2015/11/15 [RE 43.7] - Seriously, don't do that

[Tapewolf]

Does Darius usually get sent out with diplomats?  He seems to be unable to grasp the idea of letting them do their job.  I'm kind of curious how selective the statues are as well - presumably they're concentrating on him because he's actively attempting to capture and/or kill people, whereas the diplomat is trying to deliver a message.

[Puyon]

Yeah, I think they can sense who exactly is having violent or malicious intent. The last time these Royal Guards showed up, the statues apprehended them when they went after Delta, which prompted the green scaler to ask why they didn't attack them when they went after Nettle. Dharfi asks if they really meant harm... safe to say that they are selective.

[Tapewolf]

Yeah, I think they can sense who exactly is having violent or malicious intent. The last time these Royal Guards showed up, the statues apprehended them when they went after Delta, which prompted the green scaler to ask why they didn't attack them when they went after Nettle. Dharfi asks if they really meant harm... safe to say that they are selective.

True.  With the diplomat it gets rather more abstract - given the small army poised to attack the place, he's probably delivering an ultimatum... which means that the message he's bearing may have malicious and violent intent even though the messenger doesn't.  Then you've got a hypothetical situation where he talks things out with the headmistress, things break down and he has to report failure which will mean an assault on the school - would that trigger a response from the statues even if the diplomat doesn't really want it to happen?

[Merlin]

The statue enchantments don't have very much wider visibility than a single person, they're not bright enough to work out if a person is doing something that might later down the track lead to somebody being attacked. They're very much focused on "does this person want to attack and hurt somebody?" If yes, they subdue. If no, then they don't. Dogfeatures doesn't want to attack anybody. As a messenger, even if things go south he's not going to be involved in fighting anyway.

Darius however, really badly wants to punch Drake in the face.

[Tapewolf]

They're very much focused on "does this person want to attack and hurt somebody?" If yes, they subdue. If no, then they don't. Dogfeatures doesn't want to attack anybody.

What if he wants to attack Darius for botching the mission?  Are the statues protecting DHS staff and students, or everyone in the vicinity?

[Merlin]

What if he wants to attack Darius for botching the mission?  Are the statues protecting DHS staff and students, or everyone in the vicinity?

Just for staff and students.

Also I probably could have worded that bit better, it's a bit more than "does this person want to attack and hurt somebody?", the "want" is stronger like "they're going to attack somebody right now if you let them". Like... Danni probably wants to hit Loki sometimes because she's obnoxious sometimes. But she's not going to get into a fight with her. So she doesn't get statue'd. And it has a bit of a threshold, if you're just slapping somebody out of anger and aren't causing them a lot of harm they might not step in, but if it escalates then they will.

But... like I said, they're not real smart. There are definitely loopholes.

[Tapewolf]

And it has a bit of a threshold, if you're just slapping somebody out of anger and aren't causing them a lot of harm they might not step in, but if it escalates then they will.

Right, so slapping sense into him wouldn't count.

[Merlin]

Right, so slapping sense into him wouldn't count.

Haha. It also wouldn't work, he is a bonehead