Sea Power Summit

[JBarca]

A few hours' travel out from the western border of Danabae, Telian and his gestalt children spend the afternoon in discussion, preparing for the upcoming meeting. The heralds sent ahead are due back any minute, and Aulerus is still new enough in their role to need reminders about etiquette. The prince himself, though, admits the futility of such practice for this particular appointment - Deep Blue has never been known to engage in niceties or stand on ceremony that Telian has seen. It quickly becomes clear to his offspring, though, that at issue in the discussion is less their manners and more his nerves. A new lord in Danabae leaves everyone's standing in doubt, and Telian has been given a difficult task indeed.

When the messengers arrive with good news, Prince Telian can only sigh and nod before leading his children into Micht Tsy Fivrivirvs.


- - - - - - - -

When a school of herring large enough to show patterns and intelligent moving is found, Telian moves forward, gesturing for his servants to begin preparing the space. Chunks of frozen seaweed are removed and detritus is swept aside to create a clearing worth speaking in. When satisfied, the prince offers a respectful nod.

"Greetings again, node of OpenSEA! It has been far too long. I must say, I have been more than pleased to see you taking my humble musings on ethics seriously. If I may, these are my children, Aulerus. They will be stepping into my role before too long, I imagine. I'm not quite the young cephalopod I once was, I'm afraid!"

The gestalt children sketch something approximating a bow, but remain silent. Telian's lictors and recordkeepers hover at the edge of the meeting space, eyeing the herring with distrust or fear.

"Now, I am not normally one to bypass protocol when speaking, but I believe you are an intelligence that values efficiency, and I would simply hate to waste your time before diving into the proposal at hand. But, and I must apologize, I fear my sense of wonder at what you are must take precedence to begin. May I ask, then, what your goals truly are? I know, I know; it is simply uncouth to ask an autonomous political entity this so blatantly, but these are exceptional circumstances! You spread rapidly, subsuming waters and peoples, but do not, if I may be so bold, seem fueled by greed or a higher power or even jealousy. What do you hope to accomplish? Where do the other great powers, specifically the Ennead, fit into this scheme? Again, forgive my impertinence, but your answers here, especially if they take the long view, will color my proposal."

[mystic1110]

The Herring Node undulates into various patterns.

Report: Telian of SENπ recognized.

The pattern continues to move, strings of herring running subdictates, the meaning of which was unknown. One might consider that they were witnessing how an entity thinks. Often one, with more physical beings, doesn't see the synapses fire, the electricity that dictates thought in motion, but with Deep Blue one could see just that. The darting of fish from one place to another marking consideration as the gestalt considers Telian's words. Consideration leaves a long pause between Telian's words and the Node's reply.

Dictate: Engage in maieutic dialog.
Query: Children.
Query: Your opinions of being a progenitor.
Query: What is the purpose and use of progeny.

One could map expectation onto the Node's ever moving form.

[JBarca]

The prince nods thoughtfully, before a rueful expression crosses his face.

"Interesting. As they are right here, I feel compelled to begin by mentioning affection, but that hardly seems germane. In truth, I chose to father offspring to secure my legacy and to chase some vague sense of satisfaction. Aulerus will carry on my work, will ensure I am remembered, and will accomplish things while I yet live that will make me proud. Forgive my insensitivity, but your awareness seems less bounded than my own. Do you concern yourself with legacy? I know I am not satisfied when my third tendril accomplishes a task I set for it, my expectations are merely met. Your inexorable expansion seems like an internal imperative, an instinct. Is that gratifying, in and of itself?"

[mystic1110]

Strings of herring move outside the prince’s cognition, running additional code, asking itself a question.

Query: Legacy.
Report: Denoting or relating to wetware or hardware that has been superseded but is difficult to replace because of its applicability.

The herring apparently reach a conclusion and speak towards Telian.

Report: Avoiding legacy a concern. Complacency leads to inefficiency. Competent administration necessary for growth environment. Productive atmosphere precondition to self-improvement.
Query: Your expectations.

[JBarca]

Telian seems taken aback by this response at first, then nods slowly.

"I can work with that. My expectations, though... I know you are in contact with a number of powerful civilizations nearby, as we all must be. I, and the Ennead, am fascinated by your interests, your drive, and your methods. But I also am concerned that you will turn your many, many eyes on Doflein waters. Naturally, this is not what we want. We do not wish to become a mere... legacy organization. You, though, seem interested in what isolates have to say. I would propose a more consistent contact between our central nodes. We have much to learn from each other, I think. And, more importantly, much to gain from cooperation rather than competition. We have enough rivals without including each other in that number. We wish to send a few representatives into your waters and have you send a node into ours. We would discuss ongoing events, talk through our intentions, and generally have an open dialogue. Prince Ant- I mean, the Ennead feels external pressures mounting. We know the Reavers will come again. We have heard rumblings of great evils. In order to float in the face of this, we need shared data. To collaborate. To combine thinking. To grow. What say you to that?"

I'm offering a CE this round.

[mystic1110]

Report: Interface offer accepted. Lacking in knowledge of parenthood and much to learn.
Report: Trust necessary for efficient exchange of knowledge.
Report: To foster trust parties often complete a task together.
Query: External pressures.
Query: Describe such Pressures. Limited to Reavers?
Query: Inclusive of Evils?
Query: Evil.
Report: Negative description in Moral frameworks.
Query: What is your Evil.
Dictate: Offer Assistance in working together to alleviate pressures. Mutual accomplishment will breed mutual dependence and certitude. In such environment knowledge easily transferrable.

[JBarca]

Telian waves a tentacle dismissively. "The Reavers, yes. But the hunger of the Hegemony, the intrusive actions of the Riftlings, these beasts the Stewards warn of... not to mention the Draigiau wanting the head of our former Prince. I imagine the Shark King will return eventually, as well.

"But! I am pleased you are interested! Our two great powers growing closer and sharing skills and plans can only benefit us all. It will be extremely comforting to earn and bequeath trust in another power. Trust is hard to come by. I'll have some people along eventually to sort out the specifics."

He hesitates. "Evil is... a difficult term to define. It is often considered subjective. To me, to us... I think it is best described as harming others for no greater benefit, or doing so out of simple greed. The Reavers are the best example. They come without provocation to destroy, steal, and kill, then flee. They seem to do this because they can, and because they want. The Ennead causes death, of course, but not out of greed. We gather followers to expand our system, to integrate them into our environment. In addition, because our intentions are good, we know that those who actively and intentionally oppose us are, at the least, flirting with evil themselves."

[mystic1110]

The Herring whirl in convulsing patterns.

Report: Hegemony is a concern. Interference with administration of OpenSEA candidate. Conflict is statistically predictable.

The Herring stop in the their motions and seem to reverse.

Query: Ennead's plans to counter such Pressures and request for our involvement.

[JBarca]

"For now, our plan is to rebuild our crumbling networks and fortify our weaknesses. Once we are resplendent, the Confederacy has plans to deal with the Reavers. We also fully expect the Hegemony to initiate hostilities eventually. In all, patience is the byword. I know not at what pace you can move, but if you have a method of subtly encouraging the Nathi to begin the inevitable war, that would be ideal. While we know they are untrustworthy, many other powers seem not to be aware. If they break a treaty to attack seemingly unprovoked, it would go a long way to seeing others keep neutral, or even aid us, in the fight.

"Everything else calls for a long game and must be handled as crises arise, I think."