vrdantwind | IC Inbox

It's in Goldenrod. A slightly shady dive bar celebrating the noble Fighting-Type.

There's also an underground fighting ring underneath it. Human vs human, no pokemon allowed. Spectators welcome.

Whenever you reach Goldenrod, bring your friend there.

Worry not, notes have been taken: no wyvern-slaying songs for you, that's a promise. The mental image of little you with a wyvern is terrifying yet adorable, I must confess.

Sadly, we do not. I believe some mages are capable of levitating, but their favorite mode of transportation is portals. Indeed, I have heard about riding Pokémon and trust me, it's an experience I look forward to! It won't come soon enough! And I'd love nothing more than for you to show me how it's done - it'd be worth ten ballads, possibly more. What new experiences aren't improved by the finest company?

Meanwhile, however, I want to hear about *your* first time flying. Would you tell me all about it?

I do take people like that sometimes. ;P

As for Poképuffs, I don't think any of my little guys have ever met a Poképuff they disliked, so any kinds of flavors will make them happy. And for me, well...I tend to like bold and experimental flavors. I assume you're asking what I want because I've never seen a Poképuff with bacon on it...

Also, of course we're both heartbreakingly beautiful, but I don't go around saying it all the time for the same reason I don't go around saying "the sun is warm" at random intervals. Stating the obvious gets kind of old after awhile.

Huh. I'll have to think about whether or not that would be good for him...because he doesn't exactly think a lot about what would be good for him himself, so he needs to outsource that kind of thing.

What kind of fighting are we talking about, exactly? And how regulated? And why does a guy who throws overhand ratballs qualify in the first place? That's a pretty liberal definition of 'fighting', if that's the criteria you're scouting him on.

Hand to hand, no pokemon. There's certain ground rules all the matches have to follow and if you break them you forfeit the match.

... and honestly, he qualifies because having seen as much as I did in his cave video, I want the chance to look at him for a prolonged period of time with his shirt off and inviting him to a shirt-optional fighting club seemed a less sleazy way to cash in my favor for it than anything else.

Yes, you specified those parts already. But there have to be other guidelines, right? No killing someone, for example? How far fights are permitted to go? How opponents get paired up? Weight classes and the like? Dimitri's had some bad experiences in the past, and some issues controlling his temper, so for me to judge whether he could or should compete in this club, I need to know more about the experience of fighting there and what he'd be signing up for.

Hah! I appreciate that level of honesty. And, of course, it'd be hard to deny the appeal of that unless you're a person of no taste. I won't deny I like the idea of that myself...but his well-being is a little more important than the eye candy to me, so I still need to decide whether it's a good idea before I even present the possibility to him.

Hmm...that sounds more serious than I thought, then. [Claude frowns.] I guess I thought Faerghus focused more on the virtues of knighthood in general, specifically living by them, and that dying by them was more an occasional thing that happens as a result of being a good person in a bad situation. Not that self-sacrifice itself was being promoted...I guess I couldn't believe anywhere would actually glorify something that's so obviously the last resort of somebody in a corner. Idealizing the inherently unideal. But if that's really some big romantic theme in a lot of Faerghus' stories...I guess it just goes to show how much I have to learn about other countries' cultures.

I guess you've been trying to tell me this for the last few minutes, but...it's just honestly hard to fathom for me, to the point where I couldn't really grasp it until now. It's one thing to say "if you're going to die anyway, then sell your life dearly and make your death mean something". But to say "death through self-sacrifice is a noble goal to aim for, because your duty means more than your life"....

Anyway, sorry if I wasn't getting it. And for talking about something I clearly don't understand well enough as an outsider.

You hardly have to apologize for failing to understand something so absurd. I don't understand it either. I've just seen its effects firsthand.

You have the right idea. Death is a last resort. But the Church of Seiros claims that when we die, our souls all return to the Goddess to be together, unless they have regrets. The regretful dead suffer in the Eternal Flames until someone takes vengeance for their deaths or otherwise rights their wrongs. Sometimes I think they invented that doctrine to justify their brutal idea of justice.

Edited 2020-12-27 08:55 (UTC)

Right, sorry.

No killing, no. Not that you *can* kill people here--what happens instead is that right before you die, you instead poof away to a pokecenter where you wake up fully healed (and fully sober) with half your money gone. (I've known two people it happened to.) But suffice to say, if someone *does* get 'sent to a pokecenter', it counts as an automatic forfeit of the surviving combatant and possible grounds for a banning, depending if it was on purpose or accidental.

Fights are 'til knock out (rarely) or (more often) until one of the combatants cries uncle. Maiming is frowned upon and grounds for a suspension or banning. Combatants either register for a fight together or they put their name on the list of fighters without opponents and then they're matched up going down the list. There's no division by weight class, but there is by age, to keep grown adults from fighting fifteen-year-olds.

you can't just say things like that to me claude.
that's really not fair.

not necessarily a poke-puff in your case. Like a hum-e-puff? allia-puff? let me think about it. but i'll be sure to find something real special

sometimes it's nice to hear the obvious. like how you've got a smile that could light up a dark cave -- and did! or what about how your eyes are sharp enough to pierce my tender soul?

Well, it's less for not understanding and more for acting like I did. I was basing my theories and thoughts on a perception of what the things you're complaining about are like, without that perception being accurate. I even tried to suggest some things you might not have considered, like you wouldn't know a lot better than me what you're talking about.

[Claude blows out a sharp breath through puffed cheeks.] Man...this probably doesn't come as too much of a surprise, since the Church of Seiros is very Fodlan-based, but I don't really share their beliefs. I sometimes...act like I do, to seem like less of an outsider, just because that's easier for me, but it's pretty obvious you're not going to give me a hard time about that. But...I won't pretend that when I first learned about that particular portion of the church's doctrine, it felt pretty horrifying to me. It just doesn't make any sense.

What if you're a terrible person who dies without any regrets? The Goddess just welcomes you to her bosom, the same as someone who led a blameless life? Why should people who die with regrets deserve to suffer? Especially people who deserve vengeance? Like you said, no wonder Dimitri's messed up, if he thinks everyone who died in the Tragedy is in agony even in death. What did they do to deserve that fate? And what kind of regrets are enough to send you to the flames? Regret at dying? Regret over not attending church enough? Regret that you got run down by a cart? Regret that you didn't bring the laundry in from the rain that one time?

It's like you say - it feels like an idea people came up with to justify bloody campaigns of vengeance, or to justify shoving the atonement for a dead man's crimes onto someone's living shoulders. It doesn't feel like a system that has any logical reason for being the way it is, or like something a loving goddess implemented for the sake of her worshippers. If it's not some sneaky agenda made by people on earth, then it's the whims of a petty and capricious goddess who doesn't seem too worthy of worship.

Oh? Why not? ;)

I've got faith in your taste, Sylvain. I mean, you've flirted with me often enough.

Ah, shameless flattery! I'll never turn it down. Though do I detect a bit of bait, fishing for compliments of your own? Well, I suppose I can oblige. A man with eyes like warm honey, and the sweet words to match...someone like that is worth indulging.

Ah - hold on, I might need to put the fight club talk on hold for just a second, but did you just say people can't die here?

You did. So apology accepted for that, at least.

Ha. Those are all questions the Church doesn't want anyone to ask, and most people in Faerghus aren't like you. They just accept what they're told. The Goddess decides all those things, apparently. And works in 'mysterious ways.' But I won't be convinced that my brother's soul is eternally suffering because Dimitri hasn't personally murdered Edelgard yet. [He shakes his head.] Or his father's, for that matter. King Lambert wasn't perfect by any means, but he wouldn't harangue the son he doted on to abandon everything he believes in and act like a wild beast for the sake of bloody vengeance.

For what it's worth, baby wyverns from my world aren't very scary! I wonder if wyverns look the same between your world and mine, though...

And I can't wait to take you flying. I'm told that it's not just a matter of pokémon getting big enough to carry our weight, though - apparently they need to learn a certain move that helps them master the art of flying with a rider. And apparently that only comes from taking on the gym challenge they have here, and beating a certain gym leader in a pokémon battle. So sadly, I guess that day's a little ways off yet...

My first time flying...I think I was about seven years old. My country does start its riders young, but the training doesn't actually start until you - and your wyvern, if you've been raised alongside one - are ten years old. But I was impatient. I got some wonderful bruises falling off on takeoff, twice; wyverns don't make a graceful transition into flight from the ground. But the third time I managed to hold on, and we flew.

It was nighttime, so my parents wouldn't catch me, and every star in the world seemed to be overhead. Mori and I didn't go far, or high; we just circled the courtyard some. But I felt so much closer to the heavens than I'd ever been that I swear I could've reached out and touched them - that if I'd stretched my hand up, the stars would've scattered around my fingertips like ripples on a pond.

Not that I did, of course. I was clinging for dear life, since Mori wasn't big enough for a saddle and bridle yet. To say it's a miracle I didn't kill myself bareback wyvern riding at that age isn't too big of an exaggeration.

*We* can't, anyway. I'm not sure if it applies to the native people of this world and I'm not going to murder one to find out.

I'm starting to believe they don't. If I have to guess, I'd say your wyverns look like something that belongs here, in this realm of Pokémon. Correct?

So have I heard as well! My Breeder manual says I can ask a Trainer that defeated the corresponding Gym for any riding movements I may require, so that's a thought for later. For now, I must prioritize catching and raising a Pokémon that can transport me in the first place.

Oh, I can picture it so clearly! Little Claude and little Mori, sneaking into the night to have their first adventure together! I would've been impatient as well - truth be told, I'm impressed you managed to wait until you were seven! What a precious story. Already pretty brave as a kid, weren't you? No wonder you dream so big as an adult now. I have no doubts those bruises were absolutely worth it - do you have any scars from that day?

Edited (forgot a word) 2020-12-28 03:11 (UTC)

telling a taken man that you take people with your mouth
cruel, too cruel.

don't worry, i have got you covered though. a pile of treats, coming your way.

listen sometimes a guy just really likes to be told he's pretty in an extended metaphor
i appreciate you hearing me out
such a sweetheart~

Oh, no, not at all! They're big and scaly and look kind of like miniature dragons. They can be pretty intimidating as adults - they're usually around twenty feet long, and a wingspan to match. They've got flat yellow eyes and horns that kind of look like antlers, or branches. Teeth like an alligator's, and pretty big claws on their feet. And when they growl, it's like thunder you can feel in your chest.

Hatchlings, though...they're a lot cuter! Not too much different in looks, but when they're small it's all a lot less intimidating. They're usually pretty clingy, too, especially before they can fly, since they know they're pretty helpless. The noises they make when they're tiny are a lot cuter, too.

But yeah, there's nothing colorful or harmless or innocent about the looks of wyverns back home, not the way some pokémon here look. People who aren't familiar with wyverns tend to be nervous around them.

That said, I can't say I waited until I was seven before flying out of patience. I had to wait for Mori to be big and strong enough that he could get off the ground with me. Wyverns grow faster than humans, but not that much faster; they can live really long lives. So it's not just for the human's benefit that my people generally don't start riding before ten years old. But just like I thought I could handle a wyvern at that age, Mori was really eager to show me he could fly with me.

As for scars from that incident, no! Honestly, I got off a lot easier riding underage than I did with my parents when they found out about it...my mother's a terrifying woman when she's mad.

They sure don't want anyone asking! I know because I've tried. [Claude laughs.] Man, the looks and lectures I've gotten from Seteth...

[He sobers back up at the things Felix goes on to say, however.] I think you're right. I can't claim to know why the church believes what it believes, and I don't want to paint the faith of other countries and people as some backwards or universally bad thing...especially when I know the Church of Seiros does a lot of good, for any bad parts it might have, and it encourages doing good in others. But some of its beliefs are straight up awful, and contradict each other, and my guess is that either someone completely misunderstood teachings passed down about the Goddess' will and intentions and that misinformation has just gone unquestioned through the years ever since it was first recorded...or someone's intentionally twisted church doctrine to suit their own ends, either inventing new religious dogma from whole cloth or deliberately twisting some ideas that already existed. That'd explain why ideas like "the loving Goddess gave so much to humanity" and "the Goddess wants people who died with regrets to suffer torment in fire until someone living makes things right for them" are so basically incompatible - different sources with different ideas.

I mean, the church is made up of people, and even the archbishop is just interpreting the will of the Goddess. If the Goddess was real, and she did have ideas and practices that the church is trying to teach and carry on...the fact remains that for centuries upon centuries, those things have been passing through a filter of people with their own thoughts, agendas, and biases. It's like light passing through a whole series of lenses. If even one the lenses are colored or imperfect, the light that comes through them is inevitably going to be altered - and if all of them have their own individual effect on the light, what you have at the end might be so different and diffuse compared to the light you started with that it'll end up totally unrecognizable.

I know I'm speaking about a religion I don't follow, as an outsider, so it's not really my place to pass judgment or to suggest how other people engage with their religion. But I can't help thinking, personally, that religion should be more of a guide to help you form your own views of right and wrong, what to believe and what not to believe, than some rigid code people have to follow without question or individual interpretation. I think the Church of Seiros has plenty of good people can glean from it, but stuff like that whole torment-for-the-regretful-dead idea...it seems like some backwards remnant of some bitter bishop's teachings that doesn't even fit with the good parts. So just throw it out! Religions can have ideas that are outdated or unhealthy or backwards; being part of that faith doesn't mean you're bound to every single belief and practice that religion has ever had. You should choose what you believe, with your faith as a guide - your faith shouldn't be choosing what you believe for you, even when you hate those beliefs, they're actively hurting you, and they don't make sense within the faith's moral code or your own.

Edited (slight wording change) 2020-12-29 08:23 (UTC)

I mean, that's good to hear. But would you even need to in order to test that hypothesis? I mean, people must die of old age around here.

Although I guess that wouldn't answer whether all deaths are prevented, or only people getting killed as opposed to dying of natural causes...

Exactly. I'm assuming it's death by murder or misadventure that are prevented, not natural causes.

Ah, ah, did I specify with my mouth? I'm pretty sure I just said I take people in general. I think you may just be reading your own ideas into my words...

[The fact that Claude's suggesting he takes people and not with his mouth makes it even worse for Sylvain is a Sylvain problem. One Claude is fully aware of and grinning over. He's not even really trying to make any innuendo, so Sylvain's reading it in doesn't make him feel the least bit guilty.]

And as flattered as I am, Sylvain, I don't need an actual pile! Don't let your guilt drive you into going overboard, okay? We're fine.

Ah, what can I say? The fiery red of your hair ignites the smoldering passion in my soul~. Sometimes I just can't repress it. At least I have to say things to tease you as a taken man - your being taken is a cruelty in itself to us single folk.

Well, I can see it being extremely rare and unusual for the people of this world to experience violence...but death by misadventure can't be unheard of, can it? A few of the descriptions of pokémon I've read in the Pokédex - especially the ghosts - are kind of dark. And you do have people running all over the wilderness, including kids. Accidents must happen, right?

I mean, I guess it's kind of a ghoulish thing to ask about, but it doesn't seem like something that should be too hard to confirm.

No, you're right. I probably should go research that. And maybe even if there's any record of attempted murders among the native people of this world. Even if most ways of death are prohibited, there's always being pushed from somewhere high.

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