Okay. Murray’s portent in Episode 25.
“Can I use my six that I rolled on portent for her last death saving throw?”
… That is the most stone cold fucking move I’ve ever seen in my goddamn life. Holy shit. Like.
Okay. Murray’s magic. Divination. Dwarven divination. Mathematics. The warp and weft of the universe. Murray taps into the raw mathematics of the universe. And she just, in this one moment, seeing an enemy, an old woman, lying on the floor bleeding, she taps into that raw, silent, immense force, and uses it to goddamn cold equation this bitch.
Like that wasn’t … That wasn’t fire and brimstone, divine wrath, that wasn’t active rage, that was stone cold. That was the raw, impassive, uncaring face of the universe, given the tiniest little twist, flicking down the tiniest sliver of entropy, to simply end someone. As she lies on the floor bleeding. ‘Let this be one of the universes where she dies’. It’s so cold.
And. Murray has given life before now. Or restored it, a semblance of it. Murray has used that same stone cold magic before, that vast mathematics, to bring Occtis back from death. A thing not seen since the gods themselves. This vast force, this immense thing she taps into. Life and death. Warp and weft. Fate. The things she fucking does, holy shit. A nat 20 portent to enact a titanic magic not seen since the gods. And a tiny roll, a middling six, used to silently erase someone.
It's so incredible. That was such a galaxy brain move by Marisha, and such an ice cold one as well.
(It’s such a Patia sort of move, actually. What is it about wizards bringing out Marisha’s vicious streak?)
And! And then! On the other side of it.
“You go to replace her death saving throw … to discover she’s not making them.”
Yanessa Halovar. The fucking con woman herself, this code-switching, false faith, mafia boss bitch. She dodged the fucking bullet. The raw force of the universe was bent down to end her life, and she dodged the bullet. Without even noticing. Because Yanessa fucking Halovar wasn’t even playing the same game.
THIS is what illusion is for! Trickery. This is what it’s for. Because the deadliest bullet in the goddamn world doesn’t do jack shit if you’re not where it hits. Illusion, sleight of hand, trickery. All the power in the world won’t matter a damn if it never fucking hits you. Murray Mag’nesson used the coldest trick in the universe, some of the most powerful magic in the universe, bent the raw force of truth down to end her life, and Yanessa did not notice, because that truth shot straight through her perfectly mundane lie and bounced off the far side without hitting anything in between.
Phenomenal cosmic power: 0. Good old fashioned lying: 10,000.
This was such a titanic fucking moment. It was so cool. And it’s completely tiny, completely silent, and no one will ever know. No one. Except Murray herself. Like.
It was such a cold use of power. Such a silent, invisible, vicious way of dealing with someone. It was so titanic, and so tiny, and so impressive. And Yanessa foiled it without even noticing by just not being what her attacker thought she was.
The Tachonis out here slinging power around and murdering entire goddamn houses and earning themselves every enemy on the planet, and here’s Yanessa Halovar, with just a little bit of patience, and a little bit of lying, and the goddamn angel she somehow caged, and she’s flying golden. She’s making an open mockery of everything Murray’s done. Murray’s own magic, the same magic that just failed to kill her. She’s making such a mockery of it. Apeing that first miracle, that true wonder that Murray (and Bolaire) performed. A false resurrection, silently and unwittingly defying the same wizard that performed the first true one, and it’s winning her all the power and faith she needs.
Oh, it’s fantastic. It’s evil and vicious and I love it.
But. But. The thing of it is. That one little lie beat all the power of truth, yes. Tanked phenomenal cosmic power without so much as ruffling her hair, yes. But Murray knows. Murray knows. Alone of everyone in that room. In the world. Murray alone, because of what she tried to do, because of what she is, a divination wizard, saw through Yanessa’s lie. In a way that no one else could. And that could be very problematic for Yanessa down the line.
Because a lie can save your life, but a little truth, levered correctly, goes a long way too.
Truth vs lies. Divination vs illusion. Murray Mag’nesson vs Yanessa Halovar. Con woman to con woman, both scraped up out of the gutter. Who needs fucking gods, huh? A little bit of grit, a little bit of magic, and a little bit of lying, will do all the same jobs. Heh.
I love them. That was beautiful. That was such a fabulous moment.
