Author: small_magics | [It seems that perhaps we should speak,] Isibel says to Lycaelon. She wishes him a cup of tea, wherever he is, hovering in the air waiting for him to take it. [Though I confess I do not know where to begin.] |
Author: wildlymagical | [I've been thinking exactly the same thing for a while now,] he says, accepting his tea and conjuring her one in return. |
Author: small_magics | She takes her tea and sips it. [As probably the most obvious matter - you are welcome to Bond with my beloved if you still wish to do so. I had a moment of uncertainty but it has been resolved to my satisfaction.] |
Author: wildlymagical | [Did that have something to do with getting married?] |
Author: small_magics | [Yes. Although once we had thought of Ansharil becoming an elf long enough to complete the prerequisite, it most likely would have happened anyway.] |
Author: wildlymagical | [It wasn't a surprise. But I did notice the timing.] |
Author: small_magics | [It came up when I was expressing concern about - dilution, as it were.] |
Author: wildlymagical | [...I'm not sure I understand.] |
Author: small_magics | [I was worried about feeling less special as one of two instead of as the only.] |
Author: wildlymagical | [Oh. Yes, I see,] he says. [Well, whatever else happens, I'd wager you'll remain their only wife.] |
Author: small_magics | [I expect so, yes.] |
Author: wildlymagical | He laughs. |
Author: small_magics | [So, yes, that has been settled, but perhaps you have other questions you did not have time to get to before you were shooed from my tree.] |
Author: wildlymagical | [...I think I might want to finally get my enchanter's aura,] he says. [I've had flickers, but nothing like Liselen's. And I don't know if it would help like yours does, but it can't hurt to find out, right?] |
Author: small_magics | [It will not hurt you. Unless you develop your aura without a channel, and then only in the literal sense. The quickest way is to travel to my alt Glass's world and pour power into her forest.] |
Author: wildlymagical | [I'll do that, then. How quick is quick?] |
Author: small_magics | [It depends on the channel - how much channeling they can tolerate, and one of the Jokers has an amplification ability that speeds it up considerably.] |
Author: wildlymagical | [I was thinking of doing it by myself, but I wouldn't mind having help.] |
Author: small_magics | [Jane is back again, and can poll the Jokers for their availability.] |
Author: wildlymagical | [All right.] |
Author: small_magics | [You could ask her yourself, or I can do it for you.] |
Author: wildlymagical | [I'm not sure how to talk to her, although I guess I'll have to learn.] |
Author: small_magics | [I can introduce you if you would like.] |
Author: wildlymagical | [Okay.] |
Author: small_magics | [Jane, this is Lycaelon. Lycaelon, Jane. He needs a channel for developing aura, and then he will need a ride to Chronicle.] |
Author: mind_game | [Hi, Lycaelon! Polling Jokers now.] She polls Jokers. [Do you know where my Janepoint is?] |
Author: wildlymagical | [No,] says Lycaelon. |
Author: pythbox | Corona is available! So are Jellybean, Alice, Beast, Queenie, and - surprisingly - War. |
Author: mind_game | [Well, you can still teleport to it if your teleporting works like Bell teleporting. There's a bunch of Jokers handy! Corona's fastest. Jellybean, Alice, Beast, Queenie, and War also volunteer.] |
Author: wildlymagical | He teleports to the Janepoint.
[I might as well ask Corona, then. And whoever else wants to come along for fun.] |
Author: mind_game | [Oh hey! You're a template!] |
Author: wildlymagical | "...I am?" |
Author: mind_game | [Yep. There's one of you in Peace. Maybe more, but none I've seen.]
[Hey War, this guy turns out to be an alt of Howlett.] |
Author: wildlymagical | "Oh," says Lycaelon. "That's—" |
Author: pythbox | War freecasts to the Thilanushinyel Janepoint. |
Author: wildlymagical | "—surprising. Hello." |
Author: pythbox | "Awww, it's a cute little Howlett," War says delightedly. "Hi! I'm War."
He gives Lycaelon a hug, links him, cues Jane to send him to Chronicle, and freecasts there himself. |
Author: mind_game | Yoink! |
Author: pythbox | The other polled Jokers have assembled at the Chronicle Janepoint by the time War finishes hugging Lycaelon again. |
Author: poeticterms | The local Jarvis directs them all to a nearby guest room. |
Author: pythbox |
Some time later - rather longer than it would have taken just to channel up the aura, especially considering Lycaelon was already most of the way there - Corona brainphones Glass.
[Hey, got time to look at an aura?] |
Author: thaumobabble | [Sure, although I can't always figure them out completely, you want Lazarus for the full interpretive diagnosis.] |
Author: pythbox | [Yeah. Are you in the castle, or should we teleport?] |
Author: thaumobabble | [I'm up in my library.] |
Author: pythbox | Corona teleports. |
Author: wildlymagical | A moment later, so does Lycaelon.
His aura is noticeably different in flavour from the Bells' magicmagicmagic and the Jokers' theatrical center-of-attention. It advertises that he is powerful and capable, but doesn't bother specifying exactly what he is capable of.
"I've figured out one part," he says. "Enhanced senses. But I can tell there's more to it, and I have no idea what it does." |
Author: thaumobabble | "Ooh, the senses are a template attractor," Glass says, blinking at him, "that didn't have a way to get at you till just now but took the chance when you gave it an opening. The rest of it looks - not exactly like Sarion's. Yours is more... metaphorical? Is it okay if I have a peep at your mindscape? And it's cooperating with some other stuff that isn't aura that was already protecting your mind, looks very Thilanushinyel-y." |
Author: wildlymagical | "Go ahead and look. It got bigger all of a sudden," he says. "Or - not exactly bigger - but it used to be a forest in the middle of nothing in particular, and now it's a forest in the middle of more forest. A lot more." |
Author: thaumobabble | Glass nods, closing her eyes to focus on the forest. "Yeah - the outer forest will sort of entrap anything that tries to get into the inner forest, unless you lead it in. The mind-protecting magic you already had wouldn't have done anything about a dragonbond, but this will, you'll basically be able to escort Ansharil between inner and outer forests whenever you like." |
Author: wildlymagical | "Well, that's convenient." |
Author: pythbox | Corona laughs and hugs him. |
Author: thaumobabble | "Auras are that! So, if you didn't already know it, you have an alt in Gift, named Luhan." |
Author: wildlymagical | "And apparently one in Peace named Howlett. Alts everywhere," he snorts. |
Author: thaumobabble | "Howlett I never got a look at, but Luhan I checked over for templatehood," laughs Glass. "You've got easily enough for two alts, probably more somewhere but not necessarily in worlds we have access to yet." |
Author: wildlymagical | "It comes in amounts?" |
Author: thaumobabble | "Yes. It's also contagious. Bells are the strongest template I've ever looked at, Jokers a very close second." |
Author: wildlymagical | "Well that's... bizarre." |
Author: thaumobabble | "Very bizarre, yes!" |
Author: wildlymagical | He shakes his head. "Thanks, anyway. It's good to know what that extra forest is all about." |
Author: thaumobabble | "Glad I could help. What is that other mind protection it's fitting up against?" |
Author: wildlymagical | "...I have no idea, actually," says Lycaelon. |
Author: thaumobabble | "It's part of a bigger thing?" says Glass helpfully. "There's a - suite of traits you have, that one's just the easiest for me to recognize because it's cooperating with the aura one and I have more practice recognizing auras." |
Author: wildlymagical | "The only Thilanushinyel magic I have is Wildmagery and I don't think it comes with any special - hm," he says. "Well, maybe it does, come to that. What else can you tell me about this thing?" |
Author: thaumobabble | "I've never looked at a Wildmage before, so these are all guesses based on how it's shaped and so on," Glass says, squinting at him. "It's... hooked up to something that isn't you which isn't here. That hookup might be at least partly informational in nature - telling you - things of some kind. There's something in your pocket involved. It's very attached to you, whatever it is, I think it could get ahold of you regardless of world-hopping, what have you got in your pocket?" |
Author: wildlymagical | "My Three Books," he says, drawing them out for her inspection. "You can only read them if you're a Wildmage, and they follow their Wildmage around - I'm not surprised that they could do it across worlds; they're very persistent." |
Author: thaumobabble | She flips through them. "They look blank to me, with my regular vision anyway, they're extremely shiny by magic-sight - huh." She hands them back. "Anyway, they're part of the same suite of traits." |
Author: wildlymagical | "In that case, I might know what that is," he says. "But I wouldn't have expected it. There are supposed to be signs that someone is a Knight-Mage, and I'm missing most of them. Still, stranger things have happened, I guess." |
Author: thaumobabble | "I'd need to look at some other Wildmages. What are the signs you're missing?" |
Author: wildlymagical | "Knight-Mages are supposed to be bad at casting spells. I'm not. They're supposed to have some kind of mystical attunement to the arts of war, and I haven't noticed anything like that either." |
Author: thaumobabble | "I'd have to compare you to other Wildmages to see if you're relatively bad at spells in any way I can detect... You have a template attractor for being good at fighting, which might be substituting for a magical boost?" |
Author: wildlymagical | He laughs. "The Wild Magic knows what it's doing, I guess." |
Author: thaumobabble | "I suppose! I don't suppose it has some convenient physical form I could peek at? Liselen is hooked up to it too but not in quite the same way you are, but that's not the same as actually seeing it." |
Author: wildlymagical | "No. Well, you could go to Thilanushinyel and look around. That's the closest you'll get." |
Author: thaumobabble | "Perhaps I should, then. Well, unless you want to summon your alts here and have me stare at you all together and comment on your respective templateyness, that's all I have to say." |
Author: wildlymagical | "All right. Thanks again," he says, and off he goes. |
Author: thaumobabble | "Bye!" |
Author: wildlymagical | He spends some more time with the Jokers. The Jokers are fun.
Then he returns to Thilanushinyel.
[Apparently I'm a Knight-Mage,] he says to Sarion. |
Author: small_magics | [That is surprising, both that you would be one and that Glass would be able to tell when she has no other Wildmages to compare you against.] |
Author: wildlymagical | [She told me I had some kind of mind-protecting magic. There's only one kind I could think of that I might have without knowing about it. And she said it was part of the same thing as being a Wildmage.] |
Author: small_magics | [Ah, that explains it. It would be good to know what else she has seen.] |
Author: wildlymagical | [My aura gave me a different kind of mind protection. I was right; it was exactly what I was looking for. My mindscape is now a forest hidden in a bigger forest - no one can find it without an invitation. So I won't feel like there's someone just around the corner all the time.] |
Author: small_magics | [That sounds like it will be helpful, yes. Although it would still be potentially problematic if Lazarus's protective wish broke on adding another mind to the Dragonbond, it would not be immediately so - I would like at least in principle to be able to share things with my beloveds that I do not wish passed on, even though no examples come to mind.] |
Author: wildlymagical | [We can ask Lazarus to come have a look, maybe?] |
Author: small_magics | [Yes. But because our respective auras will do all of the immediately necessary work, and because Lazarus might well need to look at all of us to make a diagnosis, it should probably wait until Aianon has awoken and you and Ansharil have gazed at each other for some time and appropriate celebrations have concluded.] |
Author: wildlymagical | [All right,] says Lycaelon. [One of you will tell me when Aianon wakes, won't you?] |
Author: small_magics | [Of course.] |
Author: wildlymagical | [Then all I have to do is wait. I'm good at that.] |
Author: small_magics |
And when Aianon un-naps, the wait is over.
[He is awake.] |
Author: wildlymagical | [Good morning,] says Lycaelon, conferenced to Aianon. |
Author: endragoned | [A very good morning. And it is about to get better, I think. Won't you come visit?] |
Author: wildlymagical | So Lycaelon teleports to Aianon. |
Author: small_magics | And Isibel, with Ansharil in tow, joins them. |
Author: wildlymagical |
Lycaelon looks at Ansharil. |
Author: endragoned | Ansharil turns into an angel, and looks at Lycaelon.
His eyes are very green. |
Author: wildlymagical | He is perhaps the most beautiful thing in the entire world.
And - there he is, somewhere in the outer forest, waiting patiently.
Lycaelon draws him in. |
Author: small_magics | Isibel dilates time, again. |
Author: wildlymagical | There are... celebrations. |
Author: small_magics | How celebratory! |
Author: wildlymagical | Extremely. |
Author: small_magics | The time dilation proves useful! Albeit not as staggeringly necessary as it was when Isibel's beloveds first returned home. |
Author: wildlymagical | Ansharil is lovely and Aianon is lovely and Sarion is lovely and time dilation is lovely. Everything is lovely. Lycaelon is the happiest he's ever been in someone else's company. |
Author: small_magics | It is good that he is happy. Isibel would never wish it otherwise. |
Author: wildlymagical | This is also the first time he has ever been tempted to call anyone 'my love'. But Aianon and Ansharil get such smiles when he does it. |
Author: small_magics | They have lovely smiles, most especially when they are reminded of being loved. |
Author: wildlymagical | Lovely, lovely smiles. And extremely kissable ones. |
Author: small_magics | Aren't they just?
(They make an entirely different class of lovely smiles when they're in pain. If Lycaelon is curious about the full range of their beloved's facial expressions.) |
Author: wildlymagical | Oh, he is. |
Author: endragoned | Their beloveds love them ever so much. |
Author: small_magics | |
Author: wildlymagical | Lycaelon is very willing to experiment with ways to make Aianon and Ansharil smile. |
Author: endragoned | Lycaelon is lovely. |
Author: small_magics | He is! It was very kind of the Wild Magic to send him to her and she is glad she decided to keep him. |
Author: wildlymagical | Lycaelon is glad he decided to be kept. (He pauses in his experiments to hug her. No one minds.) |
Author: small_magics | Hugs! |
Author: wildlymagical | Hugs. Isibel is a good friend and a good co-Bonded. |
Author: small_magics | She is happy to welcome him into the Bond. |
Author: wildlymagical | That is good. He is glad.
And now, back to what he was doing to Aianon. |
Author: small_magics | Oooooh. |
Author: wildlymagical | Yes. |
Author: small_magics | Time passes. (In the tree, not out of it.)
Eventually all celebrations have been celebrated.
"I can tell Jane to call Lazarus to have a look at us now," Isibel says, from where she is lounging across Ansharil's lap. |
Author: wildlymagical | "All right," says Lycaelon, idly spending a square to clothe himself and then snuggling up to Aianon. Mmm, snuggly. |
Author: small_magics | With everyone clothed, Isibel undoes the time dilation, turns her Janegem back on, and speaks to Jane. |
Author: mind_game | [Hey Lazarus, Sarion and company added another person to their Dragonbond and want you to come check it over for effects on the wish you made.] |
Author: nonbird | [Sure,] says Lazarus, teleporting to the local Janepoint. |
Author: mind_game | Jane drops him right in Isibel's tree. |
Author: nonbird | "Hello," says Lazarus. "My goodness, there's a lot of magic going around here. Let's see. The wish seems to be intact - actually, it's almost like your auras are supporting it. That's convenient." |
Author: small_magics | "Very. I was unsure they would cooperate." |
Author: nonbird | "Auras are cooperative. They're very friendly," he says. "To you, not necessarily to anyone else. But if they can do something the convenient way, they will." |
Author: small_magics | "Thank you for checking up on them anyway." |
Author: nonbird | "It's no trouble," he says cheerfully. "You could hardly get someone else to do it. Well, there's Glass, and now I'm apparently sprouting alts from every direction, but I'm the only one of me currently attached to the peal." |
Author: small_magics | "I have not yet checked Thilanushinyel for alts," muses Isibel. "Perhaps I should do so now." |
Author: wildlymagical | "You might as well," says Lycaelon from where he is curled up under Aianon's wing. |
Author: small_magics | Isibel nods. She starts with Lazarus's template, because why not. |
Author: pythbox | Why, there is a local alt of Lazarus!
He is a dragon. An iridescent black dragon. |
Author: small_magics | "You are a dragon," she informs Lazarus, "or rather, your local alt is - but not one I have met - so - he must be one of the eggs I conjured up to bolster the population, some sixteen years ago. There was an egg in that iridescent black color." |
Author: nonbird | "...That is unexpected," says Lazarus. "Is there a local Kolya?" |
Author: small_magics | Isibel checks. |
Author: ignorable | This one's human. |
Author: small_magics | "There is one; he is a human." |
Author: nonbird | "Well, that's all right then," says Lazarus. |
Author: small_magics | "It is strange that a conjured egg should have collected a template. At any rate -" She begins checking for others, beginning with the most common templates known to Bells. She becomes steadily more puzzled as she goes on checking for everyone who's ever attended a Bellparty.
"...All of the dragons whose eggs I conjured up are templates. Your alt; and then a Tony, a Sherlock, an Anna, and a Darcy. There is a Sandy, who is an elf, and a Libby, a Chris, and a Virginia, all human." |
Author: nonbird | "I refuse to believe that's a coincidence," says Lazarus. "Should we get Glass?" |
Author: small_magics | "Quite possibly. It would be good to know how all of these people in the forms we have previously met them - such as yourself - advise introducing things to new members of the templates." |
Author: nonbird | "I... have no idea how to talk to a dragon one of me," says Lazarus, "but I definitely want to, dragons are amazing." |
Author: endragoned | (Ansharil smiles.) |
Author: wildlymagical | (Lycaelon gives him a sappy look.) |
Author: small_magics | (Isibel gives Ansharil a sappy look too.)
"Dragons are no more difficult to talk to than elves are. Perhaps less, for you, because they do not have the elven preoccupation with questions." |
Author: nonbird | "I'm not comparing talking to dragons and talking to elves; I'm comparing talking to myself and talking to an alt who is an entirely different species with an entirely different culture, body plan, and set of magical properties. Talking to myself is much easier," says Lazarus. |
Author: small_magics | "I suppose I could simply go visit the dragons I made, all of them, so as to be able to properly introduce you." |
Author: nonbird | "You could do that." |
Author: small_magics | "It is not clear, though, if you believe it would be a wise choice. Also, perhaps if I am going to visit them all I should also speak with the alts of the other four. Jane, if you please." |
Author: mind_game | [Hey Darcy! Turns out you have an alt in Thilanushinyel! Who's a dragon!] |
Author: sailorheavymetal | [...Seriously?] |
Author: mind_game | [Yup! Sarion conjured up some dragon eggs sixteen years ago to help with the population bottleneck, one of them turned out to be a you. She didn't do it on purpose. They're just all templates for some reason.] |
Author: sailorheavymetal | [Oookay. Well, that's... weird, but kind of cool, I guess. I've never even been to that world. I'm not sure I can pronounce that world. Am I supposed to meet-and-greet with the new me or something?] |
Author: mind_game | [You're supposed to help Sarion figure out how to tell the other you about, you know, things. If that's you showing up, I can tell her that, if that's sending a note on nice stationery, I can tell her that, what do you think?] |
Author: sailorheavymetal | [Dude, I have no idea.] |
Author: mind_game | [Okay. Well, maybe if someone else has an idea for their dragon alt Sarion can just include the Darcy-dragon in the meet-and-greet for them. Let me know if you think of something.]
[Hey Anna, hey Eights! Turns out you guys have an alt in Thilanushinyel who is a dragon!] |
Author: lookingforwardtoit | Both of them answer, almost simultaneously:
[Whoa, really?] |
Author: mind_game | [Yup!] Jane repeats the explanation about the dragon population bottleneck. |
Author: lookingforwardtoit | [That's fascinating,] says Eights.
[That's weird,] says Anna. |
Author: mind_game | [Anyway, Sarion is trying to figure out how to tell all these dragons about stuff and wanted to consult you about your one.] |
Author: lookingforwardtoit | [Not a clue, sorry,] says Anna.
[Yeah, no idea,] says Eights. [There isn't a general How To Tell People Things Guideline already?] |
Author: mind_game | [Well, she can presumably think up something generic if nobody has a better idea. Oh well.]
[Hey Tonies and Sherlocks! There are alts of you both on Thilanushinyel. They're dragons.] Insert explanation of dragon egg thing here. |
Author: pythbox | There is a brief explosion of inter-template conferencing.
When the dust settles, the conclusion is: the Tonies have no idea what to do about a new one of them without any obviously recognizable reference points, and the Sherlocks think that someone with dense information output like Sue or Elspeth should give their dragon alt a crash course. |
Author: mind_game | [Okay!]
[Nobody knows what to do except maybe send Sue or Elspeth to pour a lot of information into the Sherlock dragon,] Jane reports. [Maybe the Sherlock dragon will have an idea what to do with the other four.] |
Author: small_magics | [Is Elspeth available?] |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | She is!
And here she is.
"Should I just appear directly to the Sherlock dragon?" she inquires. |
Author: small_magics | "Let me see -"
Is said Sherlock dragon alone now? |
Author: pythbox | No. She is with the Tony dragon. |
Author: small_magics | Isibel gets Jane to ask the Tonies if they think their dragon alt would be alarmed by Elspeth appearing to talk to the Sherlocks' dragon alt. |
Author: pythbox | The Tonies come to a consensus of "Not if Sherlock wasn't."
The Sherlocks come to a consensus of "Try it and see." |
Author: small_magics | "Proceed." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Elspeth nods, and teleports, and gets started.
She's friendly (Isibel sent her) (there is such a lot to say, she's good at saying things) - |
Author: pythbox | The dragons are startled. A startled dragon is quite a sight.
They calm down soon enough, though. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | There are many worlds (that's where Elspeth's from) (that's where Isibel gets all her unheard-of magic) (that's why she's talking to them - worlds have copies of personalities - their alts (alts are this thing (Elspeth is the daughter of an Isibel alt, herself)) thought this would be a good way to summarize things.) Alts are not always the same species (none of theirs are dragons (many worlds don't even have dragons) (Isibel's dragon has alts who aren't dragons, too)) and only usually have similar names. Both of them are common templates, second only to Isibel's, and Isibel's dragon's (and those directly attached to them such as Isibel's parents) (and attached templates aren't always friendly; there is in particular a problematic one attached to Tonies, but Isibel will be happy to take care of him if one here makes himself known, though she does not expect one in this case). |
Author: pythbox | "Whoa," says the patchy red-and-gold dragon.
"Hmm," says the cloudy grey dragon whose scales glitter slightly up close. She arches her neck to peer down at Elspeth. "You're interesting. Do you have magic that makes you particularly believable?" |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Yes. It expanded into being able to communicate very rapidly. It only works on true things." |
Author: pythbox | "I only have your word for that," the grey dragon points out reasonably. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "You would only have anyone else's word on it, too, if I brought them in to corroborate me," Elspeth points out. "Whose word on it would you like?" |
Author: pythbox | She thinks about it, curling her long scaly tail around herself where she sits.
Then she says, "Isibel Sarion. And Kareta's son." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Elspeth tilts her head, and calls up Sarion, and also Liselen: [Liselen, Sherlock-dragon doesn't buy it that I can only say true things, can you come confirm for her?] |
Author: small_magics | Isibel appears.
"Hello. I can confirm that Elspeth's magic does not cooperate with her on the vanishingly infrequent occasions she utters falsehoods." |
Author: pythbox | "Thank you," says the glittery grey dragon.
Liselen appears.
"Hi!" he says. "Elspeth is unicorn-approved, promise." He prances up beside her and leans his shoulder on her a little.
"All right, I'm convinced," the grey dragon admits.
"Sherial," the other one exclaims, "you just made important people come here and tell us things! Why did you do that?"
"Well, presumably, if this person is here telling us things - " she points a single large claw at Elspeth " - then they're important things and it matters whether or not we believe them. And if she was here telling us nonsensical lies, I'd think the Bonded and the unicorns should be the first people to know, wouldn't you?"
"I guess," says the red-gold dragon. |
Author: small_magics | "I do not mind in the least," laughs Isibel. "I have some responsibility for you, after all, and your alts are friends of my friends. I would have come to speak to you myself if it were not more efficient for Elspeth to do so. I would have your advice on approaching the other three from your - batch, as their alts did not have particular advice." |
Author: pythbox | Sherial nudges the red-gold dragon with her foot. "Go find Elasirae," she says. "Tell him there's something interesting and he should come here."
"Okay," says the red-gold dragon, and she takes off. |
Author: small_magics | "Thank you." She sneaks a quick glance at Elasirae to confirm that the name matches the dragon she guesses - "His alt is already in this world, if it would be useful to have him present." |
Author: pythbox | "He might as well come here too," says Sherial. "Is he very enthusiastic about magic? They can be enthusiastic about magic together." |
Author: small_magics | "He is in fact very enthusiastic about magic."
[Sherial invites you to come here, where your alt will soon appear.] |
Author: nonbird | Lazarus appears.
He looks up at Sherial. |
Author: pythbox | Sherial looks down at him.
"You don't look very much like Elasirae at all," she observes. |
Author: nonbird | "Are you sure? Maybe you should wait until he shows up and you can compare us," Lazarus says dryly. |
Author: pythbox | "But you do talk very much like Elasirae," says Sherial, giggling. |
Author: small_magics | "One of my alts can see things about the sort of causality that produces alts. I can invite her here to confirm, and will probably do this sooner or later anyway." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "But the template sweep will have been perfectly accurate, so all she will be able to add is fine detail." |
Author: pythbox | "What kind of fine detail?" says Sherial. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "What template attractors you do and don't have, and any other ambient metacausality. She is better at it when she can compare things directly against each other - you with other Sherlocks, for example." |
Author: pythbox | "Will you be inviting more Sherlocks here, then?" she asks. |
Author: small_magics | "They are certainly welcome. Although none asked particularly to come when Jane inquired of them how best to introduce you to the news. If nothing else, there will in some days be a large party of my alts and our friends, including all of the Sherlocks who care to appear." |
Author: pythbox | "I've never been to a party before," says Sherial. "Dragons don't really have them. I don't think there are enough of us. And we don't easily all fit in the same place at once." |
Author: small_magics | "A sufficiently large place can be made," Isibel assures her. "Although perhaps this eventuality will make Amariah reconsider her offer to host in her new palace, which I do not believe was created with a population of dragon guests in mind." |
Author: pythbox | "If you say so," says Sherial, tapping her tail idly against the ground with a considerable thump. "Elasirae must be off somewhere. I'm less sure what to do about Sidanar and Arianna. Maybe Tianthonet will think of something; she knows them better." |
Author: small_magics | Isibel quickly checks the names against her pastwatching: Sidanar is the Darcy, Arianna the Anna. "Perhaps." |
Author: pythbox | "I'm going to guess that Amariah is one of your alts," Sherial adds. "That thing you do is magnificently useful, Elspeth." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Thanks!" |
Author: small_magics | "Amariah is one of my alts, yes. There are sixteen of us in total." |
Author: pythbox | "That's a lot," says Sherial. "You can tell me more things about them while we wait for the others if you want." |
Author: small_magics | Isibel laughs softly. "I can - I also do not mind being asked questions, which helps with interacting with my alts, none of whom are elves. They are mostly humans, although Amariah and Angela and Golden would not call themselves so." |
Author: pythbox | "What would they call themselves instead?" |
Author: small_magics | "Amariah is a witch, Angela an angel, and Golden a vampire. Whether these things are species in their own right is an ambiguous matter, as all three sorts of people are normally interfertile only with humans." |
Author: pythbox | "That's interesting," says Sherial. "Are there any apart from you who aren't human or not-quite-human like that?" |
Author: small_magics | "Not of my own template - unless one counts a newly located one's ability to turn into a swan and back, but it was a magically acquired power, not an intrinsic feature." |
Author: pythbox | "And if she's human the rest of the time, that still counts," says Sherial. "None of my alts are dragons, right? Maybe this world is just strange. Are most people here different species than everyone else of them?" |
Author: small_magics | "None of your alts are dragons. Most worlds do not have dragons; there is one other world that has, but they are very different, and we do not know any of them to be templates of any kind. Humans are overwhelmingly common for all of the templates we have found, with exceptions like you and me, here and there. It is the same with elves. Some templates here that I have just discovered," (this description is intended to include Lycaelon, who she only recently discovered to be a template, though it was years ago she discovered him at all) "are human, like their alts, but I, the five of you, my beloveds, and another recently-discovered template who is an elf do not match." |
Author: pythbox | "Very interesting," says Sherial. "I want to meet my alts and see their worlds!" |
Author: small_magics | "I can invite the other Sherlocks here right now, if you wish, but they will all be at the party in a few days either way. Visiting their worlds would be somewhat more problematic, as you would be highly conspicuous, but perhaps you can work that out with them." |
Author: pythbox | "I'm not that conspicuous," she says. "For a dragon I'm positively stealthy. But I guess in a world that doesn't have dragons, that wouldn't be much help." |
Author: small_magics | "Indeed it would not. You would need to be invisible, avoid leaving footprints or making inexplicable sound - I suppose you could change shape if desired." |
Author: pythbox | "I don't desire to change shape," she says, arching her glittery grey neck. |
Author: small_magics | "Then you will find your travel accordingly constrained. There are a few worlds where magic and so on are generally known, and there you could appear undisguised and receive only peculiar looks." |
Author: pythbox | "I wouldn't mind being imperceptible," she says thoughtfully. |
Author: small_magics | "That is also possible." |
Author: pythbox | "Which worlds are the ones where magic is known? What's it like where it isn't?" |
Author: small_magics | "There are as many ways for magic to be known or hidden as there are worlds. For example, on Angela's world Samaria, only a handful of people know that magic of any kind exists at all. The world has none of its own, and she has not told more than a few family members and friends about the sort she has brought in from elsewhere. In Glass's world Chronicle - this is the only other world with elves or dragons - there is no particular secret about magic existing; the local sort is abundant and varied and Glass has no reason to be secretive about the exotic varieties. In Pattern's world Origin there is no native magic, but she has been using foreign kinds for more than a decade and a half. While most people do not know how it works or where it comes from, and she might not like to explain you if you asked to visit because people would think she had made you instead of realizing that you could have come from somewhere else, she performs useful workings openly. In Rêverie, enchanting - what I have mostly done, if you have heard much of how I spend my time - is the native sort of magic, but few people knew about it until my alt there, Rose, began using it on a grand scale; other kinds are not common knowledge, but nor are they secret, and so you would be puzzling but not alarming to a typical resident." |
Author: pythbox | "Elasirae will want to visit some of these worlds," Sherial predicts. "And learn all about their magics. He'd probably even change his shape for it." |
Author: small_magics | "I am not surprised." |
Author: pythbox | "I wonder if he'd decide to look like you, or like something else?" Sherial wonders, studying Lazarus. "Do alts of the same species always look the same?" |
Author: nonbird | "Looking like me would at least be a reasonable default," says Lazarus. "I'm not actually sure about alts - I know there's a little variance at least, but I don't know how much we've seen so far or how much we can expect in the future." |
Author: small_magics | "We can present this curiosity to Glass, when she arrives. But we do learn that things previously invariant are not so on a regular basis and she is not always equipped to provide advance notice without examples to look at. For instance, I expressly wished that the five dragons I conjured up be unrelated to each other and the existing dragons, yet in all other cases where Tonies and Sherlocks have existed in pairs, they are genetically identical." |
Author: pythbox | "That is interesting," says Sherial. "I wonder if Tianthonet got distracted. She does that sometimes. Not usually when it's important." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Should we brainphone her?" (Brainphoning is this thing -) |
Author: pythbox | "I'd better do it if anyone does," says Sherial, curling her tail around her forefeet. "Otherwise she might be needlessly alarmed." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Elspeth adds the relevant parties to the brainphone network and makes it clear to Sherial that she has done so. |
Author: pythbox | Sherial gazes thoughtfully into the distance. |
Author: small_magics | Her visitors wait. |
Author: pythbox |
She snorts.
"Tianthonet," she says, "has chosen this of all moments to find her first Bonded. Impeccable timing as always." |
Author: small_magics |
"There are," says Isibel, "some non-dragon templates who I recently discovered, also." |
Author: pythbox | "...Go on," says Sherial. |
Author: small_magics | "The names would mean nothing to you as yet, but -" She takes a look at Tianthonet's new Bonded. |
Author: pythbox | Tianthonet's new Bonded is also the local Virginia alt. |
Author: small_magics | "Tianthonet's new bonded is an alt of a template of whom there are two others. They call themselves Virginias." |
Author: pythbox | "And do they normally associate with Tianthonets?" inquires Sherial. |
Author: small_magics | "One of them does. The other is primarily associated with a Libby, although the world does contain a Tony. There is also a Libby here, who is human, but we have been addressing the dragon alts first." |
Author: pythbox | "Tianthonet finding her Bonded just now, who just happens to be of a template previously associated with hers, is the kind of coincidence that usually isn't," says Sherial. "Who are all of the other unaddressed templates, and do they come with any existing associations to one of us like that?" |
Author: nonbird | "Well, there's apparently a Kolya," volunteers Lazarus. "They're attached to mes. And vice versa." |
Author: small_magics | "The Libbies have no obvious attachments to any particular other template, although Glass has said they are slightly attracted to your own template even if we haven't routinely seen the combination appear together. I... suppose we could expect Arianna to wind up attached to the elf of Sandy. There is no one obviously lying in wait for Sidanar." |
Author: pythbox | "'Sandy' is a template attached to Arianna's?" asks Sherial. |
Author: small_magics | "Yes, they've appeared together three times now and never separately." |
Author: pythbox | "Perhaps," says Sherial, "we should tell all of these people about their potential attachments." |
Author: small_magics | "Quite possibly. I am an advocate of thoughtful Bonding. I hope Tianthonet and her new Bonded are adjusting comfortably." |
Author: pythbox | "She isn't very talkative at the moment." |
Author: small_magics | "I suppose not. Perhaps Arianna and Sidanar and Elasirae would be alarmed if summoned by brainphone and I should fetch them in person, but you would know better than I." |
Author: pythbox | "I don't think Elasirae would be likely to mind, but he'd get distracted by wanting to know what you were doing and how you were doing it and where it came from. I'm less sure about the other two," says Sherial. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "I'll see if he's in range of my witchcraft, then. That'll be faster."
Elasirae? (And: now he's on the brainphone this is how it works this is where it is from this is who she is this is where she is and who she's with and why.) |
Author: pythbox |
[My goodness,] says Elasirae. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | And she could teleport him in to join the conversation, if he would not like to risk unexpected Bonding without thinking about it first! |
Author: pythbox | [That would be extremely convenient,] he says, [thank you.] |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Pop, pop. "You're welcome." |
Author: pythbox | "Oh, hello, Sherial."
"Hello, Elasirae," she says. "I sent Tianthonet to get you, but she got Bonded instead." She points a claw delicately at the tall beaky human. "This is Lazarus. He is one of you from another world." |
Author: nonbird | "Hello," says Lazarus, waving at the iridescent black dragon. |
Author: pythbox | Elasirae peers down at him.
"You're very small," he says. "Well, not proportionally." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Elspeth laughs. "He's taller than most humans," she offers. |
Author: small_magics | Isibel giggles. |
Author: pythbox | "Yes," says Elasirae, "but, inarguably, shorter than most dragons." |
Author: small_magics | "That is true." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "I think it's probably time to get Glass. Jane, will you please get us Glass?" |
Author: thaumobabble | Glass is got!
Glass blinks at the dragons present. "That's interesting. Oh, no wonder about Helen..." |
Author: small_magics | "Helen is not a dragon," says Sarion. |
Author: thaumobabble | "No, I mean - if you conjure people up out of nowhere, and you aren't specific, apparently you're overwhelmingly likely to get templates." |
Author: nonbird | "That's... bizarre but not entirely surprising," says Lazarus. "It makes a kind of sense. As much as metacausality ever does." |
Author: pythbox | "What," says Elasirae in tones of fascination, "is metacausality?" |
Author: thaumobabble | "We don't really know, but I can see it," says Glass, continuing to peer at the dragons. "I can tell by looking what template someone is, some things about what that means for their personal characteristics, and how templatey they are - Bells and Jokers are the templatiest, but Sherlocks aren't far behind - and things about how their template attractors have interacted with their worlds, and about the worlds themselves, and about how templates are sometimes inclined to appear together." |
Author: pythbox | "That's bizarre," says Elasirae, with a thoughtful glance at Lazarus when he realizes he echoed the phrase. "How did it come about that you can tell all those things?" |
Author: thaumobabble | "It's my enchantress aura. If you do a lot of enchanting you get one, with unique features - that's one of mine. I can also see magic, though I'm not as good at interpreting it as Lazarus is." |
Author: pythbox | "I want to see magic too," Elasirae declares. |
Author: thaumobabble | "Well, you could maybe approximate it with a wish, and maybe you'd get lucky if you tried enchanting, but native powers like Lazarus's are generally better than acquired powers." |
Author: pythbox | Elasirae hmphs.
Unsurprisingly given the size of his nose, there is a very noticeable puff of air. |
Author: thaumobabble | Glass's witchy robes flutter. "Sorry," she says. "Fortunately, though, the fact that we're all connected up again means that the local coin supply isn't nearly as bottlenecked as it was a couple weeks ago." |
Author: small_magics | "I see no reason not to offer you as good a copy of your alt's power as a hexagon can supply, if you would like." |
Author: pythbox | "I would very like," says Elasirae. |
Author: small_magics | Hex. |
Author: pythbox | "...Oooh."
He peers fascinatedly at everyone.
Sherial ducks her nose under her wing and giggles. |
Author: thaumobabble | Glass pulls her marble out from under her shirt. |
Author: pythbox | Elasirae snakes his neck down to get a closer look. |
Author: thaumobabble | Glass laughs. |
Author: small_magics | "At any time," Sarion remarks, mostly to Sherial, "Elspeth could collect Arianna and Sidanar in the same way." |
Author: pythbox | "I'm not sure how they'd react," says Sherial. "Although I suppose most people aren't going to be suspicious of Elspeth the first time they see her..." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Most people are not!" |
Author: pythbox | "Are most of me?" she wonders. "I'd think they would be. But maybe they mostly meet you already vouched for by someone they trust." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "You're the first of your template to have met me for the first time out of a corroborating context, yes." |
Author: pythbox | "If it happens again," says Sherial, "expect them to have doubts." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "All right. I can still go get Sidanar and Arianna, if it's time to go talk to them. And warn the latter that she may have a Bondable elf wandering around." |
Author: pythbox | Sherial shrugs, resettling her glittery grey wings. "I won't stop you." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Elspeth laughs.
Arianna? |
Author: pythbox | [What,] says Arianna. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | (alts and visitors and likely-Bondable and the offer of teleportation...) |
Author: pythbox | [I'm not confused but I feel like I should be confused,] says Arianna. [I'm confusingly unconfused. Yes, okay, you can teleport me.] |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Pop pop! |
Author: small_magics | "Hello, Arianna." |
Author: pythbox | "Hello," says Arianna. "There's a lot of, of... I guess you're not Bonded, not all of you... a lot of not dragons here. I'm afraid I might sit on someone." |
Author: small_magics | Isibel hovers a bit closer to dragon eye level. "Perhaps this will help." |
Author: thaumobabble | Glass follows suit. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Elspeth could fly, but declines in favor of climbing up a nearby tree. |
Author: nonbird | "I'm certified unsquashable," Lazarus volunteers, "but still not keen to be sat on, I must admit."
He climbs on top of a large rock, which puts him still somewhat lower than dragon eye level but at least farther from anywhere Arianna might reasonably decide to sit. |
Author: pythbox | "How," wonders Arianna, "do you get certified unsquashable?" |
Author: nonbird | "You get acquainted with a very huggy person whose hugs can squash granite," says Lazarus, "and then magic." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Magic is really useful!" |
Author: pythbox | Arianna snorts. |
Author: thaumobabble | "Elasirae just got a little bit, is there anything you want while we're here?" |
Author: pythbox | She cranes her head around rapidly to stare at Elasirae.
"Well, it's not our magic," he says, with a shrug that ripples his iridescent black wings. "Of course it doesn't not want to work for dragons; dragons mostly don't exist where it's from."
"Do I want magic," scoffs Arianna. "Of course I want magic! Dragons are the most magic thing in the world but we don't get to keep any of it, it's supremely unfair." She digs her glossy white claws into the ground. |
Author: thaumobabble | "Okay, but you might have to be a little more specific. Although I guess I could just mint you, you have an alt who's a mint - Elsie, if you would? -" |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | (Minting is this thing!) |
Author: pythbox | Arianna grins. A dragon's grin can be somewhat alarming.
"You should definitely mint me." |
Author: small_magics | "I have some little hesitation on the matter - it is inconvenient to undo and in the right person affords considerable power. Your minted alt is in the employ of one of mine, but I do not know your own plans." |
Author: pythbox | "What plans?" says Arianna. "I'm a dragon. I'm going to... dragon." |
Author: small_magics | "Presumably, you will dragon, yes," says Sarion. "The fact that you have a likely potential Bonded wandering about also warrants some caution. One of him works alongside your aforementioned alt and is reasonably harmless. Another has a list of crimes that would be longer than you are even if it were written in fine print. I do not know which sort the local is." |
Author: pythbox | Arianna snorts. "Go bother him about his plans, then. I want minting."
She bounces a little on her four taloned feet. The ground only trembles very slightly. |
Author: thaumobabble | "Your templates are pretty thoroughly paired," Glass says. "If you're saying you can just avoid him, that's going to take more work than it would if he were just some guy, and I'm not sure if it would work anyway even if we wish up a bubble enforcing sufficient distance. Template attractors have produced ridiculous improbabilities before. One person we know spontaneously developed the tendency to uncontrollably teleport between worlds specifically because his template requires its constituents to undergo more suffering than he was going to get where he was from." |
Author: pythbox | "...So you're saying I'm just going to Bond to this guy, and there's nothing I can do about it?" says Arianna, peering suspiciously at Glass. "In that case, definitely go bother him! Bother him right away!" |
Author: thaumobabble | "I can't guarantee you are, I just can't promise to keep him out of the way as effectively as I could promise to keep..." She points at a random rock. "That rock, out of the way. Elspeth?" |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Elspeth laughs and teleports to the Sandy-elf. |
Author: thinklikethis | The Sandy-elf is sitting on a tree stump with a small piece of wood and a tiny knife, carving something. He doesn't seem to notice Elspeth's arrival at all. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Elspeth has lots of little tricks. Rather than say something and startle him, she just...
Advertises her presence. |
Author: thinklikethis | Intent on his carving, he still doesn't acknowledge her presence. A long thin curl of wood comes away from the piece; he inhales, flicks the shaving off onto the ground, exhales, studies the result, and looks up.
"...Um," he says, blinking, and continues hesitantly: "I See you." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Elspeth grins. "I See you too." (This is who she is and why she's here -) |
Author: thinklikethis |
The elf stares. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Elspeth tucks some of her hair behind her ear and smiles. |
Author: thinklikethis | He eyes her rather as though he is afraid she might eat him. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "I won't hurt you." |
Author: thinklikethis | "That... makes good hearing," he says cautiously. "Um. My name is Sandalon." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "And you already know who I am," replies Elspeth. |
Author: thinklikethis | Which apparently leaves him at something of a conversational loss. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "I can just go try telling Sarion that you won't mess up her world if given the chance, and see if it comes out all sparkly-true," says Elspeth, "but that's more likely to produce conclusive results if you give me some information to work with. I can only produce sourceless truth on an unreliable basis." |
Author: thinklikethis | "Um," says Sandalon. "I... don't know what to tell you." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Elspeth taps her chin. "Not asking elves questions is hard," she comments. |
Author: thinklikethis | "It comes easier with practice," he murmurs. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Probably. I haven't had much. Isibel doesn't mind being asked questions and she doesn't bring any of her elf friends to parties." |
Author: thinklikethis | "I have never," he says, "met Isibel Sarion." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Well, people are allowed to ask her questions. And she has interesting friends from other worlds. And she considers this entire world to be her responsibility and she will be embarrassed in front of all her interesting otherworldly friends if one of its population acquires a minted dragon and does anything destructive to or with her before she can put a stop to it." |
Author: thinklikethis | "I do not want a dragon, in mint or any other flavour," Sandalon says plaintively. "I want to live by myself and make beautiful things and not be especially remembered by history." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "She doesn't seem to want you very much, either, and we aren't positive that you'd Bond if you met anyway, but we've seen copies of you three times before and copies of her three times before and they always show up together." |
Author: thinklikethis | "Then—if it is a matter of fate—" He bites his lip, then bursts out, "It would be good to know of your courtesy what you expect me to do about any of it!" |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "I'm here to learn enough to have a better chance of saying accurately whether it'll be okay or not," says Elspeth. "If you don't have any idea then you can't tell me, I suppose, maybe Sarion will just have to disappoint the dragon." She hmmms. "I could," she says, "invite one of you here in case that would be any help." |
Author: thinklikethis | "...I don't think I want to meet a one of me who is—unsuitable for dragons," Sandalon says quickly. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "No, the one I'd invite is the one who works for Sarion's alt," says Elspeth, shaking her head. |
Author: thinklikethis | "Well... that might be all right," he says cautiously. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Okay." Elspeth taps her Janegem. |
Author: mind_game | [Hey Sandy! Elspeth is trying to talk to an elf of you! She is having trouble and wants help. She can explain the details way faster than I can if you want me to just drop you there.] |
Author: guiltless | [Uh... sure!] says Sandy. |
Author: mind_game | Yoink! |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Sandy, this is Sandalon. Sandalon, Sandy, your alt from Eos."
(And this is what has passed between them so far, and there is Arianna who is an Anna and a dragon of Ansharil's kind, and maybe they won't Bond but it sure seems likely, and she wants minting, and there's Sandy, but then again there's Chainsaw, and then there's the one who's Chelsa's pet -) |
Author: thinklikethis | Sandalon peers at the new arrival.
"You're a human," he says, surprised. "I mean—I See you, Sandy. Um. It would be good... to... hear what you might have to say." |
Author: guiltless | "...I think I at least know what the problem is," says Sandy, studying Sandalon. "And it's... hmm. Probably not as much of a problem as you think." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "What is it?" Elspeth asks Sandy. (And to Sandalon she flicks the knowledge that humans are just everywhere; Sandalon's species, like her own, is confined to a single world, though variants on their themes can be found in a handful of others.) |
Author: guiltless | "...So our entire template is sadists," says Sandy, "I mean, as far as I know, I haven't personally met the one in Gift or anything, but we're not necessarily bad sadists. Chainsaw is only Chainsaw because of Downside, and if you read between the lines with what Eights says about him he's pretty much settled right down, he just can't admit it because he spent so long needing to be the scariest asshole around that it's probably going to take him a few centuries to shift gears." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "We're not supposed to go near the Gift one because he's telekinetic and a Gift could cut through wished defenses like butter," says Elspeth, "and he's not supposed to know about multiversal stuff because he's still with Chelsa." |
Author: guiltless | Sandy snorts.
"Anyway, though, if I didn't have my very own special circumstances I'd probably be pretty worried about myself. I've been pretty worried about myself a time or two. But there is ultimately not that much to worry about." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Special circumstances?" |
Author: guiltless | "My ingot power is that I go to this place in my dreams with a bunch of... kind of distilled versions of me in it? And I have for a really long time, so I'm used to them by now, and I've figured out that they're ultimately pretty harmless if you take them on their own terms and therefore so am I. It, uh, took a lot more figuring than it sounds like." |
Author: thinklikethis | Sandalon is listening in utter fascination. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Huh. So your opinion is it's safe to mint Arianna and let Bonding happen or not, whichever?" |
Author: guiltless | "Yep," says Sandy. "And, you know, don't then turn around and drop the guy into a basically literal Hell where the only obvious career paths are torturer and tortur-ee. But like. I don't think you're going to do that anyway." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Not on anybody's agenda," agrees Elspeth. |
Author: guiltless | Sandy shrugs. "So there you go, that's my advice." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "All right. Do you want Jane to drop you back in Eos before I go pass that along, or not?" |
Author: guiltless | "Yeah, might as well. Nice meeting you," he says to Sandalon. |
Author: thinklikethis | "...And you as well," Sandalon manages. |
Author: mind_game | And yoink. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "If there's anything else Arianna or Isibel should hear, now would be a good time to tell me," Elspeth tells Sandalon. |
Author: thinklikethis | "Um... I don't want to bother a dragon," says Sandalon. "And I don't want to be famous or do spectacular magic or anything. But... if the dragon would like to meet me... I don't think I would mind." He ducks his head. "That's all." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Okay. Bye."
And Elspeth goes back to the group and relates what went on. |
Author: pythbox | "Really," says Arianna. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Elspeth bursts out laughing. |
Author: pythbox | "What?" she says indignantly. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "It's just cute." |
Author: thaumobabble | "I can confirm that I haven't, actually, seen a perform-unspeakable-acts attractor stuck to Chainsaw, let alone Sandy. I can go have a look at Sandalon, I guess." |
Author: small_magics | "If you wouldn't mind." |
Author: thaumobabble | Pop. "Hi, Sandalon, I'm one of Isibel's alts, looking over your template features, don't mind me." |
Author: thinklikethis |
After one deeply curious glance, he appears to take this elven-literally, and commences ignoring her in favour of his neglected carving. |
Author: thaumobabble | Glass inspects him, then pops away again.
"Yeah, nothing spooked me there." |
Author: small_magics | "Very well. I suppose we may as well grant Arianna her wish." |
Author: pythbox | Arianna bounces again, gleefully. |
Author: small_magics | And Arianna's wish is granted. Presumably to the fascination of Elasirae, who hasn't seen this done before. |
Author: pythbox | Elasirae is duly fascinated!
Arianna giggles and leaps into the air, calling back "Thank yoooooooooooooou~" as she flies away. |
Author: small_magics | "I suppose Sidanar is next." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Sidanar gets the same long-distance Elspeth introduction that the others did. |
Author: pythbox | "Pity her best friend just flew away cackling," Elasirae observes.
Sidanar, meanwhile, reacts to this introduction with stunned silence. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Elspeth can fetch her, if desired... |
Author: pythbox | [...okay,] she says, still sounding generally lost. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Pop, pop. |
Author: thaumobabble | "Yep," says Glass, "that's a Darcy. Should we ask the previously encountered Darcy here or would that even accomplish anything?" |
Author: pythbox | "What's a Darcy?" says Sidanar, settling onto the ground with a nervous glance to make sure she isn't squashing anyone.
She is definitely the most visually impressive of the five conjured dragons. Tianthonet's symmetrical patchy red-and-gold is striking, Arianna's asymmetrical swirling red-and-white is fascinating, but Sidanar's scales are a deep midnight blue with a pattern of branching white lines that look like lightning. |
Author: thaumobabble | "A template, apparently, although you're the second one we've encountered. Like me and Sarion are the same template, there's another person from another world who's like you. Only she's a human. And named Darcy." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "She has a magic hammer," says Elspeth, "with which she does heroism." |
Author: pythbox | "What's magic about it, specifically?" Sidanar wonders. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "You can't pick it up if it doesn't like you," says Elspeth, "and it does lightning, that's all I know, it might do other things." |
Author: pythbox | Sidanar glances speculatively at her own scales. "Huh." |
Author: thaumobabble | "Yeah, that's a template theme," laughs Glass. |
Author: pythbox | "Apparently so," says Sidanar.
"Is it the same way for the rest of us?" wonders Sherial, glancing between Lazarus and Elasirae as though trying to identify any visual similarities she might have missed. |
Author: thaumobabble | "Yes," says Glass, after a moment's thought. "Iridescent black is a Lazarus thing - not for this Lazarus, particularly, but for Lazaruses in general - red-and-gold and red-and-white and various forms of gray are things for the respective other templates." |
Author: pythbox | "Hmm," says Sherial. The very end of her tail taps thoughtfully against the ground. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Do you want to meet Darcy now, or should it wait until the next peal party?" Elspeth inquires of Sidanar. |
Author: pythbox | Sidanar glances at the other two dragons.
"...Yeah, I can wait," she decides. "I mean, it's not an emergency, right, the world will go on perfectly well without me meeting my tiny human self and probably stepping on her because that's just my luck?"
"I haven't stepped on mine!" Elasirae says proudly. |
Author: small_magics | "I begin to develop the impression that I brought hazardous person-squashing dragons into the world and should have been more careful with my wish," remarks Sarion lightly. "Surely it would not be so concerning if it were not at least an occasional occurrence." |
Author: pythbox | "It's not that," says Sidanar, "it's just..." She shrugs, wings rippling.
"It is not that it has ever happened," says Sherial, "it is just that none of us has very much experience with people of your stature, and it is a natural worry given that lack. Also I imagine it is unsettling to be teleported directly into the midst of an unprecedentedly large number of small fragile people."
"Yes," says Sidanar, "that." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "We are not as fragile as we look." |
Author: pythbox | "You're still small," says Sidanar, "and it still wouldn't be polite to step on you." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Anyway," says Elspeth. "There's still a Kolya and a Libby to talk to, although I probably shouldn't fetch them here unless more possible Bondings are intended for today. Should I do that now, or do you have questions, Sidanar?" |
Author: pythbox | "I don't think I have questions," she says. |
Author: nonbird | "...I'm not sure you should talk to the Kolya," says Lazarus. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Why not?" |
Author: nonbird | "Well, I know that if there were hypothetical strangers from another world considering whether or not to contact the Kolya I am most familiar with, he would much rather they went away without bothering him." |
Author: thaumobabble | "This in spite of the fact that this one has a dragon probably ready to dragon-thing at him if they get within eyeshot of each other? He wouldn't want a heads-up?" |
Author: nonbird | "I don't know this Kolya," says Lazarus. "But I know a Kolya. And I don't think he or I could honestly tell you which one he would prefer. But we'd both be absolutely sure he won't thank you for showing up out of nowhere to tell him things." |
Author: thaumobabble | "Okay... Elasirae, what do you think about the likely-Bondable human wandering around, do you want us to see if we can enforce some space while you think about it, leave it up to metacausality, what do you prefer?" |
Author: pythbox | "Well... I was already going to leave the matter of my future Bonding up to fate and the Wild Magic," he says. "I don't think any of this new knowledge changes that, except that it seems my likely future Bonded and I are already good friends in another world. So I don't think I need to do anything different." |
Author: thaumobabble | "Okay then. Elspeth, you want to go surprise the Libby?" |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Sure."
Pop. (Behind the nearest door. On which she knocks. She has known her Grandma Lizzie long enough to make this guess.) |
Author: neverbeatme | The nearest door happens to be the front door of a small cheerful cottage.
A familiar-looking person opens it. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Hi! I'm Elspeth, your alternate universe granddaughter, and I am here to tell you a lot of things." |
Author: neverbeatme | "...Go on," says the local Libby. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | (This is how the granddaughter thing is, complete with a footnote about vampires in Aurum and Elspeth's princesshood, and how Isibel Sarion figures into it, and how alts work, and also they are about 60% confident that there is a dragon the local Libby could Bond to...) |
Author: neverbeatme | "Is there now," she murmurs. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Yep. We're not as sure with you as we are with a couple others, because the templates aren't that tightly connected - plenty of you and plenty of her appear by yourselves. But there's enough to guess at." |
Author: neverbeatme | "I think I should meet this dragon," she says. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "Lemme see what the dragon thinks of that." Elspeth tilts her head. [Hey Sherial, the Libby wants to meet you.] |
Author: pythbox | [I am reasonably tempted to meet the Libby,] says Sherial. [They're not dangerous, are they?] |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | [Not usually. One of them took over the world with the use of a helper who does relationship-editing mind control, and I am not equipped to defend her if you want to hear that defended.] |
Author: pythbox | [Hmm,] says Sherial.
To Glass, she says, "What can you tell me about Libbies?" |
Author: thaumobabble | "Most of them work for Bells - one of them moved universes to work for a Bell when her existing plans didn't pan out. They make good personnel officers - they're good at reading people, figuring out how to arrange them so they have what they need. They set priorities - actually that's probably why she wants to meet you; if she runs into you when having a dragon enshrined in her priorities would upset something then that will be inconvenient, so she may as well incorporate you now if it's going to happen. The connection between your templates isn't that strong. You can easily spring up alone completely independent of each other, neither of you is 'leading' or 'following' there, but when there's the both of you in a world you'll eventually wind up being important figures to each other - there's a certain set of books you're both attached to, in worlds where the books exist, and the characters in question are enemies but there's none of that necessarily spilling into reality. There is one who took up world conquest with the use of a template Bells do not like, who has the power to make people like or stop liking each other - the Bell in that world has yet to produce her explanation of why she didn't do more about this than she did, but the regime is being phased into something more palatable now they have coins available, anyway." |
Author: pythbox | "Set priorities?" inquires Sherial. |
Author: thaumobabble | "I don't have one in my world even though I have - am married to, actually - a Sherlock," says Glass, "so this is hearsay and a smidgen of looking-at-templates, but it has sounded to me like they organize things - especially people - in their lives as more or less important in a way that's legible to us as opposed to sort of... haphazardly not doing that, the way that, say, Jokers do." |
Author: small_magics | "My beloveds and their alts become aware of opportunities and are or are not moved to take advantage of them on a case by case basis. Libbies, as Bells, seem more systematic." |
Author: pythbox | [I would like to meet her,] says Sherial to Elspeth. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "She says yes. I can teleport you there if you like." |
Author: neverbeatme | "I would definitely like." |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Pop! |
Author: neverbeatme | She looks at her dragon. There are three dragons present, but only one of them is the right one; it's as obvious as the direction of the sun. |
Author: pythbox | Sherial looks back, lifting her wings slightly in an involuntary gesture of fascination. |
Author: thaumobabble | "You're," Glass begins, staring at the Libby, but she falls silent, not wishing to interrupt. |
Author: pythbox | Sherial takes a few steps forward and bends her head to look her imminent Bondmate directly in the eye.
"What's your name?" she murmurs. |
Author: neverbeatme | "Lissa," breathes Lissa, reaching up to put her hands on either side of Sherial's glittery grey jaw. |
Author: pythbox | "I'm Sherial."
They gaze at each other for a moment longer; then Sherial blinks and tucks her wings tightly against her sides. |
Author: neverbeatme | Lissa grins and hugs Sherial around her long snaky neck.
Then she asks Glass, over her shoulder, "I'm what?" |
Author: thaumobabble | "You," accuses Glass, "are shiny. I have seen it once before and I still don't know what it means. You're not as shiny as the other person, though..." |
Author: neverbeatme | She unhugs her Bonded, but keeps a hand on Sherial's neck as she turns to face Glass properly.
"Define 'shiny'." |
Author: thaumobabble | "I can see metacausality - I can tell what template someone is by looking and stuff like that - and there is something about you that I'm seeing, have seen on one other person who wasn't a template from another world, and have no idea what it means. Except that it involves you being attached to this world particularly." |
Author: neverbeatme | "Well, if you figure out anything else about it, do let me know," she says. "Can I have some of that magic you were handing out earlier?" |
Author: thaumobabble | "Minting? Yeah, Libbies are safe to mint and you're definitely also a Libby," says Glass. "Unless Sarion has some objection." |
Author: small_magics | "No, I believe it will be fine." And she spends the hex with a wave of her hand. |
Author: neverbeatme | "Thank you," says Lissa. "And any other magic you feel like giving us would also be appreciated." |
Author: pythbox | Sherial chuckles. |
Author: small_magics | Sarion mints Sherial, too. "Sherial is already torchable; I did that for all of the dragons years ago. I will add you, too." |
Author: neverbeatme | "Thank you," Lissa repeats. She's grinning again. |
Author: small_magics | "You are welcome. And if you are looking for something to do with yourself, the traditional occupation of Libbies stands open." |
Author: neverbeatme | "Personnel officer? Don't mind if I do," she says. "To start with, anyway... I think my ultimate plans are going to end up a little more expansive than that. Oh, while we're at it, would somebody like to make my aunt immortal?" |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | "I can. Should I fill her in on the rest of the goings-on?" |
Author: neverbeatme | "Yeah," says Lissa, "sure, good idea." |
Author: nonbird | Lazarus has been looking fascinated for quite some time now, but he is beginning to direct his fascinated look at Lissa in particular out of all available targets. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Elspeth pops away to deliver summary and torchability to the local Chris. |
Author: thaumobabble | Glass is still peering at Lissa, too. "Well," she says, "Lycaelon was right about not being the usual kind of Wildmage, assuming you are. It looks very differently shaped on you." |
Author: nonbird | "I don't think Lycaelon is necessarily more unusual," says Lazarus. |
Author: thaumobabble | "Are there more unusual kinds of Wildmages?" |
Author: small_magics | "Not that I know of." |
Author: nonbird | "...The closest comparison I can make," Lazarus says slowly, "is that in something like the way people's ingot powers and witchcraft and Gifts suit them, being a Wildmage suits Lissa. That's not quite it. But I can't think of a better analogy." |
Author: thaumobabble | "I can," says Glass, "see why you'd be tempted to describe it that way... I want to look at another Wildmage who doesn't have anything weird going on, is there one I can pop in and peer at? Is Tianthonet's new Bondmate one?" |
Author: pythbox | "Well, she's either a Wildmage or a High Mage," says Sherial, "and Wildmage is likelier." |
Author: thaumobabble | "Do you suppose we can go stare at her without interrupting anything?" |
Author: pythbox | "...I'll ask."
She does.
A moment later, she reports, "Tianthonet and Virgivere say it's all right if you bring them here to look at them." |
Author: thaumobabble | Glass goes and fetches them. "Hi," she says. |
Author: pythbox | "Hi!" says Tianthonet.
"Hello," says Virgivere. |
Author: thaumobabble | And Glass commences peering at Virgivere. |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | (Elspeth catches up the new arrivals on Things.) |
Author: nonbird | "Yes, see?" says Lazarus. He points at Virgivere. "Perfectly ordinary Wildmage." At Lissa. "Not perfectly ordinary. Perfectly something, maybe, but ordinary isn't it." |
Author: thaumobabble | "It's..." Glass flares her aura, and squints. "Hooked into her Libbiness. Somehow." |
Author: nonbird | "I'm not surprised," says Lazarus. "I'm the opposite of surprised." |
Author: neverbeatme | "And to think," says Lissa, "before today I wasn't aware I had a Libbiness to hook into." |
Author: thaumobabble | Glass laughs. "I have no idea what it's doing with your magic exactly, but it's sure something. And the - shininess - is related too, I think." |
Author: neverbeatme | "Shiny Libbiness." |
Author: pythbox | Sherial giggles. |
Author: thaumobabble | "Yes," says Glass, "shiny Thilanushinyel-themed Wild-Magic-related Libbiness. My power is kind of frustrating sometimes. Elspeth, do you have anything?" |
Author: her_imperial_radiance | Elspeth opens her mouth and waits a moment, then shakes her head. "No pronouncements today, sorry." |
Author: pythbox | "Oh, well," says Sherial. "If that's everything, my Bonded and I have some magic to go and do." |
Author: small_magics | "I confess to some curiosity." |
Author: neverbeatme | "No specific plans just yet," says Lissa. "I think I'll cast a scrying spell and see what the Wild Magic wants to tell me today."
She climbs up onto Sherial's back. |
Author: thaumobabble | "I confess to large amounts of curiosity about that," says Glass. "You can brainphone Jane and she can tell me even after I've gone home to tell my wives about their dragon alts." |
Author: neverbeatme | "I might," Lissa says cheerfully. "I can't promise anything. Some visions are private." |
Author: thaumobabble | "Sure," agrees Glass. |
Author: small_magics | "It has been good to meet you." |
Author: neverbeatme | "Likewise!" says Lissa.
And she leans forward and hugs Sherial around her neck again, and Sherial takes off. |