Tales of a Child Eternal [NSFW]

[Tethras Clan]

Zevran nods thoughtfully as he pours them both a flute of wine. "Do... do you consider them ancestors? Or... is it more like they're another stage of the same life?"

[Helene Dakesh]

"Somewhere between? Dakesh gave rise to this one, but this one was also Dakesh. This one cannot be Dakesh again, but the things Dakesh did, this one is responsible for. Much as this one cannot be Fille again, but this one bears the burdens this one swore to uphold." 

[Tethras Clan]

Zevran nods slowly. "I think I can... grasp the shape of that," he finally offers. "Thank you."

[Helene Dakesh]

"This information is-- including the pieces this one spoke of earlier, of this one's early years, this one prefers to keep this information private," they begin, with a small nod. "This one was... Dakesh was a Seeker in truth, searching for rare magics and lost knowledge across the land."

[Tethras Clan]

"That explains what you mentioned about finding caches of scrolls, books and other... museum pieces," Zevran observes, thinking of their cave-house.

[Helene Dakesh]

Helene nods again. "He was meant to be returning the information to the Temple of Alydra in Drasslina, but anything related to Avanti-who-was-Eden, he kept." Something's a little off about that sentence...

[Tethras Clan]

Tilting his head, the madame gives Helene a curious look. "Is that unusual?"

[Helene Dakesh]

"To be dedicated to Alydra for multiple lifetimes? A little."

[Tethras Clan]

"I meant more about the gathering information and then... hoarding specific knowledge, but also that," Zevran clarifies.

[Helene Dakesh]

Helene nods. "This one is unsure, but I suspect that it is not uncommon. Things that belonged to Avanti in a real sense belong to Dakesh-who-was-Avanti more than they belong to the museums or collectors who, in some ways, stole them from Avanti after her death. So it wasn't stealing, exactly, to keep those items. Helene-who-was-Dakesh has felt no need to return the ones recovered from Dakesh' caches either, if the truth is prized."

[Tethras Clan]

"I suppose that makes sense," Zevran remarks. "I would consider things that my I made as a child and things my ancestors made as mine before any church or city so it make sense that you would consider his things as..." He raises an eyebrow. "His things?"

[Helene Dakesh]

Helene nods. "Dakesh was a 'he'."

[Tethras Clan]

"And... Avanti was a she? Is that typical as well? For gender- or sex- to differ from life to life?" A beat. "Is that the right phrasing for that by the way? Life to life?"

[Helene Dakesh]

"Incarnation to incarnation." Helene nods. "The gender is determined by the shell-- or, at least, I thought as much before this incarnation. This one's gender is... complicated. And not determined by the shell at all. But previously, this one had not been in such a situation."

[Tethras Clan]

Incarnation. Got it. "So each incarnation is different in... even fundamental qualities? I had assumed fine details like... fondness for spice over sweet would differ but... gender?"