After asking Telosh about his theories on the forced bird connection, Gustav privately goes to Alexis for his opinion:
“What happened there. Why do you think Telosh forced a connection between me and the bird against my will? I didn’t want that troublemaking bird to follow me or rely on me for anything. Telosh already knew my feelings of the crow, Do you think he was possessed by a demon who cast spells against his will? Or did he let in the demon?”
Gustav seems to be seething thinking about it again.
“It seems like it might not have been his choice, but he wanted a connection between me and the bird before the possession. Maybe the demon stole his desires and spilled them all over the veiled world.”
Gustav looks at the crow which is cawing nearby and kicks a rock near it.
Alexis listens to Gustav about the bird.
“Gus, you already seem to have the answers you want.” Alexis shrugs. “Not sure what you want me to tell you.”
“Some in the collegium would talk about goalposts being moved, about anchoring, and about bias. Many in the collegium are very interested in cognitive load and bias. Very interesting topic, that some care about.”
“Ever played a sport with goalposts, Gus?”
Gustav’s eyes mostly glaze over when words like “ankorring”, “cognituvv” and “byuss” are used.
When the direct question is asked, Gustav responds:
“Gole posts? Not sure what those are no. Is that what orcs put the severed heads on? I thought those were just branch poles that were sharpened.”
“Are you changing the subject? I feel like you are talking about something completely different. Does talking about the bird also make you uncomfortable?”
“I am changing the subject. Not because talking about Sally makes me uncomfortable, but because” and Alexis smiles warmly at this next bit “rhetorical questions make me uncomfortable.”
Alexis frowns slightly. “Do you know what “rhetoric is? Do you know what a ‘rhetorical question’ is?”
“I have heard you use that term enough to know. You thought my question was not asking for an answer? I am not asking what for sure happened, just to see what you think happened. If you have no idea, I do not require you to make up an answer. Feel free to say you don’t know. I can say I don’t know, which is why I am asking others.”
Alexis smiles warmly at Gus. “Okay then. Telosh did not create something that was not already there. He simply, and a little crudely, added _some_ more weight to the backpack you already carried.”
“If you weren’t carrying the metaph-… the proverb-… the spiritual backpack, he couldn’t have added weight to it.”
“As to _why_, Yog is where I’d place my bet. We were very exposed to his fort from where we were at that moment. Some scholars say that orc magic is close to goblin magic. Both involve frenzy and blood.” Alexis shrugs “It’s what some experts say.”