[Paul is intelligent and capable and a pusher of boundaries; Palamedes wants to continue to believe he isn't cruel. That this beast lies in its pathetic heap with slightly more clarity of mind than it had before Paul started putting bracelets on it; that the end will not justify the means, but at least somberly explain. He watches Paul swap the trinkets, leaning over the cracked bloodstone as is expected of him, and he listens to the explanation.
The rules and parameters of blood magic are uncertain at best; he knows this, he's a goddamn necromancer, the rules were uncertain even before he woke up in a place where blood so thoroughly seeped into the earth and every facet of life besides. That Paul is doing potentially dangerous things on the whim of theory is, hm - fine, Palamedes supposes. He would be a hypocrite to dismiss the entire affair, given his own predilections towards bleeding into vials every time Viktor says bloodstone tech, or the suggestions he adamantly makes to the other blood ministers day in and day out, a battle of attrition for doing Slightly Different Techniques.
It's none of that. He sets his fingertips against the dirt just next to the broken bracelet, not keen on touching a thing that's just been peeled off a beast making suffering noises. Corruption nothing; it's the things his psychometry will pick up whether he likes it or not that stay his hand.
No, it's not the experiment itself— it's only the frame.]
Technically, you don't 'have' beasts, [he says, eventually, and he thinks of the soul melanges wasting a myriad in Canaan House as something similar.] So that's something to keep in mind. You didn't ask a Sleeper for help? I can guess why you wouldn't; I don't agree. But it's been done; you can't unring a bell. I'll leave it at cautioning you against losing perspective.
[He very pointedly continues not to judge, not to admonish, because he believes firmly that guilt is a poor teacher at the same time he believes being clear about his disagreements is better than letting them fester. They're not mutually exclusive.]
So, with that out of the way: is it working? Is the stone a conduit for removal, or a guard against further contamination?
no subject
The rules and parameters of blood magic are uncertain at best; he knows this, he's a goddamn necromancer, the rules were uncertain even before he woke up in a place where blood so thoroughly seeped into the earth and every facet of life besides. That Paul is doing potentially dangerous things on the whim of theory is, hm - fine, Palamedes supposes. He would be a hypocrite to dismiss the entire affair, given his own predilections towards bleeding into vials every time Viktor says bloodstone tech, or the suggestions he adamantly makes to the other blood ministers day in and day out, a battle of attrition for doing Slightly Different Techniques.
It's none of that. He sets his fingertips against the dirt just next to the broken bracelet, not keen on touching a thing that's just been peeled off a beast making suffering noises. Corruption nothing; it's the things his psychometry will pick up whether he likes it or not that stay his hand.
No, it's not the experiment itself— it's only the frame.]
Technically, you don't 'have' beasts, [he says, eventually, and he thinks of the soul melanges wasting a myriad in Canaan House as something similar.] So that's something to keep in mind. You didn't ask a Sleeper for help? I can guess why you wouldn't; I don't agree. But it's been done; you can't unring a bell. I'll leave it at cautioning you against losing perspective.
[He very pointedly continues not to judge, not to admonish, because he believes firmly that guilt is a poor teacher at the same time he believes being clear about his disagreements is better than letting them fester. They're not mutually exclusive.]
So, with that out of the way: is it working? Is the stone a conduit for removal, or a guard against further contamination?