ooc A Cultural Exchange 1x1 with Sherem OOC

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

Link to the RP: HERE

This is the OOC thread, OOC comments go here.

Edited February 8, 2020 by Illiad Easle
Added RP link

[Sherem 4,807]

Nice, thank you for setting all this up man

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Sherem

Might I ask what the included spell on the letter does? I do believe it will affect what Midnight does.

[Sherem 4,807]

It is a spell that goes deep into his mind to relive any past trauma like he was living on it again

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Sherem

Not a big deal yet, but you're starting to go a bit too far with your side, I didn't send Midnight to the throne room after all, yet there he is. While honestly that's likely where he'd go given the guards out front I was planning to send him up the tower.

Again, it's fine for now, but it is typically a bad idea to move someone else's character.

[Sherem 4,807]

got It, my bad I will refrain for doing that again

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Sherem

Alright, Midnight's abilities, and I do expect that knowledge is not unfairly shared with Sheoreth.

Midnight is a form of Mesohippus from another world. Essentially he's an ancient form of Earth Pony, in that he shares in their remarkable constitution, but rather than having an Earth pony's connection to nature his kind have a strong ability with gravity, allowing them to lift very heavy weights, strike devastating blows, run at incredible speeds(like how electromagnetic trains work, alternating pushing and pulling), and even climb near vertical surfaces. Midnight has spent a thousand years refining and perfecting his abilities, making his strikes especially strong, his ground speed as fast as most pegasi can fly, and being able to walk across ceilings when unencumbered. As he is with his armor he can manage only up to vertical surfaces.

I'm not expecting an easy fight of course, but I expect that it'll at least be even, provided Sheoreth's own abilities are not too overwhelming.

[Sherem 4,807]

Indeed, let me give you a rundown on Sherem/Sheoreth. Since they share the same mind and body they have the same skills, however some skills can be used, cannot be used by the other.

First as an alicorn, they can fly pretty fast with some impulse of magic, He has been trained on the uses of Spear And sword, but never a shield. He has around 1000 years of experience due to the time he was into the stasis fighting. He can step and doge fast do to the physical training he went during his youth. However he is not that experienced in magic of combat, no flame spells or defensive spells. While Sherem can use sunlight as projectiles, Sheoreth can merge with Shadows. Thanks to his father, who is a doctor, Sherem/Sheoreth knows about vital points in the pony body, Sherem is more like a Bruiser Paladin, while Sheoreth is a fencer.

should you see any problems with this let me know 

Edited February 14, 2020 by Sherem

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Sherem

Good to know,  I would expect then that Sherem is faster than midnight while flying, slower when running, but should still be fast enough to dodge or block most but not all of Midnight's attacks. Given Midnight is not a true pony the vital points wont be quite as effective, but given enough time I wouldn't be surprised if he were able to work out the differences.

They seem evenly matched, Midnight is mostly a brawler tank, relatively unskilled in weapons outside of his retractable shoe daggers, preferring to let strikes hit in order to remain close rather than dodge.

[Sherem 4,807]

In a Way the seem to share some mindset on the battle, not minding to do sacrifices for the info or the data.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Sherem

So it looks like it's the end of the fight now, what's the total damages? As far as I'm aware Midnight has bruises along his barrel from the deflected stockades, a minor stab would a serious stab wound, and a chest stab, and is missing his helmet.

As far as I'm aware on Sherem's side there should be serious bruising to his head, a minor stab wound, and potentially be missing part of his horn.

Anything I missed or misread?

[Sherem 4,807]

Not really, and while his horn received damage, is not cut off or broken, but it is like with dents around it, the rest is as you describe. 

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

Okay, so Midnight got a cut in, but not all the way through. Sounds reasonable

[Sherem 4,807]

we are in agreement partner

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Sherem

Alright, before we go too much further I think we should pound out exactly what Slend and Sheoreth are, and how they can interact rather than blindly flail at each other.

I have stated in the RP that Sheoreth acts much like I've thought out for Shadow Specters, and if you're in agreement we could officially say he is one, but that can come after I explain what they are:

At their most basic, a Shadow Specter acts as a sort of independent extension of a central hive mind, called a King. Specters typically begin by being separated from the main mass of the King, given understanding proportional to its size and purpose, then sent out to perform a task.

Most specters are reabsorbed into the King upon completion of the task, but those that perform very well may be kept separate and given greater understanding, these often develop personalities and are referred to as Knights. Given enough time to develop and grow a Knight can gain enough power to overthrow a King, though this is rare.

Specters are skilled in shadow, dark, and mental magic. Their main mode of interacting with the world is either through the shadows, or by mental possession. Usually a specter makes a deal with the one they interact with in order to take a seat in their body.

Specters are weak against sunlight, and feed on heat. Exposed for too long to direct sunlight their mass looses maliability and turns bright red before falling off their bodies. Enough exposure and the specter dies. Given their size most Kings hide in caves to avoid sunlight.

Specters fight by mental domination, given most physical forms of combat are ineffectual. Between specters, when one dominates another they can either be molded to match the dominator, or absorbed to add to the dominator's mass and power.

Specters attached to a King can draw on their king's power when close to them, it is very difficult to dominate a Knight who is close to it's king.

Slend is a Specter Knight who's king is preparing them to become a king in their own right. They are well trained in mental manipulation and more especially how to defend against it.

As I've seen from Sheoreth, he's following the same pattern as I would anticipate for a specter, Sombra would have been a King who separated Sheoreth for the purpose of controlling Sherem, Sombra tortured Sherem until he accepted Sheoreth into his mind, the implanted crystals serving to amplify his power and control as most specters are unable to control an unwilling host.

Given the time and separation from their king, Sheoreth has likely matured into a King in his own right, but bound as he is to Sherem he cannot separate any mass off to form knights.

Thoughts?

[Sherem 4,807]

I agree, although the sunlight weakness cannot apply to Sheoreth since he is already inside the body of Sherem, maybe we can find more ways to add weaknesses to him. Though not that easy since, for now at least, he is the antagonist of the story.

Now A questions of my own.

Do you have any complains or problems with the rp?

Any comments on the progress?

Are you truly finding this experience enjoyable? 

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Sherem

While he's protected from that physical weakness for the moment, he would still have all the same mental weaknesses. His madness will serve as a protection to start, but he could still be mentally dominated by someone with sufficient mental fortitude. I'll get back into this at the bottom.

For your questions:

The only problems I've had so far are being addressed here, the cultural exchanges are typically a bit more freeform than this, and typically don't include fights, thus why we need to work out how the fights go outside of the RP thread so that they play out smoothly.

I think it's progressing quickly, but again I'll put thoughts on that at the bottom.

I am enjoying this, I think you've made a rather interesting character and interpretation of the world.

 

The bottom:

Here's my idea for where the story could be headed: Sheoreth vs Slend will result in Sheoreth starting to win and Slend pulling out, getting quite hurt in the process. This will eventually be part of what causes them to become SlenderMane later on in the canon. Sheoreth will be relatively unscathed by the mental bout.

The next fight, depending on your thoughts, will be either when Sherem says he's ready to be purified, or Sheoreth takes control. Then we have the conflict with Sir, who is Slend's King. I plan that Sheoreth is there defeated, not destroyed but bound in Sherem's mind. He'd be reduced, at least for a good while, to only being a constant voice in Sherem's head.

At that point, and only then, will Midnight be willing to present Sherem to the Global Council and the rest of the community at and surrounding Archback, from there we can go and see your interpretation of Equestria and the Crystal Empire.

Thoughts?

[Sherem 4,807]

Sounds good to me, and again I apologize if you find, what laughably passes as, "writing" not too troublesome

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

Awesome, I'm writing a response now that reflects this.

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Sherem

To explain what's happening: 

Sherem surrendering to Sir allowed him to be pulled out of his own body and into Sir's mental room, a sort of container for conciousness. As Sheoreth is bound only to Sherem's body Sherem is unaffected by Sheoreth in this state, at least actively.

On the other half, now Sheoreth is the only consciousness in the body, but faces first a mental onslaught by Sir on the several fronts mentioned, and secondly Midnight and Slend on the physical plane to subdue him should he escape the mental hold.

My plan here is not for Sheoreth to be destroyed, just severely weakened and then bound by Sir. Going forward Sheoreth will continue to be a nuisance in Sherem's mind, a voice of dissent and bearer of bad memories, but unable to take control.

The battle will not be easy, but Sir has faced evil and madness before. He won't emerge unscathed however, provided Sheoreth is clever enough.

Is that agreeable to you? 

[Sherem 4,807]

Works for me partner, and of course Sheoreth will not be easy to seal inside.

 

This is the mare that appears on the memories of Sherem that also Sir sees

Edited March 12, 2020 by Sherem

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Sherem

Very nice!

So here's my understanding of your post: Sheoreth sent Sherem back into the body, given Sheoreth only holds one crystal in Sherem it's likely he was sent there. Sir's forces will now seek out Sherem, and attempt to free him.

Here's how I see it going: The forces will break down the outside defences, but Sherem will only be freed when he realizes that he's been keeping himself hostage as much as Sheoreth has, that part of the power Sheoreth has over him is his own guilt and remorse. When Sherem gives up this grief he will have the strength to push Sheoreth's control off of himself.

Sir will keep Sheoreth busy, taunting him in his mental plain, then once Sherem is freed he will reveal his true power, forcing Sheoreth into the cell his forces built inside Sherem.

How's that sound?

[Sherem 4,807]

good defeat, I'm gonna need time to formulate a proper response for this case

[Sherem 4,807]

hey I must apologize for my lateness on the replies lately. I don't know if you are enjoying the Rp like I'm doing and that's why I apologize on my recent slow pace but there are three factors that are affecting my timing now.

1. The matter of Coronavirus as well in my country is keeping me busy with home matters

2. I have the nagging feeling that you might be feeling a bit uncomfortable with the way the story turned, I could be wrong but It's a feeling that is ther

3. I cannot lie that during these quarantine times Doom Eternal is pretty much my life so much

I apologize also that I have some issue with how to write decent replies since this is the first time in my life as a role player that I have such a constructed partner and well written and I try not to disappoint

[Illiad Easle 2,973]

@Sherem

No worries! The virus has thrown my life a bit out of whack too, not much in home life issues as I live in a college dorm, but there's still the adjustments with my classes moving online and all that.

While the structure here is a bit different from what I am used to or was expecting I am still enjoying the story line as it has played out. My main goal with these Cultural Exchanges is that the other author leaves having had their characters/worlds improved by the interaction, whether by character development or simply being made to think deeper on backstory and interactions that's my goal. Now that we've gone through this Sheoreth arc I think things will get a bit more normalized, you did remind me of a mistake I made in my last post, which I will correct in my next post.

I've watched a decent play through of Doom, it looks like quite the game though I lack the wherewithal to play it myself. I do hope you enjoy it!

I am both gladdened and saddened that I'm the first you've come across, but I do tend to put quite a bit of effort into my story worlds and RPs. I'm surprised with how much time you have here on the forums that you've never had an rp as well constructed as this one, but I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying it!