Sybele opens a bleary hungover eye.
Wha...? she thinks, and then the knock comes again at her door. She grumbles her way to it, and there's Marius. "Good morning," the chronomancer says, his aspect grim, and soon the party is together over breakfast, listening to him make his pitch to them.
"It started with a false assumption on my part- that a simulacrum created as my equal or better would have the same desires, the same drives as I, and that it would remain under my control. Make no mistake- this is not true. A standard simulacrum is a reflection of its master, but a poor one, one that is only half or slightly more of what he is. Never delude yourself into thinking that its motivations are yours, or that you know what it will do if left to its own devices for too long. It has a portion of your personality, but only a portion. If you are noble and kind, it may be half as noble and kind. If you are wise, ambitious- it will be only partially as ambitious as you. It is fundamentally different. It is not a living thing- it is no more than a shadow of its creator. Its motivations are not human. It is not even a construct- it is merely a spell, merely a shadow. While it will remain under its master’s control, if undirected it will act as its nature dictates. If your simulacrum, Malford, were left uninstructed, it would possess a measure of your ambition, a portion of your nobility and goodness, a piece of your desires and loves. It might act on those if left uninstructed long enough; never allow a simulacrum time to decide for itself!
"When I first began empowering simulacra, I created several nearly as powerful as myself. I thought that the closer to myself they became, the more they would share my goals. But they did not. The closer I came to creating another ‘me’ the further their personalities were from me. The half of my wants they absorbed, amplified by the empowerment, became a less noble, somehow tarnished version of my desires. Where I might, for example, wish to achieve a Lawful society and peace throughout the oceans, a simulacrum near to being a duplicate of myself might desire a Lawful society only in an area under its control, but one stricter than I would want to inflict on its people. The half-feelings it felt were amplified, but were still only half-feelings. Without a touch of real humanity to temper them, the simulacra grew in arrogance and ambition. But as long as they were under my strict control, I had no way of knowing this. The first signs of trouble did not come until after I allowed several of them a measure of discretion in trying to stomp out Chaos in places where it has taken root, and by then it was too late.
"I came to believe that, if I were to double-empower a few simulacrum, they would be able to aid me in making great strides. With the Forinthian navy half-tied down around Pesh, the Chaos Fleet was scattering far and wide in small groups of ships. They had made great inroads in a number of places, and while Forinthia consolidated her position there was no force great enough to resist the Chaos forces. Well, I thought- foolishly- that if I could be in enough places at once, I could defeat them practically by myself.
"But I discovered an awful truth too late: a simulacrum made more powerful than the master will seek to supplant him. I could not control the simulacra that were made more than I through the double-empowering process. They burst free of my control once there were three of them- I believe the first two were waiting until they knew they could easily overcome me. Realizing my mistake, I narrowly escaped from the Citadel of Eternity and fled.
"I’ve given much thought to the tactics I can use against them, and though I might be able to defeat them myself, with the aid of a few powerful allies I believe that my odds of success are extremely heightened. If you will aid me...?"
The party requests a day to talk it over, and Marius offers them a number or rewards, including money and spells that he's developed personally, then gracefully acceeds to their request for time. "Sybele, of course, will be aiding me one way or another," he states.
Afterwards, Horbin the Holy casts a
sending to Zeebo, who's happy in the Shining City, having been back less than a day from Swayzeville, his home town, of which he's just been re-elected Mayor. Horbin's
sending warns the Mayor not to make any empowered
simulacra- which gives Zeebo pause, considering recent events.*
Malford and Orbius spend some time giving their
simulacra pep talks- after all, the last thing they want is to have enemies who know many of their secrets, tactics, etc.! They're trying to build bonds of friendship as well as mastery, but they both look at the shadows of themselves with a new perspective, given Marius' tale.
Afterwards, the two wizards discuss Zonzor. Malford suggests a permanent
tongues be cast on him.
"I don't really think he has anything to say," Orbius replies disdainfully. "'Zonzor smash!' We don't need a
tongues to understand that."
"Speaking of which," Malford muses, "where is he, anyway?"
*This, of course, is an allusion to the forthcoming Tirchond politics thread...
Next Time: Zonzor gets himself into big trouble!
