[ Belatedly: after ending this conversation presumably more politely than falling completely silent out of nowhere (sorry), Bastien eventually gets around to leaving a bundle of papers in Ness' pigeonhole in the dining hall.
Most of it is an accumulation of pamphlets and clips from broadsheets and quarterlies from the last few years that he already had on hand, ranging from staid essays on the benefits of unifying behind the new Divine to furious screeds on the way the wealthy and powerful are using the prolonged threat of Corypheus as an excuse to tighten their fists around the common people. The contents trend toward the anti-monarchist, communitarian, anarchist, or otherwise revolutionary, because that's what he's naturally collected for himself. But there's certainly an attempt to provide a broader spectrum of opinions. Even the bootlicking ones.
But he's a young man. There is time for him to see the error of his ways. I knew his mother once, you know, and I cannot see how she would not teach him better. It might be some form of rebellion.
[ ness is not not thinking about arranging some kind of visit to the gallows for aubertinβperhaps his mother has been induced to make a donation to riftwatch, and wants to see her money is put to good useβwhere either he is forced to sit through a long lecture or he ends up with a broken finger. he seems like the type to approach a griffon without thinking it through, it'd be easy to arrangeβ ]
The bitch of it all is he isn't even a bad writer. He could be putting these talents to such use as a satirist!
Oh, well... I assume so? Not where I was raised, weβtheyβwere all a bunch of academics, in essence, they understood the value of different perspectives. Candlekeep kept high magical texts passed down from the greatest wizards of the ages, but we kept the journals of farmers, too.
But, outside of Candlekeepβpeople are people. Whatever people think here, someone probably thought in FaerΓ»n, too.
Curiosity. I like to know where people are coming from.
And it's interesting, isn't it? All of these varied worlds full of new magic and new gods and new technology, but none of them I have heard about yet have figured out how to avoid having underclasses. I can't decide if it's depressing that no one has a solution or reassuring we are not uniquely awful here. But it's interesting either way.
A pessimist would call it humanoid nature, I supposeβeveryone wants to be better than someone. But then, everyone would also like to imagine that they are not at fault for their foibles, and that injustice is beyond their grasp to correct, so that they don't have to inconvenience themselves making the attempt.
As a matter of philosophy, it is interesting, but I admit I am no philosopher.
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delivery.
Most of it is an accumulation of pamphlets and clips from broadsheets and quarterlies from the last few years that he already had on hand, ranging from staid essays on the benefits of unifying behind the new Divine to furious screeds on the way the wealthy and powerful are using the prolonged threat of Corypheus as an excuse to tighten their fists around the common people. The contents trend toward the anti-monarchist, communitarian, anarchist, or otherwise revolutionary, because that's what he's naturally collected for himself. But there's certainly an attempt to provide a broader spectrum of opinions. Even the bootlicking ones.
On top are a few things he gathered specifically for the request, including a less imbalanced array of recent publications and a thin, saddle-stitched volume titled Common Knowledge: The World According to the Unlettered, by Aubertin MΓ©nΓ©tries. It's something of an anthropological survey, reporting on common folks' accounts of the workings of government and the natural world and so onβbut exceedingly condescending, clearly cultivated to mock its subjects.
The only note is in the cover of the book. It says,
Do not think I paid money for this. I would never. βBastien ]
β crystal;
[ hello, how are you, thank you so much for the deliveryβ ]
no subject
[ The smile is audible. Good reaction. ]
But he's a young man. There is time for him to see the error of his ways. I knew his mother once, you know, and I cannot see how she would not teach him better. It might be some form of rebellion.
no subject
[ ness is not not thinking about arranging some kind of visit to the gallows for aubertinβperhaps his mother has been induced to make a donation to riftwatch, and wants to see her money is put to good useβwhere either he is forced to sit through a long lecture or he ends up with a broken finger. he seems like the type to approach a griffon without thinking it through, it'd be easy to arrangeβ ]
The bitch of it all is he isn't even a bad writer. He could be putting these talents to such use as a satirist!
no subject
Did you have this sort of attitude toward people where you come from? Not you, I meanβbut did other people?
no subject
But, outside of Candlekeepβpeople are people. Whatever people think here, someone probably thought in FaerΓ»n, too.
Why?
no subject
And it's interesting, isn't it? All of these varied worlds full of new magic and new gods and new technology, but none of them I have heard about yet have figured out how to avoid having underclasses. I can't decide if it's depressing that no one has a solution or reassuring we are not uniquely awful here. But it's interesting either way.
no subject
As a matter of philosophy, it is interesting, but I admit I am no philosopher.