#fay paylan

[sorasan000]

Something that the enemy encounter in the little arc involving Fay, Elpkins, and Gloe caught my attention and left me a little worried. Not just in how dangerous it seems but also how far its affects go. (spoilers 1330+)

The fake merchants that pretended to befriend Fay had a needle that sounded like it could brainwash someone if it poked them. Maybe "brainwash" isn't even right, but it allows them to control them. It's why Matton threw it out there that if Fay wouldn't cooperate with them, they could just poke Gloe and she could become their informant.

It makes me wonder how widespread its use was in the previous timeline, what it is, and whether it's the direct result of someone's power. It makes me wonder about its potency and how it's similar yet different from the Sage's power.

What I was quickly concerned about was the same thing I was concerned about when it came to the Sage's influence: how much are people responsible for, for the actions they take while they're being greatly influenced by brainwashing commands and they're not 100% in their right minds? The topic has been brought up hundreds of chapters after the Sage was dealt with, via the Katchian trial. I'm sure the timing was deliberate.

How many people were against Yudrein because they were under the Wolf Eye's control? If Fay was under this influence, how much of his betrayal was 100% him? (I'm actually afraid that it wasn't 100% him because it leaves out so much room to show just how wrong someone can turn if the environment calls for it.)

[sorasan000]

My impression of Fay so far, as of ch.1330.

Tragically similar to Yuder, from their backgrounds to being the oddballs/outcasts among their peers, being introverted and socially inexperienced, working their asses off to become competent enough to become Deputy Commanders, eventually concluding that they were being left behind by their respective Commanders, and then becoming Commanders themselves due to Katchian's paranoia (Kishi had other reasons, but come one, Katchian was suspicious anyway).

Except Fay seems a lot more insecure, thus easy to break and way more sensitive. With that, possessing less foresight, being less introspective, and leaving room for impulsiveness without the power and grace to back it up.

Unfortunately as well, a very useful pawn, both here and there. I'm curious to study his character in the previous timeline, because I'm convinced as he became more involved with the Southern clans, the easier it was to subtly manipulate him over the span of several years. There may have been a point where he even realized it but had already made up his mind.

[sorasan000]

Thought from today's reading of ch.1241 - 1250: the subject of poisons' effects on the body.

I don't know if it was just a little exposition on how poison affects the body in relation to the established power system surrounding divine power, but while reading Kiolle's thoughts about the poison affecting Duke Diarca's body, it just kept ringing "YUDER! YUDER! YUDER!" to me.

We got stuff we already knew, but the way it was phrased helped me see it the way I didn't consider before. The poison that affected Yuder in the aftermath of the Pethuamet fight was "detoxified" through continuous "battle" with Lusan's divine power, and the upside to this later on was that Yuder likely won't be affected by the same poison again. However, the downside to this was that some of it had already settled deep within Yuder's left eye, and although it hadn't spread any further it still remained as evidence of an injury. Almost like a "scar" as Kiolle put it.

It makes me wonder if that "scar" is still there within Yuder's body. If he is indeed going to be immune to Penpen's poison, that downside must surely still exist somewhere within him. If so, how will it possibly manifest in the future?

There's also a drawback introduced to divine power with this observation. If divine power is continuously used on someone, the body begins to become immune to that, too. Self-recovery begins to slow down, or sometimes divine power stops working altogether on them.

I'm starting to piece together why the story introduced a different path for Fay's power to take in the 2nd timeline. If at some point Yuder's body no longer reacts to divine power, Awakener healing powers are going to become more important.