Which you should have told him the first time he asked.
SCSF: Exactly! Sure, he might have reacted badly to the notion, but he would have had more time to come to terms with who he is. They do not only not have a good reason to hide it, they are also impeding their own Prophecy.
Belial, if Axis is the best commander you've served under you need better luck in commanders. Or possibly a change of commanders, depending.
I suppose it would be the first, since Belial is several years older than Axis... and I do wonder what his previous commander must have been like, then.
Ogden, you do realize the Seneschal is not, in fact, a serial bodyhopper? That the various men who have held that title are, in fact, different people? You do not know the current Seneschal is so fervently opposed to Axis, because all you know is secondhand gossip from a woman who, if I may be so crass, seems to consider her work of lower priority than her sex life. He doesn't even know what the Forbidden are, how can you be sure he'd recognize Axis as one?
I do note that you are describing the Brother-Leader of the Seneschal, while the Seneschal itself apparently includes the Brother-Leader and all the Brothers. That only strengthens your argument, though. We have not seen Jayme nor any of the Brothers be opposed to Axis because of who he is, even though he has clearly "alien" features. Jayme even adopted him, so clearly the Seneschal is not as black-and-white on this as Ogden is saying it is. (And the way in which he follows it up makes it less likely for Axis to call him out on this.)
And yes, serial bodyhoppers would explain why everyone treats the Wars of the Axe like they happened a generation ago.
I note that Yr has only stayed in Carlon, too, which is not the best place to know what the Brothers elsewhere think. And Ogden and Veremund's interaction with other Brothers has been limited to those in Arcen, who they avoided, and Hagen... so Ogden is probably just claiming this to get Axis to hate the Seneschal.
You've got to wonder how much of the story Ogden isn't saying. Personally I'm inclined to suspect he's leaving out all the other groups who thought the Talon, and by extension the Icarii, weren't all they were cracked up to be.
Oh, me too. They were the ruling group for several thousand years, after all, and if that rule was somewhat authoritarian, there would be all kinds of groups wishing for change and willing to act. But of course Ogden would not say that, because that would mean that the Icarii were not so great as Douglass wants them to be and that the Seneschal is not as uniquely evil as we are supposed to think.
Ogden is talking about the version of Axis which exists solely within his head and bears little to no resemblance to the real one. Or possibly he thinks those were compassionate acts and needs to be force-fed a dictionary.
I would almost think the latter, especially since Axis tried to kill him just now!
So, how much contact have you had with the Icarii over the past three thousand years?
That is a very good question! Sure, they might have heard about people who could sing it very well, but how would they know from personal experience? The best I can think of is that they heard it often during the Wars of the Axe (because of many victims)... but they simply cannot say for sure that Axis is the best at it.
Ogden, just say you have no idea. It'll be more honest.
Hmmm, his deduction is reasonable enough, and I do think Axis should know Faraday still lives... but he should indeed say that he has little idea what she is doing now, because he does not know.
Belial, dear heart, I'm pretty sure that feeling like you must avoid giving a friend bad news is a sign they are not your friend.
Yes, that is very much not a good sign.
Axis seems remarkably comfortable with sacrilege.
He certainly is. It might well be supposed to be a sign that he is "leaving its influence", but I do not like it.
fic
Good on Belial for realising this (and I do think that is about the extent of their relationship)! Also, am I right in assuming that the Sentinels have given him some kind of mind-control? (I do like that you stuck with my summarisation of the dialogue instead of trying to make up some yourself.)
no subject
Which you should have told him the first time he asked.
SCSF: Exactly! Sure, he might have reacted badly to the notion, but he would have had more time to come to terms with who he is. They do not only not have a good reason to hide it, they are also impeding their own Prophecy.
Belial, if Axis is the best commander you've served under you need better luck in commanders. Or possibly a change of commanders, depending.
I suppose it would be the first, since Belial is several years older than Axis... and I do wonder what his previous commander must have been like, then.
Ogden, you do realize the Seneschal is not, in fact, a serial bodyhopper? That the various men who have held that title are, in fact, different people? You do not know the current Seneschal is so fervently opposed to Axis, because all you know is secondhand gossip from a woman who, if I may be so crass, seems to consider her work of lower priority than her sex life. He doesn't even know what the Forbidden are, how can you be sure he'd recognize Axis as one?
I do note that you are describing the Brother-Leader of the Seneschal, while the Seneschal itself apparently includes the Brother-Leader and all the Brothers. That only strengthens your argument, though. We have not seen Jayme nor any of the Brothers be opposed to Axis because of who he is, even though he has clearly "alien" features. Jayme even adopted him, so clearly the Seneschal is not as black-and-white on this as Ogden is saying it is. (And the way in which he follows it up makes it less likely for Axis to call him out on this.)
And yes, serial bodyhoppers would explain why everyone treats the Wars of the Axe like they happened a generation ago.
I note that Yr has only stayed in Carlon, too, which is not the best place to know what the Brothers elsewhere think. And Ogden and Veremund's interaction with other Brothers has been limited to those in Arcen, who they avoided, and Hagen... so Ogden is probably just claiming this to get Axis to hate the Seneschal.
You've got to wonder how much of the story Ogden isn't saying. Personally I'm inclined to suspect he's leaving out all the other groups who thought the Talon, and by extension the Icarii, weren't all they were cracked up to be.
Oh, me too. They were the ruling group for several thousand years, after all, and if that rule was somewhat authoritarian, there would be all kinds of groups wishing for change and willing to act. But of course Ogden would not say that, because that would mean that the Icarii were not so great as Douglass wants them to be and that the Seneschal is not as uniquely evil as we are supposed to think.
Ogden is talking about the version of Axis which exists solely within his head and bears little to no resemblance to the real one. Or possibly he thinks those were compassionate acts and needs to be force-fed a dictionary.
I would almost think the latter, especially since Axis tried to kill him just now!
So, how much contact have you had with the Icarii over the past three thousand years?
That is a very good question! Sure, they might have heard about people who could sing it very well, but how would they know from personal experience? The best I can think of is that they heard it often during the Wars of the Axe (because of many victims)... but they simply cannot say for sure that Axis is the best at it.
Ogden, just say you have no idea. It'll be more honest.
Hmmm, his deduction is reasonable enough, and I do think Axis should know Faraday still lives... but he should indeed say that he has little idea what she is doing now, because he does not know.
Belial, dear heart, I'm pretty sure that feeling like you must avoid giving a friend bad news is a sign they are not your friend.
Yes, that is very much not a good sign.
Axis seems remarkably comfortable with sacrilege.
He certainly is. It might well be supposed to be a sign that he is "leaving its influence", but I do not like it.
fic
Good on Belial for realising this (and I do think that is about the extent of their relationship)! Also, am I right in assuming that the Sentinels have given him some kind of mind-control? (I do like that you stuck with my summarisation of the dialogue instead of trying to make up some yourself.)