Illiam'iira wrote: ↑Fri Sep 08, 2023 7:52 am
"Hey, you know this city better than anybody, right? This is your home, good and bad. What's your take on -- on alla this, I guess? On Sigil and what's going on here."
Ikkit looked at her. Thought about it for a moment. Then took a breath and started to speak.
"I think this is a great city. Has anythin' you could want, even ways out if y'know th'right keys an' portals. I think the Lady's game, whatever is is, goes way over our heads an' that don't fuss me none. We're not here t'figure it all out, we're here t'live. An' it's like folks don't recall, the Factions wasn't always here. Everyone thinks th'city needs 'em t'run, but they really just... run things an' tell us that's how it is."
He paused. Sighed.
"An' since they're all useless collections o' total leatherheads, that makes it a chore. Y'know how hard it is to
live when some addle-cove thinks 'is stupid philosophy matters more'n gettin' through th'dasy? An' they're all s'damn
useless."
He started ticking names off on his spindly green fingers.
"The Bleakers? 'Oh BOO-HOO, nothing MEANS anything! Let’s hang out in a big group and TALK about how meaningless it all is!' The Ciphers? 'Act without thinkin',' yeah, great, sure, good way t'end up in th'dead-book. Some perfect harmony o'act an'tention sounds good if yer brain's been eaten by worms. The Sensates?"
Here, he snorted.
"I got a unique experience for those sods right here, any time. They never take me up on it though, 'coz they're not honest about what it is they're after. You ever find one as actually worked at th'unpleasant stuff? The Guvners kinda make a bit o'sense, tryna figure out th' dark o'things by learnin' th'laws of everything... 'cept I ain't yet seen a law wasn't broken at least once, whatever happened to th'sod as did so afterwards. An' ya got the Chaosmen on th'other end. No order, no pattern, no
point. Useless pack of barmies. All they're any good for is tweakin' th'others noses. Which makes the Anarachists
extra pointless, since those dumb sods thought th'best way t'topple th'Factions was t'
become a Faction. They're about as addle-pated as th'Athar, who like t'claim the Powers ain't real gods like th'distinction
means anything."
Was he warming to the subject? Quite probably!
"Th'Doomguard? '’Everything is decaying and we shouldn’t interfere!’ Then why not give up, lie down and die? They can lie t'themselves, but not to me. Th' Dustmen? 'Oh, everything's actually dead.' Not yet, sweetheart, an actin' like bein' a zombie's a good notion is eight kinds of stupid.”
He paused. "I s'pose th'Indeps're the best of a bad lot, even if they're a complete pack of idjits. They talk 'bout bein' ind'pendent, then straight off make rules an' say they're all t'gether. Not a lotta conviction there.”
He was out of fingers, but that was fine, because he clenched his fists as possibly the longest articulate speech he'd ever given in Common reached a crescendo.
"Then y'got the
real bad ones, the ones as make th'rest look sane. Th'Mercykillers, who somehow think that if they just punish enough sods it'll all be perfect. An' folks call the Bleakers barmy! The Fated are just selfish arseholes tryna claim it's the true un'versal order, the Harmonium's
brill'yant fuckin' idea is everyone does as they say, and then y'got the last two collections o'serene
bastards. Y'got th'Signers, who seem t'think one'o them's imaginin' all'o creation. If one of those arseholes is imag'nin all'o'this, they’re doin' a fuckin' terrible job. Self-absorbed prats need some better material. An' then, the ones everyone seems t'like for reasons as utterly 'scape me, the Godsmen."
He paused again, and shook his head.
"I've seen Lower Ward pyramid schemes as was less selfish than th'idea that if y'just try hard'nough, y'can ascend t'be better'n all th'rest of us scum. They ain't tryna raise everyone up, they're tryna get everyone t'look up at
them an' how wonderful they are. They point at Powers as was mortal once and say, 'look, see!' 'Cept those Powers, most of 'em, need mortal worship t'survive. Buncha self-absorbed dead-enders!"
He made a dismissive motion with his hands, spreading his fingers out again.
"We don't need any of 'em. But they've sunk their hooks in, so we're struck with 'em for now. Y'know they're why most Guilds went under? Claimed it was divided loyalty or some such stupidity."
[quote="Illiam'iira" post_id=7292 time=1694159523 user_id=70]"Hey, you know this city better than anybody, right? This is your home, good and bad. What's your take on -- on alla this, I guess? On Sigil and what's going on here."[/quote]
Ikkit looked at her. Thought about it for a moment. Then took a breath and started to speak.
"I think this is a great city. Has anythin' you could want, even ways out if y'know th'right keys an' portals. I think the Lady's game, whatever is is, goes way over our heads an' that don't fuss me none. We're not here t'figure it all out, we're here t'live. An' it's like folks don't recall, the Factions wasn't always here. Everyone thinks th'city needs 'em t'run, but they really just... run things an' tell us that's how it is."
He paused. Sighed.
"An' since they're all useless collections o' total leatherheads, that makes it a chore. Y'know how hard it is to [i]live[/i] when some addle-cove thinks 'is stupid philosophy matters more'n gettin' through th'dasy? An' they're all s'damn [i]useless.[/i]"
He started ticking names off on his spindly green fingers.
"The Bleakers? 'Oh BOO-HOO, nothing MEANS anything! Let’s hang out in a big group and TALK about how meaningless it all is!' The Ciphers? 'Act without thinkin',' yeah, great, sure, good way t'end up in th'dead-book. Some perfect harmony o'act an'tention sounds good if yer brain's been eaten by worms. The Sensates?"
Here, he snorted.
"I got a unique experience for those sods right here, any time. They never take me up on it though, 'coz they're not honest about what it is they're after. You ever find one as actually worked at th'unpleasant stuff? The Guvners kinda make a bit o'sense, tryna figure out th' dark o'things by learnin' th'laws of everything... 'cept I ain't yet seen a law wasn't broken at least once, whatever happened to th'sod as did so afterwards. An' ya got the Chaosmen on th'other end. No order, no pattern, no [i]point[/i]. Useless pack of barmies. All they're any good for is tweakin' th'others noses. Which makes the Anarachists [i]extra[/i] pointless, since those dumb sods thought th'best way t'topple th'Factions was t'[i]become[/i] a Faction. They're about as addle-pated as th'Athar, who like t'claim the Powers ain't real gods like th'distinction [i]means[/i] anything."
Was he warming to the subject? Quite probably!
"Th'Doomguard? '’Everything is decaying and we shouldn’t interfere!’ Then why not give up, lie down and die? They can lie t'themselves, but not to me. Th' Dustmen? 'Oh, everything's actually dead.' Not yet, sweetheart, an actin' like bein' a zombie's a good notion is eight kinds of stupid.”
He paused. "I s'pose th'Indeps're the best of a bad lot, even if they're a complete pack of idjits. They talk 'bout bein' ind'pendent, then straight off make rules an' say they're all t'gether. Not a lotta conviction there.”
He was out of fingers, but that was fine, because he clenched his fists as possibly the longest articulate speech he'd ever given in Common reached a crescendo.
"Then y'got the [i]real[/i] bad ones, the ones as make th'rest look sane. Th'Mercykillers, who somehow think that if they just punish enough sods it'll all be perfect. An' folks call the Bleakers barmy! The Fated are just selfish arseholes tryna claim it's the true un'versal order, the Harmonium's [i]brill'yant[/i] fuckin' idea is everyone does as they say, and then y'got the last two collections o'serene [i]bastards.[/i] Y'got th'Signers, who seem t'think one'o them's imaginin' all'o creation. If one of those arseholes is imag'nin all'o'this, they’re doin' a fuckin' terrible job. Self-absorbed prats need some better material. An' then, the ones everyone seems t'like for reasons as utterly 'scape me, the Godsmen."
He paused again, and shook his head.
"I've seen Lower Ward pyramid schemes as was less selfish than th'idea that if y'just try hard'nough, y'can ascend t'be better'n all th'rest of us scum. They ain't tryna raise everyone up, they're tryna get everyone t'look up at [i]them[/i] an' how wonderful they are. They point at Powers as was mortal once and say, 'look, see!' 'Cept those Powers, most of 'em, need mortal worship t'survive. Buncha self-absorbed dead-enders!"
He made a dismissive motion with his hands, spreading his fingers out again.
"We don't need any of 'em. But they've sunk their hooks in, so we're struck with 'em for now. Y'know they're why most Guilds went under? Claimed it was divided loyalty or some such stupidity."