AUTOLINE CONVERSATION -1 0 SETONCE RESULT: ANIM:1 1 L:You made it... snow? 46 R:You said - and I quote - that you were a "wet, homeless, jobless nobody out in the rain". 44 R:So, I solved the rain and now you're not! CONVERSATION 0 1 SETONCE RESULT: ANIM:8 2 L: 3 L:I'm... pretty sure all you did was make it cold AND wet. 3 L:Since I don't have anywhere to stay, maybe you could just, like... bring the rain back, so I don't die from exposure? 38 R:Pffft, "exposure". That's probably just a lie to keep people from having fun in the cold. Have you ever gotten sick in snow before? 4 L:I grew up in a castle in the desert, so... 36 R:So for all you know, you could be some kind of magical, snow-proof cat who can spend days in sub-arctic temperatures without any ill effects. With no evidence one way or the other, it's entirely irrational to assume a little snow will hurt you. 41 R:Ergo, my rain-solution was perfect and I just solved all your problems. Show a little appreciation! CONVERSATION 1 2 SETONCE RESULT: SNOWBLOW 44 R:Soooo... come on! 7 L:What? 39 R:Get up! Go explode something! Go on an adventure! 41 R:You're sitting there like a defective hatstand even though I TOTALLY just solved all your problems! 8 L:Look, I know you're just trying to help, or something, but I'm already having a bad day on top of a bad life and I really don't need this right now. My problems aren't the sort of thing you can just "solve" with some flashy magic. 43 R:But we're atronachs! Solving problems with flashy magic is our... thing! It's what we're good at! CONVERSATION 2 19 SETONCE RESULT: ANIM:8 9 L:Then why WASN'T I good at it? 10 L: CONVERSATION 19 3 SETONCE RESULT: MUSICON 11 L:I'm sorry. It's just... I WANTED to be good at it. I wanted it more than anything. When I started using magic, I thought I had finally found my place. And... 12 L:And all I got out of it was another reminder that my best wasn't good enough. I thought I was something special, and it turned out I was just as worthless, broken, and expendable as I always knew. 40 R: 37 R: 44 R:No, see, that's where we disagree. And disagreeing with a dark elf is more colloquially known as "being wrong". 43 R:We. Are. ATRONACHS! The most magical of all mortals! Or ex-mortals! 38 R:Sure, you've got all these sensible, well-thought-out reasons about why you're worthless, or why you'll never amount to anything. And sure, they're probably good reasons that are perfectly correct... if you abide by ordinary, peasant logic. 46 R:But therein lies your problem, Slutcat. You... are not thinking like a witchhunter. 13 L:"Thinking like a witchhunter"? 36 R:Exactly! 41 R:Anyone can employ COMMON sense, but being a witchhunter requires a more... accurate interpretation of the world. 44 R:You've got to see things like they really are, even when they might not be that way. You need to use things like history! Or art appreciation! You have to draw from what you know, and what you don't know. They're basically the same thing, anyway. 14 L:As in, what I know is the same as what I don't know? 39 R:Now you're thinking like a witchhunter! 8 L:No, I'm just confused, and talking to an insane dead person. What are you feverishly trying to say, and what does it have to do with hunting witches? 37 R:What I'm SAYING, Fleabasket, is that there's more than one way to magick it up. 41 R:Witches rely on power. Daedra? Also power. Magical creatures? They're dumb, anything they can do is just plain old power. Power power power. Everyone who causes problems, it's just because they have pure, raw power. 45 R:A witchhunter, though... a witchhunter has smarts, like me! When faced with unstoppable power, we have the tools to stop it. We're creative. We're twisted. We're tricky. We GET things. 15 L: 36 R:And if there's ONE thing Khajiit are good at, it's being tricky. Being smart, being creative. 40 R:Also, working plantations. But apparently that's illegal now. 15 L: CONVERSATION 3 4 SETONCE RESULT: ANIM:2 16 L:I'm... not smart, though. 42 R:Are you sure? 17 L:Positive. 36 R:If you're not smart, then how do you know you're right about yourself not being smart? Check and mate! 18 L: 19 L:I'm not smart. Two days ago, I didn't even know lumber came from trees. 37 R:Some of it also comes from moldy maple logs you find on the ground. Past-you was just keeping an open mind! 20 L:Okay, yesterday, I let an alchemist convince me into giving her all my money and belongings and walking out of the building naked, thinking I had done her some great service. 36 R:Yet you apparently realized otherwise, implying you were able to break through whatever spell she used on you. 26 L:I consistently display no comprehension of my own limits! Just an hour ago I tried to flip a table and couldn't get it three inches off the floor. 42 R:Now that's disconcerting. Where is this offending fragment of furniture? 21 L:In the tavern, but I don't see what that- CONVERSATION 4 5 SETONCE RESULT: ANIM:4 CONVERSATION 5 6 SETONCE RESULT: PLAY 43 R:Well no WONDER you couldn't flip this table! It has an unsolved puzzle on top! 6 L:What... does that have to do with anything? 37 R:You must not spend a lot of time in ancient ruins. 42 R:Hmm... I've seen this before in my long elven life. I believe it is called a "jumpy peg thing". You jump the pegs over eachother to empty spaces, removing the peg they jump over and trying to clear all but one. Idiots use it to determine when it is time to banish one from their fold. 46 R:Solving it so you can flip the table should be a trivial matter for a fellow Atronach like yourself! 23 L:I already told you, I'm not smart, or puzzly, or anything like that. 36 R:Then prove it! 26 L: 12 L: 24 L: / Win on first play CONVERSATION 6 7 SETONCE CONDITION: WON RESULT: REPLAY 40 R:Cripes you did that easy. 16 L:It was just a little board game. Sort of like tic-tac-toe, where you just have to think ahead a few moves. I won drinks a few times over cheap games like that. 17 L:It doesn't prove anything. 42 R:Do you want it to prove something? 15 L:...It doesn't. 41 R:That wasn't my question. 17 L: 42 R:You implied an alchemist mind-controlled you. How did you break it? 11 L:I was in a really bad situation. I guess I just... willed myself to overpower it. 42 R:You come from an entire species of drug addicts and kleptomaniacs. How did you REALLY break it? 13 L:I... guess I just thought about it. What I was doing, everything I was trying to accomplish. It didn't add up. 19 L:It doesn't mean I'm some kind of genius, though. I just... think about a lot of things, sometimes. 36 R:Are you well-read? 6 L:I read books when I was younger. Mostly about magic. 42 R:Have you, perchance... ever heard of something called "mysticism"? 28 L:It, ah, rings a bell. It was in the Charwich-Koniinge Letters. The branch of magic that deals with magic itself. Soul binding, spell detection, teleportation and the like..? 45 R:Exactly. The oldest and most subtle magical art, perfect for magic users with bigger heads than hearts. People who can apply their smarts! Creativity! Linear thinking! 13 L:You mean "lateral thinking"? 38 R:No, I mean linear thinking. As in, you start thinking in one direction and don't stop even if reason tries to get in your way. 44 R:It's about thinking past the boundaries of what should and should not be possible. Pushing a broken idea so hard that reality itself accepts it! EMBRACING madness just long enough to use it! 28 L:That... doesn't sound like the sort of thing I could do. 37 R:Soul traps, teleports, and other complex things, maybe not yet. But I suspect you may already be more familiar with the basics of Mysticism than you think. 42 R:Tell me... have you ever moved something with your mind? / Lose on first play CONVERSATION 6 7 SETONCE CONDITION: LOST RESULT: PLAY 7 L:There. There are a bunch of pieces left and no possible moves. Are you convinced now? 38 R:Pfft, no. You just need to put them back and try again! 18 L:You know, there is a word for messing up so badly you have to start over. It's called "failing". 37 R:Anyone's gonna mess up the first time they do something. If you call that "failing", then the process of doing something right entails doing it wrong a whole bunch, and that makes about as much sense as going so far east that you suddenly end up in the west. 13 L:That... is actually a thing that happens. 44 R:Exactly! So set up the puzzle and try it again! With GUSTO this time! 26 L: 12 L: / lose worse than you did before2 CONVERSATION 7 8 SETONCE CONDITION: WORSE RESULT: PLAY 24 L:I just did even worse than I did the first time. 39 R:That's good! It means you found a bad idea! 14 L:How is that "good"? 41 R:It means you found the boundary of where good ideas end. If you never found a bad idea, it would mean you were sticking to the good ones you know, which are probably the same ones everyone else knows, meaning they're not good anymore. 31 L:...What? 44 R:It's like... an apple. The shiny red layers on the outside are out there in the open; everyone can see them and get to them. But then as you peel them off, and you start to get down to the green layer, the yellow layer, and the purple layer, you are reaching things that other people may not even be able to fathom. And unless you dig deep enough to hit the pit, how do you even know how many layers there are? 13 L:Oh my gods you have never actually eaten an apple, have you? 46 R:Eating is for learning. One needn't eat what they already understand on a deep and magical level. 43 R:So imagine an apple and try again! Harder this time! / Win on second play CONVERSATION 7 8 SETONCE CONDITION: WON RESULT: REPLAY 33 L:There. One peg left. 40 R:Cripes, and that was on your second try? 16 L:The mistakes I made the first time were pretty obvious. The pieces ended up too spread out, so this time I just... avoided that. I still messed up at first, though. 43 R:Who cares if you messed up? You figured that out faster than most actual, non-khajiit people could! 42 R:I think, with all your "proofs" of your incompetence, you aren't giving yourself credit for the most important thing: 44 R:That you learn! And if this is any indication, you learn fast. 13 L:Figuring out a little board game you stole doesn't really qualify as "learning". 40 R:Are there other things you've been able to learn quick? Other brainy, thinky things? 13 L:Not really. 42 R:Adur ohn baldir am Dunmeri? 17 L: 11 L:...Os e. <...I can> 39 R:Nchow. 36 R:Ak ak ak, graaar kaa rriagrar hssgraaa narr. Rann? 14 L:Drakkan. Krass graar krann forrer. 43 R:Raasdd rann hsgra graar kaan? graaar nos kraaan doss! 11 L:Kaaarn nos, gras. 40 R: 42 R:Kross Delf gran patt korarg, nos... 30 L: 44 R:Either way, see, that is exactly what I mean! You're smart! You learn, even when you're not trying! You pick stuff up fast! 36 R:Are you well-read? 28 L:I... read books when I was younger. Mostly about magic. 42 R:Have you, perchance... ever heard of something called "mysticism"? 28 L:It, ah, rings a bell. It was in the Charwich-Koniinge Letters. The branch of magic that deals with magic itself. Soul binding, spell detection, teleportation and the like..? 45 R:Exactly. The oldest and most subtle magical art, perfect for magic users with bigger heads than hearts. People who can apply their smarts! Creativity! Linear thinking! 13 L:You mean "lateral thinking"? 38 R:No, I mean linear thinking. As in, you start thinking in one direction and don't stop even if reason tries to get in your way. 44 R:It's about thinking past the boundaries of what should and should not be possible. Pushing a broken idea so hard that reality itself accepts it! EMBRACING madness just long enough to use it! 28 L:That... doesn't sound like the sort of thing I could do. 37 R:Soul traps, teleports, and other complex things, maybe not yet. But I suspect you may already be more familiar with the basics of Mysticism than you think. 42 R:Tell me... have you ever moved something with your mind? / Lose on second play CONVERSATION 7 8 SETONCE CONDITION: LOST RESULT: PLAY 5 L:This is stupid. I already told you, I'm not the sort of person who can just figure stuff out. 37 R:Well, obviously, since khajiit aren't people. 36 R:But I think you're wrong. I think you're just as intelligent as any khajiit, or any Atronach. I think you're just still too dumb to realize you are smart. 20 L:You realize I can't be dumb AND smart, right? Like... those two states are mutually exclusive. 37 R:Just because two things are mutually exclusive doesn't mean you can't do both at once! 26 L:That is LITERALLY what it means! 43 R:Oh, so NOW you're all booksmart on me! I knew you were holding out. 8 L: 15 L:You're going to tell me to try again, aren't you? 39 R:Exactly! / lose worse than you did before3 CONVERSATION 8 10 SETONCE CONDITION: WORSE RESULT: PLAY 24 L:I just did even worse than the last time. 39 R:That's good! It means you found a bad idea! 14 L:How is that "good"? 41 R:It means you found the boundary of where good ideas end. If you never found a bad idea, it would mean you were sticking to the good ones you know, which are probably the same ones everyone else knows, meaning they're not good anymore. 31 L:...What? 44 R:It's like... an apple. The shiny red layers on the outside are out there in the open; everyone can see them and get to them. But then as you peel them off, and you start to get down to the green layer, the yellow layer, and the purple layer, you are reaching things that other people may not even be able to fathom. And unless you dig deep enough to hit the pit, how do you even know how many layers there are? 13 L:Oh my gods you have never actually eaten an apple, have you? 46 R:Eating is for learning. One needn't eat what they already understand on a deep and magical level. 43 R:So imagine an apple and try again! Harder this time! / win on your third try CONVERSATION 8 10 SETONCE CONDITION: WON RESULT: REPLAY 33 L:There. One peg left. 40 R:Cripes, and that was on your third try? 16 L:The mistakes I made the first two were pretty obvious. The pieces ended up too spread out, so this time I just... avoided that. I still messed up at first, though. 43 R:Who cares if you messed up? You figured that out faster than most actual, non-khajiit people could! 42 R:I think, with all your "proofs" of your incompetence, you aren't giving yourself credit for the most important thing: 44 R:That you learn! And if this is any indication, you learn fast. 13 L:Figuring out a little board game you stole doesn't really qualify as "learning". 40 R:Are there other things you've been able to learn quick? Other brainy, thinky things? 13 L:Not really. 42 R:Adur ohn baldir am Dunmeri? 17 L: 11 L:...Os e. <...I can> 39 R:Nchow. 36 R:Ak ak ak, graaar kaa rriagrar hssgraaa narr. Rann? 14 L:Drakkan. Krass graar krann forrer. 43 R:Raasdd rann hsgra graar kaan? graaar nos kraaan doss! 11 L:Kaaarn nos, gras. 40 R: 42 R:Kross Delf gran patt korarg, nos... 30 L: 44 R:Either way, see, that is exactly what I mean! You're smart! You learn, even when you're not trying! You pick stuff up fast! 36 R:Are you well-read? 28 L:I... read books when I was younger. Mostly about magic. 42 R:Have you, perchance... ever heard of something called "mysticism"? 28 L:It, ah, rings a bell. It was in the Charwich-Koniinge Letters. The branch of magic that deals with magic itself. Soul binding, spell detection, teleportation and the like..? 45 R:Exactly. The oldest and most subtle magical art, perfect for magic users with bigger heads than hearts. People who can apply their smarts! Creativity! Linear thinking! 13 L:You mean "lateral thinking"? 38 R:No, I mean linear thinking. As in, you start thinking in one direction and don't stop even if reason tries to get in your way. 44 R:It's about thinking past the boundaries of what should and should not be possible. Pushing a broken idea so hard that reality itself accepts it! EMBRACING madness just long enough to use it! 28 L:That... doesn't sound like the sort of thing I could do. 37 R:Soul traps, teleports, and other complex things, maybe not yet. But I suspect you may already be more familiar with the basics of Mysticism than you think. 42 R:Tell me... have you ever moved something with your mind? CONVERSATION 8 9 SETONCE CONDITION: LOST RESULT: ANIM:9 CONVERSATION 9 10 SETONCE CONDITION: LOST RESULT: PLAY 12 L:This is stupid and a waste of time. I'm not any good at this. 42 R:At solving puzzles with your hands? 13 L:That's... an oddly specific way of putting it, but yes. 42 R:Then maybe you're doing it wrong. Maybe you should use your mouth. Are you good at using your mouth for things? 5 L:...There is no answer to that question that will look good for me. 40 R:You must not know a lot about dunmer culture, because yes there is. 41 R:And given the flagrant lack of counterevidence, it's entirely plausible that you are some kind of mysterious mouth-genius who can instantly solve puzzles using your highly-strategic mouth. 6 L:That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. It probably wouldn't make any difference, you realize. 36 R:Ah, but every "probably wouldn't" is a "maybe would" in disguise! 18 L: 24 L: / no worsewin for 4th try, since third was the mouth one. / win on your fourth try CONVERSATION 10 11 SETONCE CONDITION: WON RESULT: ANIM:10 CONVERSATION 11 12 SETONCE CONDITION: WON RESULT: REPLAY 5 L:I can't believe that worked. 46 R:Sometimes you just have to think a little outside the box. A new angle can make all the difference. 13 L:That's... decent advice, I guess. What does it have to do with magic, though? 41 R:Tell me, Fuzzbutt. Have you ever heard of a little something called "Mysticism"? / lose on your fourth try CONVERSATION 10 11 SETONCE CONDITION: LOST RESULT: ANIM:7 CONVERSATION 11 12 SETONCE CONDITION: LOST RESULT: PLAY 25 L:Yeff, unfupigingy, at idd nuhhing. 42 R:I guess genius mouth is out. You should probably just try it normal again. 6 L:Look, I know you are ghost-insane. You have my pity. But when are you going to realize this is stupid and accept that I'm worthless, and not any kind of genius or prodigy? 40 R:Honestly? As soon as you give up. 40 R:That will be the point where your actions led to failure rather than success. 17 L: 40 R:But you're still here. You could have walked away at any point, but you're still doing a dumb puzzle for a mad ghost, trying to prove you can't do it, even though with each try you are only more likely to prove yourself wrong. 42 R:And I think you want to be wrong. I think you want to believe that maybe, just maybe, I'm right about you. And that's why you haven't given up. 29 L: 7 L:So I should try it again? 40 R:That depends. Will you? / lose worse than you did before5 CONVERSATION 12 13 SETONCE CONDITION: WORSE CONVERSATION 13 14 SETONCE CONDITION: WORSE RESULT: PLAY 24 L:I just did even worse than the last time. 39 R:That's good! It means you found a bad idea! 14 L:How is that "good"? 41 R:It means you found the boundary of where good ideas end. If you never found a bad idea, it would mean you were sticking to the good ones you know, which are probably the same ones everyone else knows, meaning they're not good anymore. 31 L:...What? 44 R:It's like... an apple. The shiny red layers on the outside are out there in the open; everyone can see them and get to them. But then as you peel them off, and you start to get down to the green layer, the yellow layer, and the purple layer, you are reaching things that other people may not even be able to fathom. And unless you dig deep enough to hit the pit, how do you even know how many layers there are? 13 L:Oh my gods you have never actually eaten an apple, have you? 46 R:Eating is for learning. One needn't eat what they already understand on a deep and magical level. 43 R:So imagine an apple and try again! Harder this time! / win on your fifth try CONVERSATION 12 13 SETONCE CONDITION: WON RESULT: ANIM:10 CONVERSATION 13 14 SETONCE CONDITION: WON RESULT: REPLAY 7 L:Done. 39 R:Haha, perfect! Now do it without touching the pieces! 13 L:Wait, what? / lose on your fifth try CONVERSATION 12 13 SETONCE CONDITION: LOST CONVERSATION 13 14 SETONCE CONDITION: LOST RESULT: PLAY 33 L:I'm kind of remembering what I did the last few times, up to where I started to mess up. But it's not really helping me get closer. 42 R:Remembering is a good first step in things like this. You just have to remember forward instead of backwards. 18 L:Remember... forward. 44 R:Exactly! It's like remembering backwards, but rather than reliving the things you already did you relive the things you haven't quite done yet. One of them is presumably the right thing, ergo you just have to remember it. 5 L:You do realize people can't just "remember" the future, right? 37 R:What did I tell you about khajiit being people? 46 R:Anyway, you don't have to remember the whole future. Start with something simple, like remembering the past up to the point where the it stops being a part of the future you want. Then when you find the right part of the future, just remember the past and then it, and suddenly you've remembered the future! 31 L:I have absolutely no idea what you just said. 44 R:Just try it again, but think like a witchhunter! 17 L: 24 L: / no loseworse for this one / lose on your sixth try CONVERSATION 14 15 SETONCE CONDITION: WON RESULT: ANIM:10 CONVERSATION 15 16 SETONCE CONDITION: WON RESULT: REPLAY 7 L:Done. 39 R:Haha, perfect! Now do it without touching the pieces! 13 L:Wait, what? / win on your sixth try CONVERSATION 14 15 SETONCE CONDITION: LOST CONVERSATION 15 16 SETONCE CONDITION: LOST RESULT: PLAY 33 L:I really don't see what this has to do with magic, or hunting witches. 41 R:Well when you look at the little gameboard, what do you see? 19 L:A bunch of wooden pegs. Which I guess you stole from a guy. 37 R:No, that's what's THERE. What do you SEE? 17 L: 12 L:I... guess I see another little thing I'm bad at. Ideas that looked like they were working but didn't, places I messed up. Time wasted, paths that ended poorly. 15 L:I see that a lot, though. That's nothing special. 44 R:Something doesn't have to be special to be magic! Power is subtlety, and the strongest magic within you is the things that might not be magic at all, because by their nature they definitely are, maybe. It's about possibility! 31 L:...What? 44 R:That's what I'm telling you: it's a puzzle! There's a stronger, hidden magic behind the obvious! You have to see things past what they really are, and into what they might really be! Embrace inconsistency and consistency as it suits you for the application of the most mundane of purposes! Reach through the brink of logic itself and MOVE it! 26 L:Nothing you are saying makes any sense! 39 R:Exactly! NOTHING makes sense! 43 R:The world doesn't make sense! YOU have to make sense of it! 41 R:YOU have to decide what you are, and what you are not. You have to decide what's possible, and what isn't. Others will try to tell you, because that's how they control you. YOU have to decide if they're right. If you make a good enough argument, maybe reality will agree. 45 R:The Cyrodiilic mages have a word for it: Mysticism! It's about knowing facts, but being smart enough to know that maybe facts are wrong. It's doing something pointless, but giving it a point. It's seeing the world like it might be, rather than like it is. 44 R:It's the magic of embracing - LIVING insanity so deeply that the world itself can change around you! It's... it's realizing that sometimes... sometimes you just have to - 27 L:- go a little crazy. 39 R:- and everything will turn to scrib jelly! 29 L: 30 L:This puzzle is still a banal and tedious piece of shit and I don't know how to solve it, though. 43 R:Then figure out how! Like a WITCHHUNTER! 14 L:I don't really kn- 39 R:Act like a witchhunter! Look like a witchhunter! BE a witchhunter! 34 L: 35 L: 36 R:Perfect. Now can you solve this stupid table-puzzle? 33 L:Probably not! 32 L:But, ah... I'll try. / beyond win CONVERSATION 16 17 SETONCE CONDITION: WON RESULT: ANIM:10 CONVERSATION 17 18 SETONCE CONDITION: WON RESULT: REPLAY 7 L:Done. 39 R:Haha, perfect! Now do it without touching the pieces! 13 L:Wait, what? / beyond loss CONVERSATION 16 -1 CONDITION: LOST RESULT: PLAY 33 L:I see where I went wrong. I'm going to try it again.