767 - Sanguine's Disposition
“Are you sure you need to leave?” pouted Sanguine Disposition as he walked Lex back to the entrance to his villa, Solvei and Akna trailing behind the two of them. “I know you said you couldn’t stay very long, but I feel like we’ve barely gotten to know each other.”
“I agree,” shot back Lex, “and even if I didn’t have pressing matters to attend to, that alone would be a compelling reason not to spend more time here.”
Sanguine Disposition chuckled at the unsubtle jab, opening the front doors to reveal the rose garden. “Then, before you go, allow me to make one final attempt to change your impression of me. I said before that I’d be happy to compensate you for disengaging from your fight with White Wraith, so allow me to make good on that debt now.”
The offer earned a sharp glance from the unicorn, eyes narrowing. “And what sort of recompense are you proposing?”
His grin widening at the blatant show of suspicion, Sanguine Disposition gave an apologetic bow. “Nothing untoward, I assure you. I might have forgotten my manners earlier, but I lay the blame for that at Kara’s hooves, since I was ensnared by the blessing she gave you. No, what I’m proposing is something of much more practical value: information.”
Just as he’d suspected, that was a temptation that Lex wasn’t able to resist, turning to face him directly. “What sort of information?”
Giving Lex a knowing look, Sanguine Disposition’s voice was coy when he spoke next. “I trust you haven’t forgotten the name Grim Darklight, have you?”
“That pony that White Wraith mentioned?” blurted Solvei from behind them, the winter wolf frowning. “The one he said had the Charismata instead of Master?”
“Just so.” Sparing the winter wolf only the briefest glance, Sanguine Disposition nodded as he turned back to Lex. “You might also recall his saying that the pony in question is not only a devotee of our goddess, but also a figure of note in the religious hierarchy of Everglow’s Pony Empire...and that he visited here a few months ago.”
Lex cocked his head slightly. “You’re implying that the purpose of his visit had something to do with me.”
“Indirectly so.” Raising a hoof, Sanguine Disposition gestured to Lex, then himself. “The Charismata, Secreta, and Dominata are the greatest blessings that the Night Mare grants to her faithful, short of raising someone to demigodhood. Each is unique, and never given to more than one individual at a time.”
Lex shrugged. “The time in which I’ve possessed the Charismata can be measured in weeks. If this ‘Grim Darklight’ pony had it several months previous-”
“Ah, but that’s the thing,” interrupted Sanguine Disposition. “He didn’t have the Charismata when he visited Eigengrau, either.”
That was enough to make Lex’s brow furrow. “You’re saying that this pony is falsely claiming to have one of the Night Mare’s most significant blessings, and has perpetrated that fraud to attain a position of significance in her church on Everglow?”
“Yes...and no.” Letting that hang in the air, Sanguine Disposition strolled over to the edge of the garden, pausing to take in the sweet smell of the roses, knowing that his guest wouldn’t be able to let that sit.
Sure enough, Lex proved him right a moment later. “That doesn’t tell me anything. You said that his being here had something to do with me. Explain.”
But rather than acquiesce to the demand, the red-eyed stallion instead kept his focus on the multicolored flowers in front of him, gently taking a deep black bloom in one hoof and bringing it to his nose. “Did you know that different breeds of roses have subtly different scents? It’s not just a matter of how strong the aroma is; each has a slightly distinctive-”
“I don’t care.” Marching over, Lex swatted the bloom out of Sanguine Disposition’s hoof, wrenching the other stallion away from the roses to look at him. “I don’t care about your flowers. I don’t care if Grim Darklight is lying about having the Charismata. And I don’t care if the Night Mare is letting him get away with it. How does any of that affect me?”
The sudden contact made Sanguine Disposition gasp, a rush of indignation, excitement, and fear rushing through him, leaving him unable to speak as he reveled in the sensations.
The greatest limitation of the Secreta was how sharply its powers were restricted by distance. Using it on a person, place, or thing outside of his visual range meant he’d only get vague impressions, usually just enough so that he’d know where to start looking if he wanted to ferret out more information. That wouldn’t have been so bad, except that no form of distance-viewing could circumvent that limit; using the Secreta to unearth more required that he look at a target personally, rather than through a medium.
The tradeoff was that, when he was close enough to see his target, a great deal more insight was gained. Active magic was visible, with most attempts to cloak it being easily pierced, and even someone’s uncast spells could be discerned, albeit only with limited ability. More than that, an individual’s intentions and motivations could be read with supernatural acuity, something which made it possible to predict how they’d react to certain stimuli with a high degree of accuracy. If he wanted to push further, he could even hear thoughts, though that level of mental intrusion ran the risk of detection.
But the Secreta was at its strongest when he could touch who or what he wanted to know more about. Beyond simply learning their capabilities or intuiting their desires, touching someone allowed him to read the influences on them that they didn’t even know they had. Whether it was a subconscious ability to influence luck in their favor, the soul of someone they’d killed haunting them, or even a blessing from the gods, a touch was enough for the Secreta to unearth whatever was nudging someone’s destiny in a particular direction.
Of course, it wasn’t infallible. Like all of the Night Mare’s blessings, being held within a non-divine being meant the Secreta’s godly power was unavoidably diluted, making it possible for its effects to be foiled. Even considering that the it could only reveal so much information at a time, outside influences of exceptional subtlety, powerful warding magic, or even supreme self-control were all enough to potentially escape the Secreta’s notice.
Sanguine Disposition had learned to remain cognizant of those limitations over the years, since what was overlooked could turn out to be a detail of critical importance.
Such as how Lex Legis had come so close to killing him just a few minutes ago.
There had been no warning that he’d possessed such a weapon capable of causing catastrophic disruptions to necromantic processes. That item simply hadn’t been on his person until the moment it had manifested, and when it had made contact it had only been because Sanguine Disposition had made it a habit to cover himself in defensive spells and magic items that he’d been able to keep from being reduced to a pile of dust on the carpet. Even then, it had been a near thing.
That it hadn’t been sensed by the Secreta at all had been his own fault, Sanguine Disposition knew. Up until then, he’d only touched Lex once, learning about Kara’s blessing when the unicorn had brushed his hoof away during their first meeting outside of Eigengrau’s gates. A second touch would have revealed that the unicorn possessed a second unseen influence; some sort of personality-fragment which was intimately tied to his dreams, apparently having the power to bring things from them into the real world, at least for a short time; it hadn’t escaped Sanguine Disposition’s notice that the gauntlet Lex had conjured had faded away to nothing shortly after he’d used it.
Of course, the vampire pony knew he couldn’t place all of the blame for what had happened on the Secreta’s shortcomings.
To think Kara’s blessing would affect me this much!
How long had it been since he’d felt this way? Decades at least, since he knew he’d been alive the last time experienced this intoxicating mixture of amorous desire, nervous giddiness, and acute self-consciousness. It wasn’t like he lacked for male company when he wanted to indulge his urges – indeed, that was one of the perks of ruling his own town; with a stallion population in the thousands, and a blessing that let him know just how to manipulate others, it was child’s play to seduce, coerce, or blackmail whichever stud he wanted – but this was the first time in a long time that he’d wanted someone else this much. Even knowing that those feelings were being artificially coaxed out by Kara’s blessing did nothing to lessen their effect.
Which had been why he’d screwed things up so badly.
His attempt to seduce the dour unicorn had, in hindsight, been rushed and sloppy. He hadn’t needed to read Lex’s mind – the Secreta had predicted a very high chance that the unicorn would respond violently to any such attempt, even with the magic item designed to shield his thoughts that he was wearing – to be able to pick up that the stallion was dealing with some sort of personal crisis. When the Secreta had informed him that revealing the true nature of Kara’s blessing would likely drive Lex to despair, Sanguine Disposition hadn’t hesitated to capitalize on that.
Despairing stallions were among the easiest to beguile, since they were desperate for something to distract them from their pain.
But not always. Some, in the face of catastrophic loss, found an inner core of strength, clinging to their convictions that much tighter. Rather than allowing someone else to manipulate them, they instead lashed out that much harder, fighting with everything they had rather than searching for respite.
In retrospect, it should have been obvious that a fellow champion of the Night Mare was such an individual. The goddess would never have chosen a weak-willed pony to wield one of her greatest blessings. But Sanguine Disposition had been blind to that, instead pushing forward with all of the patience and finesse of an adolescent colt looking to lose his virginity, even despite knowing that Kara’s blessing was clouding his judgment.
Even now, after having come closer to true death than he had in decades, Sanguine Disposition couldn’t bring himself to be angry or afraid of the stallion in front of him. If anything, the danger added spice to things, and it was almost enough to make him forget himself again...
“Well?” snapped Lex irritably. “What does Grim Darklight’s visit here have to do with me?”
Knowing that if he’d been alive, he would have been blushing at how he’d been caught staring at the object of his affection, Sanguine Disposition cleared his throat. “Ah, yes. His visit here was a test run, so to speak. He wanted to parade the facsimile of the Charismata that he’d created in front of me, the bearer of the Secreta, in order to see if I’d know it wasn’t the real thing.”
Lex frowned. “A facsimile of the Charismata?”
“One of the aphorisms in our goddess’s religion is that miracles are something you make for yourself,” explained Sanguine Disposition. “What that means is that the Night Mare helps those who, through their actions, have proven that they deserve her help. But Grim Darklight is taking that idea literally, constructing his own version of the blessing that you were given.”
From behind them, Solvei spoke up, her voice tinged with doubt. “Is that possible?”
Sparing the adlet the briefest of glances, Sanguine Disposition shrugged. “It shouldn’t be. But when Grim Darklight came here, he had multiple creatures – some of them creatures of great power – soul-bound to himself, leaving them helpless to defy him as he ordered them to use their powers.”
“And since I have the actual Charismata, you think he’ll become my enemy if he learns of my existence, like Steel Soul,” guessed Lex.
Sanguine Disposition nodded. “That’s the likely outcome, but it’s not definite. Steel Soul will absolutely be your foe, since he’ll see you as competition for the Night Mare’s favor, but there’s a chance that you could come to some sort of accord with Grim Darklight. Even if he’s lying about having her blessing, the Night Mare hasn’t rebuked him, which means that whatever he’s doing to mimic the Charismata’s powers meets with her approval. Enough so that he runs her temple in the capital of Everglow’s Pony Empire.”
“Listen, this is fascinating and all,” interjected Akna, “but can we get going? The longer we wait to find the black statues, the more likely that something else will find them first and take over our bodies.”
That was enough to make Sanguine Disposition blink, his smile falling away as he looked at the adlet. “What?”
“What are you doing, saying that right in front of the bat pony?” growled Solvei at the adlet.
“You said Lex said we didn’t need to keep that a secret!” protested Akna. “That was why we checked which way my lifeline was pointing without going back in that igloo you made!”
“That’s correct,” answered Lex, glancing between Akna and Sanguine Disposition. “Our host made it clear that he knew we were here in spirit, but not in body.”
“This explains a lot,” murmured Sanguine Disposition, more to himself than anyone else. “The pressing business you had, but never clarified. Coming here out of the wilderness instead of taking one of the established routes. Black statues that lead back to your bodies.”
This time, his smirk was one of incredulity as the leather wing shook his head. “I knew the winter wolf was already dead, and that you two” – he glanced at Akna, then at Lex – “are both astral projections, which means that you have silver cords. But after what you just said...am I right in guessing that your lifelines are pointing in particular directions, as though being tugged on by something?”
The trio were silent for a moment, before Lex gestured at Akna. “Show him.”
Frowning, the adlet nevertheless obeyed the command, turning around and lifting her hair, showing a silver cord that was taut as it stretched toward the wall.
The sight set Sanguine Disposition to laughing. “You do know that it’s not supposed to do that, right? That normally, when you willfully separate your spirit from your body, the cord connecting the two shouldn’t need to go through a chokepoint in order to reunite them?”
“What are you saying? Of course it does!” blurted Akna, her voice thick with anxiety. “The last time I underwent the Rite of Sublimation and came here, it was exactly this way!”
“And that solves the last mystery,” snorted Sanguine Disposition, looking at Lex with bemusement. “You came here from the Shrine of the Starless Sky, didn’t you?”
“What of it?” growled Lex, looking just as tense as his wolves.
Inwardly squealing with glee at the prospect of helping his crush, Sanguine Disposition couldn’t help but take a moment to revel at gaining a second chance to get into Lex’s good graces. This time, I’ll take things slow. Little by little, with a favor here and a gift there, as long as it takes until you trust me. And once that happens, we’ll start growing closer, and I’ll learn more and more about you so that the next time I make my move, you won’t be able to resist me.
Resisting the urge to lick his lips at the thought of the payoff when he finally won the other stallion over, Sanguine Disposition smiled as he laid the first brick in what would hopefully become a long and very fruitful relationship.
“Consider this one a freebie for my inappropriate behavior earlier. But I’m afraid that broken-down old wreck of a pony who runs that place, the so-called ‘Keeper,’ lied to you,” he explained.
“There’s no such thing as the Rite of Sublimation.”
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Oh dear, Sanguine has the chance that he an Lex are about as alike as Fish and Cheese.
Or aquatic organisms and copper compounds.
11399664 Given that fish and cheese sandwiches are a thing, I doubt that first analogy would distress Sanguine Disposition very much. The second one might, though.
Well that explains how Sanguine Disposition survived. Normally I'd call bullshit to such a thing but given the brief reads I have done on tabletop games, this is among the less absurd things possible to be honest.
As for the leather wing's continued desire to seduce Lex, it's rather cute in it's own way even if it is due to Kara's blessing though the most pressing matter now is the Rite of Sublimation not being legit. If that was the case, then what were the visions Lex and Akna experienced? Was it the Keeper fooling them with illusions or was it another ritual at work?
Even if the rite of sublimation isn't real that doesn't mean that something isn't happening. The branding may be false but Akna did get the power to become a winter wolf, and even more the charismata did respond positively to the mention of doing the ritual.
So seeing from this perspective we can see that Sanguine believes that the ritual is just a fabrication, and It may be so seeing that he is the holder of one of the divine authorities of the Nightmare I am inclined to believe him. So... what's happening here?
11399946 I'm not sure if you're referring to Lex's being able to summon up such an appropriate weapon on a moment's notice, or Sanguine Disposition being able to survive it so conveniently, but both are, as you say, well within the realm of possibility for tabletop RPGs (though admittedly the latter is more common than the former; while the game stats for exactly what it was that Lex's tulpa did haven't been revealed yet, it's pretty far outside of the mainstream for D&D 3.5/Pathfinder 1E).
That said, Sanguine Disposition's latest reveal was a bit of a shocker, wasn't it? Of course, there's no reason to necessarily believe what he's saying, but so far he seems to have been honest. And of course, his having the Secreta makes it more likely that he's in possession of information like that, so there's reason to believe him. But doing so means that there are a whole lot of new questions that come up.
11400168 As you say, there's clearly something going on; Akna gained the power to transform, and she and Lex are also very clearly here in the Night Mare's realm. Which makes it all the more confusing; what's happening, if this isn't a rite? Presuming that Sanguine Disposition is telling the truth, he'll hopefully have some more answers, since I doubt Lex and company will just shrug and walk away after that reveal.