Editing TheStarsAreRight:CarlNote3 (section)

=='''On the Boat'''==

'''REDLAND'''

Redland approaches Carl looking pale and frail.

"Hey, Carl, while hurling my breakfast into the endless expanse of water, I got to thinking about our problem with the 'many gods' plan. Namely, what are we going to do about the oceans? I understand how they would have been taken care of under the 'one god' plan, but I'm a little hazy as to how we're going to put together a large group of likeminded people to protect the seas... and if we can't protect the oceans, the rest of the plan will crumble, right? If we get some blasted octopus-monster sitting out in the Atlantic, it will spread it's corruption onto the land from there. Even if it doesn't, we need the oceans to survive."

'''CARL'''

Carl blinks once, then grins.  “Well, that’ll give everyone something to do, won’t it?
 

“No, seriously.  I’ve been thinking about the oceans for quite a while.  It is a problem, under any plan, including Pentheus’, and was one of the reasons I was so interested in the one-god notion in the first place. 
 

“There are a couple of issues.  First, as you say, the plan we’ve talked about deals first with *us*.  Humans, mostly, on land.  It’s what we know, and frankly, it’s what I am most concerned to protect.  The King of Life’s duties do not stop there, of course, but that’s another thing, as hopefully you will see.
 

“The Outsiders are coming to feed, or to breed, or to live, yes?  The Earth is a succulent fruit.  But the juiciest most attractive bits are those with the most Power – ponics – and Life – vitalics together.  On land, that’s us.  Humans.  Places where there are a lot of people are the places the monsters want to be, even while abandoned lifeless places are the ones that are easiest for them to reach.
 

“The oceans aren’t lifeless, really.  So I’m told.  Even the dark depths have a lot of things living there.  In fact your tentacled monsters are already there, I hear.   I also understand that there are groups of things in the seas already, here and there, that have just as much Power and life force and intellect as people do.  There simply aren’t as many of them.  Some of them even have societies, and have active contact already with the Outsiders.  Consider them enemies.  They’ll work against us all the way.
 

“So – yes – they’re out there now.  As things get worse, Outsiders *will* come to the oceans.  If, as you say, we cannot protect the oceans, the plan doesn’t crumble.  It merely lengthens the running battle.  We, and our allies, and the various defender groups, must be prepared to fight them however we can.  They will be a common enemy.
 

“Which is not a bad thing, really. … even if we do not have an easy ‘win’.”

'''REDLAND'''

"While I certainly don't want to rehash the Pentheus side of things again, it's my understanding that the oceans wouldn't be a problem under this sort of strategy. That is, the 'one god' and 'many god' plans are, for lack of a better term, war strategies. With this type of strategy. we'll need to defend every scrap of our planet. A Pentheus-styled plan is a trade based strategy. We don't need to worry about the oceans under this type of strategy, since we've agreed with the Outsiders (or one or more groups of Outsiders) to only deal with each other in certain land-based zones. The ones we're dealing with, presumably, have an incentive (either negotiated or just in general) to keep other Outsiders out of our world... hmmm, maybe we could look at the former strategies as 'total war' and the latter as 'limited war'?
 

"What worries me about any total war strategy is, I assume, that (at least some) Outsiders are cunning. If their presence inevitably taints the world (as you and Auda indicated in my Lake Disappointment example), all that a patient Outsider would need to do is set up residence in a convenient body of water and wait. Eventually, whatever world-warping properties they possess will spread and spread and they can, essentially, smoke us out. (Sort of similar to what happened to the Fae/Nightsiders, I guess... though I suppose we could adapt in some fashion, just as they did, though that might end 'humanity' as we know it).
 

"As to these ocean-dwelling creatures... well, you know what I'm going to say next. Can I talk to them? Perhaps they don't need to be our enemies. Perhaps we can come to some under...."Redland laughs, "blah, blah, blah, right? You know how the rest of this spiel goes."

'''CARL'''

“Of course you can talk to them,” Carl says mildly. ”Assuming they’d be willing to talk to *you*.  Historically that’s rarely the case.  Though there’s at least one group off the coast of New England that has done more than talk – they’ve even been interbreeding with the locals.” 
 

Carl makes a sour face.
 

“In any case, I disagree with you about the Pentheus plan.  Pentheus hasn’t accommodated the oceans or their inhabitants either, insofar as I’m aware.  The inhabitants probably have their own agendas that don’t dovetail well with Pentheus.   However --
 

“The Circles of interaction within the oceans and on land connect so sparsely that there is a significant amount of, ah, insulation between the two.  Much more than in a river or lake.  Which makes us less affected by them, and vice versa.  But less doesn’t mean none.  Even if a crafty Outsider sought to lurk unseen somewhere, land or water, the very creep of corruption you speak of would give it away long before it could smoke *us* out .. and then we would be alerted, and hopefully be able to attack.  That sort of stratagem works best if we’re not paying attention – which I hope we will be – or have no resources to attack with – which I hope we will.  In fact, the current version of the Many Gods plan is intended not only to create new active fighters in the Fight, but to free up existing fighters so they can respond more readily where they are needed.    Places like Africa, or South America, where we haven’t yet established defenses.  Or the deep seas.”

'''REDLAND'''

Jack looks like he's about to say something, when he halts for a moment. He then abruptly states, "Ah. Sorry. I have to go. I have an urgent appointment at the side of the boat."

'''CARL'''

Carl looks contrite.  “Go,” he waves.  “Poor fellow!”  
 

He’ll wait around, in case Jack comes back; but knowing how he’d feel if it were him, won’t go along to witness poor Jack’s misery.