{Voice; UN: scraps}

[disgracedprince]

I can't sleep and Lady Rinku had a wonderful idea. Though I have a different game in mind. Twenty questions! Except that seems overwhelming, especially at this hour, so I am cutting it to ten.

One: Are you close to your family?
Two: How far have you traveled from home? (Excluding any traveling in Ellipsa.)
Three: Have you ever been in love?
Four: Do you like poetry?
Five: What subjects have you studied?
Six: What are your favorite holidays and why?
Seven: What is your favorite color?
Eight: Have you ever wielded a weapon?
Nine: Did you have powers before you came to Ellipsa?
Ten: If you could be any animal, which would you choose?

Take your time and if any of the questions seems overwhelming, come up with one to replace it.

{Xie Lian falls silent as he waits, a gentle breeze causing the wind-chimes by his head to ring.}

Comments

[roundandaround]

Not before Ellipsa, but once I started learning animal forms, I started using them a bunch. I picked giraffe first because no one else was using it. And it feels nice, plus people like petting me and that's fun too, so it's making both me and them happy, and that's 「Happy Around!」 for sure!

[disgracedprince]

You're a remarkable young woman. I wish there were others like you in my world. I would do all I could to elevate you to goddess.

{But then she would have to deal with many rough truths about the gods and existence itself. He couldn't shield her from that.}

[roundandaround]

Eh? Can anyone become a god where you're from? That makes sense with the stuff you said before, huh, now that I think about it. Is it a meditation thing or you have to do a million good deeds or something?

[disgracedprince]

Humans can Ascend based on their deeds or if they are chosen by the gods for some reason. Those who Ascend are usually...remarkable - either in their cultivation (which includes meditation) or in their martial abilities.

[roundandaround]

Whoa... that sounds exciting! So you'd have to be really working hard and trying your best for it, huh? I bet lots of people here would make it. There are so many who try their best all the time so they can beat stronger monsters and help everyone in the city!

[disgracedprince]

Exactly. {He smiles warmly at the thought of their fellow residents Ascending. That would be great news!}

Unfortunately there are times that someone is raised to that lofty height and they are undeserving.

[roundandaround]

Eh? You mean like by accident, or people who put in the work but they're not good as people?

[disgracedprince]

The latter. {He sighs.} Power isn't always earned righteously.

[roundandaround]

Oh... I guess that kind of thing happens everywhere. It sounds like you had to deal with that back home, huh...

[disgracedprince]

I'm sure it does. {Oh when will people learn?} I did, but I was able to stop some of it.

[roundandaround]

You mean stop someone who was using their power wrong?

[disgracedprince]

Yes. I have imprisoned him under a mountain.

[roundandaround]

...Does that kinda thing happen a lot?

[blink blink.]

[disgracedprince]

I'm not sure, but something became of the gods in the past. Their histories have been erased.

[roundandaround]

That also sounds kinda worrying. There are lost gods and you don't know about them?

[disgracedprince]

They perished, little lady. It's natural, though I cannot say their ends weren't premature.

[roundandaround]

I guess that makes sense... But if the history's gone, how do you know what happened?

[disgracedprince]

Thus the problem. Each new dynasty likely gets rid of the old records.

[roundandaround]

Why would anyone do that? I thought you were supposed to learn from the last guys.

[disgracedprince]

Many leaders have done likewise. I agree that the past should be learned from, but for many, it is something to be forgotten.

[roundandaround]

I don't get it. I guess it must have been sad for them, but still... The history here is sad too, and people know it.

[disgracedprince]

It's not about sadness; it's about power. If no one recalls the past, the current ruler is the only one they can rely on.

[roundandaround]

That makes even less sense. [Rinku screws up her face.] Is that why one of your other questions was what all subjects people studied?

[disgracedprince]

Believe me, it makes more sense when you see it in action. Think about it, if you are a ruler that wants their people to rely on only them, would you want them reading about great rulers of the past and comparing you to them?

I was just curious.

[roundandaround]

I dunno, I wouldn't want that in the first place. That sounds creepy, like someone who doesn't want the person they like to have friends.

[somewhere at arisugawa, a character who hasn't shown up at rinku's canon point is sneezing.]