeting and the various training aids are replaced by a series of heavily-stuffed chairs arrayed about a fireplace. I shrug again as I sit back into one of the chairs, "We seemed to have abandoned the fencing metaphor. Anyway, I'm not any closer to understanding what this is all about. Here I am, in my mind, having some sort of vivid dream or hallucination. You are obviously some part of me; perhaps my self-loathing or my desire to become a boat-salesman or something. The brings two questions up: first, what are you, and second, whether there's actually a reason I'm here. I mean, most of what I've done here seems significant, but I began in a perfectly valid nightmare. Dreams are not usually assigned great meaning. Who's to say that I haven't simply managed to side-step from a nightmare into some weirder imagining?"

[The_Snark]

Rosa

"I'm not enjoying it much right now." This sounds stupid even to my ears. I move on before she can say so. "So, you want to watch me try to figure out what's going on. You don't actually care about whether I figure anything out, you just want to watch me try." That might not be true, but I say it anyway to irritate her. Besides, if it's not true she'll say so.

I sit down; Maro says sitting down and crossing his legs always helps him think. The broken tiles aren't very comfortable, so I imagine a blanket beneath me, and there one is. "You say we're in my mind, and since I don't think I can really do this, you're probably telling the truth." I wave a hand, and abruptly the both of us are surrounded by a ring of jagged stones projecting upwards. The place I've created is weird, but I like it; it's not boring, at least. "Which means you're in my mind too. How?"

[Ascension]

Jo

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Genre savvy, eh?

"You underestimate the importance of dreams," the other you replies, "And you underestimate, too, the reality of this situation. Your... our mind has been tampered with. It fragmented under the pressure. I'm only one of the results. You'll meet the rest of us shortly."

Rosa

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Ve haff vays of gettink inside your hed!

"Your mind is open. Open to others' emotions. It's only a small step to widen the door to let in others' thoughts, others' will. You're not safe inside your head. You should be glad it's only me here and not something worse."

[Minchandre]

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A little genre savvy, yes; remember, this is the sort of thing that all sorts of stories get told about, and Jo has reasonable INT and WIS. I figured it was only a matter of time before she decided she was in some sort of play or something.

Jo

A spike of fear penetrates me, "Tampered with? What do you mean? And there are more of you? If you are a part of me, you likely have my best interests at least partly in mind. Do you think you could be a bit less cryptic?"

[Ascension]

Jo

"'fraid not," other-Jo replies, "Introspection is rarely as direct as you'd like it to be."

[Minchandre]

Jo

"Well, damn," I comment. "Will you at least play 20 questions with me or something?" After a moment, I reconsider, "Actually, I have a better question: if you know how to choke people from afar, can I do the same? I mean, you are apparently a part of me. It follows that anything you can do, I can do."

[Ascension]

Jo

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Muahahahahahahahahahah!

Thanks for the opening.

"You have the potential for it... and much more. You have the potential to call on a great deal of power those who trained you would have you deny. A greater strength lies within you. This is merely the tip of the iceberg. Would you like to learn how to call on that strength? I cannot teach you myself, but there is another who can."

[Minchandre]

Jo

"Greater power is appealing, I suppose...but why? I mean, the ability to choke from afar seems like a useful skill in a fight, if somewhat honorably dubious. I have always felt, however, that power is good only for what you can gain from it: safety, honor for your House, happiness. What you suggest sounds more like power for its own sake...are you the manifestation of my ambition, perhaps? And who is this 'other one'?"

[Ascension]

Jo

"You misunderstand me," the other you replies, backpedaling, "Not power for its own sake. Power to protect yourself. And defend the innocent. Power that could have prevented us from ending up here, like this. Power that could have kept us from being captured, subjected to these... indignities. As for the other... she is the manifestation of your strength, the focus of your power... your true potential unleashed."

[Minchandre]

Jo

"I see," I say skeptically. "Very good post-facto justifications, by the way, though I suppose the fact that they are justifications makes them no less true. I do have a question, though, about this true strength of mine...you say she it my 'true potential unleashed'. My potential to do what?"

[Ascension]

Jo

"What do you not have the potential to accomplish? You're young, beautiful, charming, physically fit, wealthy, popular, influential, intelligent, and you can touch the Ashla. If you would realize all that potential, push your skills to their extremes, you could do anything you wished to do."

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Jo Norala: Mary Sue in the making.

[The_Snark]

Rosa

"Who's to say you're not one of those worse things?" I snap back. "Since you refuse to tell me anything, and you clearly don't care about me very much, why should I listen to what you say?"

I wonder why, if she claims to be someone else entering my head, she doesn't seem quite like a real person to me. As soon as I think of it like that, I realize that's part of the reason she's been grating on me, more than her annoying smile or even her refusal to tell me what I want to know.

I wonder if I really could make her vanish. I do not; as bizarre as she is, she tells me more than anything else here could. Instead, I simply imagine the color draining out of her dress, pooling at her feet.

[Minchandre]

Jo

"Please," I say, secretly somewhat pleased, "I like to think I'm too honest for self-flattery like that. And my question remains: any manifestation of my potential as an abstract would probably be some sort of amorphous blob. It stands to reason that this manifestation is my potential to do something or be someone."

[Ascension]

Rosa

"Well that's not very kind!" the girl indignantly replies as the color seeps from her dress, "Since you clearly have no manners, why should I tell you anything?"

Jo

"Oh yes... she's someone, alright. Would you really like to meet her?" the other you asks.

[The_Snark]

Rosa

"No, you're the rude one." Seeing her flustered makes me calmer. "You come into my mind uninvited, you won't tell me how to get out or wake up or whatever, and you won't even tell me who you are."

"Well, you told me I can change things here. You're here." I stare at her fixedly. "It looks like that means I can change you. Tell me who you are, and what's going on." Unlike changing the landscape, trying to force her to speak is difficult. There's nothing visible to change, and I don't know exactly what I want her to say. More, that strange feeling like there's nothing behind the girl's face makes it hard to concentrate, and I stretch out, groping for something unknown with a sense I hadn't really been conscious of before.

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I don't know if this calls for a Use the Force check? (1d20+8)[22], and I guess it could be interpreted as a Mind Trick. Or just using the dream-landscape...

[Ascension]

Rosa

The girl convulses as if afflicted by a seizure.

"I'm a ha-hallucination," she stammers, "You-you've been drug-ged. But some-one is guy-guiding... ack!"

She herself dissolves, joining the color of her dress in a puddle on the ground.

"You killed her," another voice accuses, "She told you she couldn't tell you what was going on, but you forced her. You killed her."

[The_Snark]

Rosa

"But—but I didn't mean..." I stumble over my worlds, staring at the puddle, and feel faintly nauseous. That wasn't what I'd meant to do. Suddenly it occurs to me—there's another voice! The person guiding whatever this is?

I look up, away from the odd pool. "She wasn't real! She even said so," I say, although I'm not nearly as sure as I sound. She was strange, yes, and she didn't feel right at all, but she'd seemed pretty real while talking... I don't really want to think about this. "Who are you? Are you doing this?"

[Minchandre]

Jo

"Stop that," I say testily, "I will not be intimidated by myself. But by all means, let us continue this magical journey."

[Ascension]

Rosa

"Maybe I am," the voice responds, with a bit of a chuckle in its voice, "Maybe I'm another figment. Are you strong enough to find out?"

Jo

The setting suddenly shifts. You find yourself in a grand hall with a high, vaulted ceiling. A mural of some fantastic battle is painted on said ceiling, and grand tapestries line the walls. Armored figures stand by in attendance, and what appear to be other fragments of your personality are dressed in uniforms which, though grand in their own right, are obviously those of servants.

You hear a voice and, turning, see the speaker: She is somewhat older but is still recognizably yourself. She is dressed simply yet elegantly in a contrasting mix of white and black. A jeweled blade rides on her hip. An aura of power emanates from her, and you feel oddly... though not irresistibly... compelled to pay respect to her.

"You wish an audience?" she asks with a twinkle in her eye, "I am always happy to meet with myself... to be reminded of where I came from... how foolish I once was."

[Minchandre]

Jo

Despite myself, I am very, very impressed. If this is what the future has to hold, perhaps things are not so bad after all...even if that sword is a little gaudy. As I approach "my potential", I try to drop into a curtsy before realizing I'm still clad in my fencing gear. I correct the problem with a thought and stand suddenly in a rather fetching dress. As I examine it, I notice that it is the dress I wore that night. Quirking an eyebrow to myself at the unconscious and uninterpreted symbolism, I continue into my curtsy, greeting myself, "Greetings, my lady. I would in fact like an audience, having heard so much about you...though before we speak, I feel obligated to remind you that it is how foolish you are. If you exist in reality, it is in the future: presently, I am Jo, and you are naught but an odd dream. But I digress. Why are we foolish, precisely?"

[Ascension]

Jo

Your potential is amused by your response.

"Ah, but, as you say, you are the present reality," she replies, "I cannot tell you anything you do not already know, somewhere in your heart. I can only tell you what you cannot admit to yourself... without 'outside' help. Do you still wish to hear what I have to say?"

[The_Snark]

Rosa

"What do you mean, strong enough? I can't see you." I stare up, trying to find the voice; my fists are clenched at the laughter in its voice. It's like the girl all over again, with only the worst parts of her this time. And I can't even see her. "Why don't you show yourself?"

[Minchandre]

Jo

I was quickly growing bored with my own penchant for drama and pageantry. At least one useful thing came of this, I think to myself, vowing to be more straightforward in the future. "By all means; if I'm somehow lying to myself, I'd love to correct that problem."