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[bluescreenwhitedragon]

"This is Intensity. Leave a message."

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[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Left mentioned that he was picked. Or earned his position as a host. Of course he was cagey about it when asked anything directly about the process.

[rollplayinghouse]

So there's a recruiter picking hosts out of whatever crop of demons they've got? I guess that's possible... But why would someone who was in charge of that just be hosting herself now?

And, Pythia isn't a host... Who recruits for Princedom?

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

She said she was doing a favor for Pythia. Something that she would never turn down.

...

So if Pythia wasn't the original Prince of Lies-- does that mean someone else was?

[rollplayinghouse]

Maybe? Or it could mean Hadassah was around before any of that was a thing.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

So the Princes are a potential reorg.

[Laughs at that]

Well, I guess that's one theory. Maybe that's also why they are so bad at running this production.

[rollplayinghouse]

...As much as I don't want to say it, it's also possible Hadassah was just lying. I forgot to write it down, but she said something like "normally I wouldn't say this, but you don't seem like the type to make a big deal about it" when she told me they went "all the way back." Maybe that's true, but maybe she was just trying to get me to believe her. The most real-seeming thing she said was when she was surprised I asked about her abilities, but she got cut off.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

It's possible that everyone is lying. Especially true for anyone who works for the Prince of Lies.

But we already know the talent department exists, so-- What does she gain by lying about that? Or being close with Pythia.

[rollplayinghouse]

Not about those parts, maybe. But what seems more likely...? That she's actually an ancient and powerful angel-or-demon who helped Pythia come to power, who ran the game just as a personal favor and was honest and helpful with us? Or something more like... she's just a recruiter from Pythia's faction, directed to talk to us and spin whatever narrative Pythia wants us to hear, and under a gag order that stops her from revealing anything actually useful?

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Then there is still value in trying to understand why that is the narrative they want to spin, isn't there?

[rollplayinghouse]

Yes. And why she couldn't say whatever she couldn't say. That's why I brought it up.

...I don't know how much we can figure out from just this much information, though.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Probably not much.

But each piece of information is just one part of the puzzle. And the more pieces we collect, the more chance we have of catching them in a lie.

[rollplayinghouse]

...Yeah. I guess that's true. At least, assuming that people share enough of the pieces.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Don't underestimate my network.

We should be more concerned with whether people are asking the right questions.

[rollplayinghouse]

Mm.

It was really hard to figure out what to ask her, in the moment. I kept thinking... she definitely wouldn't openly reveal secrets in the middle of a game. And even if she's trying to feed us some false narrative, she'd want to keep up the appearance of being reluctant to share information, too. So I didn't want to ask anything too directly. But then... everything is really vague, and could mean like five different things...

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

But of course. That's the characteristic of a good liar.

Which is also why we need good liars on our side.

[rollplayinghouse]

...Well, you have C for that, right?

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

C is one of them, yes.

Is that a problem?

[rollplayinghouse]

No, that's fine.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

I know that information gathering is not your forte.

You'll probably feel more useful once we have actionable things that we can do.

[rollplayinghouse]

[...]

I'm fine at information gathering in some situations. All my memories are basically murder investigations, you know. I'm just not good at lying. Or... delicately questioning.

And what exactly are "actionable things"? I don't want to be the person who just waits around until there's a bunch of demons to kill.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

I was thinking more reconnaissance.

You have good spatial awareness and could probably get into a lot of places unnoticed. If there was something worth breaking into around here anyway.

[rollplayinghouse]

...Do you really think there's anything we can do around here "unnoticed"?

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Yes. I do.

Or at least things we can do our friends upstairs won't think twice about.

[rollplayinghouse]

...Well, that I believe. That was part of my plan, initially. To be someone they didn't think to worry about doing anything important... until it was too late.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Has your plan changed since then?