text | ota

[rebells]

[Someone's bored, evidently. Or perhaps just at his wit's end.]

So I thought I might as well pose the question.

How does one get an intelligent but warlike species that can't communicate and doesn't seem interested in anything but attacking people to calm down?

- Jay, if you wanted to know.

Comments

[rootbound]

drugs

[what.]

[rebells]

I'm fairly certain that raises ethical issues.

That's assuming we could find an appropriate drug and . . . drugging method.

[rootbound]

There are some that are topically applied, ingestible or breathable that could be put directly into their living environment. See if the Palai use anything calming recreationally since they're probably closer in physiology than humans are.

I didn't mean it as a long-term sort of answer, but I wasn't being flippant either.

[actus]

give it something more interesting to attack or channel that rage into.
or just change their hearts.

[rebells]

[are you proposing to Phantom Thief all the Uvi, Akira, is that it]

That first one might actually work, if we had such a target. But aside from the fact that we haven't encountered anyone else, they capture magical Palai more often. It isn't strictly random.

Voice

[rootandbranch]

[there's a delay while Geir gets Vern to read the words to him, and a further delay while he decides whether to answer or not. eventually, though, Jay hears Geir's voice:]

I hypnotized one like it was my prey. It works better if what I try to hypnotize can understand me, but it's not like deer can understand me, and I've eaten plenty of them.

I couldn't really talk to it any better afterwards though.

[rebells]

You might have difficulty eating all the Uvi.

[Dry.]

You can hypnotize creatures, hmm . . . is that something you had originally or something Qri gave you? I tried my power on one of them, and it did get them to calm down, but I couldn't talk to it either. It just stood there.

[voice]

[probablynoteren]

Capture them...?

[At least he didn't suggest just outright killing them all. He'd prefer to avoid that at least. Otherwise, this is a type of question he hasn't really been asked before. His world is in some ways extremely straightforward.

For now.]

I don't think they wanted to communicate.

Re: [voice]

[rebells]

There's at least two hundred of them; even with the range of abilities we have here, I don't think we'd be able to do that. Unless we tricked them somehow, I suppose.

[He sounds matter-of-fact, almost as though he's already considered and discarded that idea.]

[deem]

I suppose you figure out what they stand to gain from attacking, and ensure that the benefit becomes outweighed by the cost.

If you can't communicate, your options are pretty limited.

[rebells]

We need more information. We know that the Uvi tend to kidnap magical Palai, but for what purpose? And they're not all Eltos, either.

Another reconnaissance mission might be called for, if we can figure out how to get around those plants.

[mapsio]

Distract them, maybe?

Though that sounds far too simple, doesn't it?

[rebells]

It might work as a temporary solution, if we can find something distracting enough. They're frightfully single-minded.

[potentite]

Tame them?
Perhaps?
You know like wild animals...

[rebells]

Do you know how to tame wild animals?

[fivefingerdeathpunch]

Kick their asses until they're either willing to listen or run away for good.

[...What, it's worked for him plenty.]

Or I guess you can pull some Jane Goodall shit and try to live among them if brute strength isn't an option.

[rebells]

I think we might have some trouble against an entire city of . . . angry fish people.

Anyway, I don't think it's that they're not willing to listen--although they might not be. They just don't seem to be capable of communication in the same way we or the Palai are.

[talim]

Maybe there's a way to communicate with them that we just... haven't managed to figure out yet.

[ hopelessly optimistic. ]

But regardless, that question is something we'll have to seek an answer to together. Every one of us.

[rebells]

I tried hand gestures, too, for the record.

[yancat]

Figure out what they want and toss it to them. If it's the Eltos they need, we should give them something better.

Though I doubt anyone has a power source on hand.

[rebells]

I wonder if we and the Eltos could create an alternate power source, if we worked together. That's not my area of expertise, but it's something worth pursuing.

[imsorey]

put them all to sleep? that's not a good long-term solution though

[rebells]

Can we put them all to sleep? Do we have that ability?

[ensorcel]

Would it not be simplest to just invade their lair and kill them all?

[ how has no one suggested this yet?? smh where the other barbarians at ]

[rebells]

There's hundreds of them.