Sandbox Discussions

[Alicorn]

I'm not sure I kept track of all of the nouns in your first paragraph.

Keo's powers would allow that, but she's in read-only-plus-voluntary-telepathy-sendings mode with Arcane because she's his vassal and everything else constitutes attack.

[DanielH]

Yeah, it is confusing.

My thinking was as follows:

• Arcane could theoretically be ordered not to give enforced orders, which (while the order holds) should keep Keo’s friends, family, and student safe.
• This order could be overruled by anybody else in Elcenia, and Arcane could trick somebody into doing so.
• Arcane could theoretically be ordered not to eat mortal food or give his name to anybody (as he is able to survive on rainwater), which would mean that only those who currently have his name could overrule the order; these people could not easily be tricked into doing so.
• The obvious choice for who to give these orders to Arcane is Keo, but she cannot give him enforced orders.
• Arcane could relax the restriction on Keo to only allow her to give him the orders specified above, and would probably be willing to do so.
• This would still only hold while he was in Elcenia and nobody from his world had come to Elcenia, but should at least be a temporary solution while they looked for a better one.

My questions for this plan were if it would satisfy Keo temporarily, and if this would actually hold against everything in Elcenia except a green-group unusual (who I believe could learn Arcane’s name without being told). The second part is obviously a “no”; he could be drugged, force-fed, etc. As long as he doesn’t seek these out or let on that doing so might be useful, the plan might be patchable.

Similarly, my second paragraph was about a potential compromise where Arcane kept his memory but ceased to be a threat. I’m not sure if Arcane would agree to it, but it seems more likely that he would agree to that than that he would agree to memory modification.

[Alicorn]

Keo would still be super fucking nervous around Arcane.

Unusuals don't do nonconsensual telepathy, so they couldn't learn his name without being told.

[DanielH]

The last post of Come on wuss it's just a door looks like an ending, but I’d hate to misjudge. I went to look it up in the index, but it’s not there. So:

1. Alicorn, can you please update the index to include both that and Arcane in the summoning circle?
2. Is this sandbox at an official Ending such that I no longer need to keep it open and watch for updates?

And, in any case, Aestrix, care to comment on this person?

[jalapeno_dude]

I'd also be interested to know where the name poll_the_stars came from.

[Alicorn]

"Come on wuss" is at a good stopping place, and I have indexed it bolded. We could pick up the character or even the specific continuity again but have no specific plans for it.

[linkhyrule5]

So, weird edge case question.

Nicknames are sufficient for Visitor magic, as we saw. But what if the foundational name changes without changing the nickname?

This is easiest for transgender names - before, you're Chris-for-Christopher, after, you're Chris-for-Christine. The word hasn't changed, but the meaning attached has, and there's an argument for the name having changed. Is that sufficient to shuck a vassalship?

This is particularly relevant, because line names can be revoked magically.

(On a similar note, if Keo had used her mind magic on herself to delete every instance of the word "Keo" in her memory and promptly picked a different name, would that have been a valid escape? Or would that be stopped by the "no extraneous actions" clauses? It's kind of a fuzzy line with mind magic, what's "just thinking" and what's "thinking with magic.")

[Kappa]

Keo is a dragon. Her name is magic. She cannot alter it except by adding syllables magically or by breaking a line edict.

[Alicorn]

Keo's ability to use mind magic on herself is a fair bit more constrained than her ability to use it on other people.

Your first valid name is your name for Visitor purposes forever unless something really weird and magic happens; Christine is vassaled by "Christopher" and associated shortenings no matter what she puts on her revised paperwork.

[Nemo]

Does dragon magic count as sufficiently magical for Visitor purposes? They have syllables that are definitely part of their name but weren't part of their first valid name, so the difference could mean something.