22 Lage 4385: Scrolling Through
Jun. 28th, 2010 07:38 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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delight_in_wtVoid-Dancer and I sat and ate and I explained to him about the scroll and the extradimensional nonprimes and the Khtsoyis writing me from 4258 (!) and Sythyrs and everything else.
"I'm not an enchanter, Delight-in-Justice. If you want to know what your enchantment does, why don't you take it to one of your enchanter acquaintances? Or look at it yourself? For pity's sake, you made it. How can even you make an enchantment and not know what it does?"
I spread my hands wide. "I don't know? I think "Here" wanted it to do stuff I hadn't thought of and that's why the consecration went soooo well remember?"
Voidsy stared at his plate, eyes narrowed. "I remember."
"Exactly! So I wanted you to see it. Besides, aren't you the least bit curious how it came out? After all that?" I waved the scroll case tantalizingly before him.
He favored me with a droll look. I waggled the scroll case back and forth. Void-Dancer held out his hand. "Just give it to me."
He scrutinized it with magic sense as he tapped the case once and removed the scroll to get my letters. Then he put the scroll back in and tapped twice to get Boomsy's (still nothing on it but I only sent it to him two days ago). Then three times to get![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
sythyry's.
Then four times.
The scroll showed the journal of a Sleeth namedmharreff, who'd been writing back in 4260. "Hey! That's just two years after the Khtsoyis who wrote in my journal!" I said. "I wonder if he'll respond if I talk to him, too?"
Void-Dancer made a noncommital noise and put the scroll back before I tried it. "That friend of yours -- Terrycloth, was it? -- who suggested Kaimiri would take it amiss if information was passed to the past? He raised an excellent point. I do not think any harm would come from idle chatter, but kindly do not attempt to tell the future to anyone." Five taps took us to a Cani named Sinuuf (calamitous_cani) who didn't date his entries. He was a Mentador mage! Eep!
Six taps:stickseed_doom, a Herethroy adventurer also writing in 4260. "Is there something significant about that time period, do you think, Voidsy?" I asked.
Instead of answering, he put the scroll back into the case and tapped seven times.
That one was different. Instead of having just one person writing in it, it had several different sapients. One of them, it looked likesiege, was writing about how lots of people on their branch were going to die and maybe the branch was going to be destroyed by angry Airador/Aquador/Pyrador elementals all working together. Unless the sapients developed machines to stop them. Maybe? It had a lot of words I didn't understand. Anyway if that's your world Siege I'm really really sorry!
There were a whoooole lot more entries by this sort of Sleethish-person,ysabetwordsmith that were much less alarming. She has lots and lots of books! And she said there's going to be a Lunar Eclipse tomorrow which there isn't so I'm pretty sure she's extradimensional.
And my own letters to Boomsy were there too! And I know I didn't put them there among these other people's writings. "So how did they get here?"
"You tell me," Void-Dancer said. "It's your enchantment." He put it back and tapped eight times. That gottuftears, who wrote about cursed dice and cooking and getting the little pictures of himself drawn. He cooked with foods I didn't recognize, like "reduced-fat Swiss cheese" and "whole wheat hot dog buns". Are those just one ingrediant or several? It's like the individual words make sense but all together -- what?
Nine taps wasterrycloth, who had just ... um ... it sounds like he'd used some HORRIBLE Mentador magic on himself that had overwhelmed him so much with a sensation of pleasure that he'd done nothing but bask in it while his friends were killed and raped. D: Seven staring gods! That one was very confusing too and Void-Dancer didn't want to wait while I tried to figure out what had actually happened. Maybe I misunderstood it? I hope I misunderstood it. If I didn't misunderstand it I'm really sorry about you too Terrycloth!
"If these aren't extra-dimensional entities, they're certainly very ... creative," Void-dancer said.
"Wait you think they might not be from other dimensions?"
"The possiblity that they are locals -- perhaps even Boomstarter Sevenclubdrummer himself -- playing some kind of prank on you had crossed my mind." He went to 10 taps, which hadalex_muridae complaining about some kind of entertainment (a play maybe?) he hadn't liked because the natural philosophy in it didn't make sense. It didn't make sense to me either. Even the explanation of why it didn't make sense didn't make sense. "I will grant that all this seems far too extensive for a mere prank, however. More conclusively, the spell on your scroll is reaching across dimensional boundaries."
"Ohh! You can tell that? I knew you were the right person to look at it!"
He very nearly smiled at that. Smirked a little at least. He went back to one tap on the scroll and pointed to one of the
symbols next to Terrycloth's name. "I'd like you to have a look at this."
"Oh I've seen that next to everyone's names in the scroll! Why does it mean anything to you?" I asked.
"Yes. It's a symbol in the God's Tongue. Specifically, it's a formulaic element representing the sensory proximity of two seemingly unrelated points in space."
"... what?"
Void-Dancer looked at me. He said very slowly, "One uses it to describe scrying spells."
"Ohhhh."
"Accordingly, I believe it may be representing the link which allows these individuals to see your writings. Or perhaps one letting you see theirs. But, as noted previously, I am not an enchanter. I am hardly convinced that you warrant the designation of "enchanter" either, but you did make this enchantment. Or so you have told me. Can you tell if this symbol is here to serve an arcane purpose?"
I turned the scroll around and leaned over it to stare at the symbol for a while. This would be a lot easier if Resgy had let me use the Laboratory of Various Visions. Looking at an enchantment to see what it might do is a completely different skill from looking at an active spell -- even if an active spell that was cast by an enchantment -- to see what it's currently doing. Which yes I'm an enchanter (technically) so I'm better at it than Voidsy but I'm still not that good. "I think I'm supposed to poke at it? To make it do whatever it's going to do?" I said after a while. I poked at the little symbol. It didn't do anything. I poked at the name next to it. That also didn't do anything. I tried poking at it with a pen and then with the scroll case and then with the Illusidor-Locador spikes on the bottom scroll rod and THAT did something! It changed the scroll from mine to Terrycloth's!
"Ohhh that's brilliant I wish I'd thought of it!" I exclaimed. "That's much easier than putting it in the case and tapping especially if I have to tap eight or ten times or whatever."
Void-Dancer covered his face with one hand. "Right."
I poked at other names excitedly, and they all worked. Then I tried writing the little symbol and putting names after it and that was tricky because sometimes I needed to write the name for it to work but sometimes it was a description instead. I think I've got the hang of it now that's why I've been putting the little symbols in front of the names while I'm writing this. So they'll be easier to find.
After a minute or two of me experimenting, Voidsy pulled the scroll back from me. "Show me where these extradimensional monsters have been talking to you."
I showed him what I'd been writing and what all of you (or at least the ones of you I know about) have written back. He read through it all with a considering look on his face. Though he sighed when he read about how I got fired. "Have you even looked for a new job yet?"
"Nooooo it's only been three days and I like not having a job."
"Do you have any savings? At all?"
"I've got some lozens! I'm not broke."
"Define 'some'."
"... enough."
"For rent?"
"That's not due for days and days yet."
"For five days."
I waved a hand. "Right! Plenty of time."
Void-Dancer rested his forehead against his palm. "Of course. As you say, sister. But do not come to me and whine at the end of the week about how desperate you are for rent money."
"I won't! It's sweet of you to worry though." I leaned over and gave him a hug while he grumbled at me and pried off my hands.
After my brother finished reading everything, he put the scroll back in its case. "It would be premature to draw any conclusions about the nature of this working or "Here"'s intentions towards it. However, given that the Wizard Sythyry has had regular contact with extradimensional monsters like these for some time, and that zie does not appear concerned about them, I would venture that you need exercise no more care with regards to this artifact than you would with any other potent Locador magic."
"Yay!"
Void-Dancer paused and gave me a look. "Let me rephrase that. You need exercise no more care than I would. Or than any other sane practitioner."
I blinked. "What's the difference?"
"Just be careful, will you?"
"Sure!" I hugged him again. "Thanks so much for looking at it for me and for having lunch with me Voidsy! I really owe you!"
"Yes. You do." He gave me an awkward pat on the back. "Now, I have duties I need to attend to, sister." He opened the street exit from the Chamber of Respite for me. "Do not forget to be careful around those monsters. If you are going to keep in touch with them, you should find out more about them. Such as what they are and where they're from."
I looked at the scroll case. "I'm not sure how to do that I can read what they've written but I don't think they don't say things like "and I'm a Prime living on the World Tree" I mean that's not usually something you need to tell people. You just assume that they're Primes living on the World Tree too. Until they say something inexplicable about natural philosophy or whatever."
"Perhaps you could try asking them?"
"Ohhhh! That's a great idea! I'll try that! Byeeeeeee Voidsy!" I bounced through the door and onto the street, while my brother covered his face with his hand and shook his head.
"I'm not an enchanter, Delight-in-Justice. If you want to know what your enchantment does, why don't you take it to one of your enchanter acquaintances? Or look at it yourself? For pity's sake, you made it. How can even you make an enchantment and not know what it does?"
I spread my hands wide. "I don't know? I think "Here" wanted it to do stuff I hadn't thought of and that's why the consecration went soooo well remember?"
Voidsy stared at his plate, eyes narrowed. "I remember."
"Exactly! So I wanted you to see it. Besides, aren't you the least bit curious how it came out? After all that?" I waved the scroll case tantalizingly before him.
He favored me with a droll look. I waggled the scroll case back and forth. Void-Dancer held out his hand. "Just give it to me."
He scrutinized it with magic sense as he tapped the case once and removed the scroll to get my letters. Then he put the scroll back in and tapped twice to get Boomsy's (still nothing on it but I only sent it to him two days ago). Then three times to get
sythyry's. Then four times.
The scroll showed the journal of a Sleeth named
mharreff, who'd been writing back in 4260. "Hey! That's just two years after the Khtsoyis who wrote in my journal!" I said. "I wonder if he'll respond if I talk to him, too?"Void-Dancer made a noncommital noise and put the scroll back before I tried it. "That friend of yours -- Terrycloth, was it? -- who suggested Kaimiri would take it amiss if information was passed to the past? He raised an excellent point. I do not think any harm would come from idle chatter, but kindly do not attempt to tell the future to anyone." Five taps took us to a Cani named Sinuuf (
calamitous_cani) who didn't date his entries. He was a Mentador mage! Eep! Six taps:
stickseed_doom, a Herethroy adventurer also writing in 4260. "Is there something significant about that time period, do you think, Voidsy?" I asked.Instead of answering, he put the scroll back into the case and tapped seven times.
That one was different. Instead of having just one person writing in it, it had several different sapients. One of them, it looked like
siege, was writing about how lots of people on their branch were going to die and maybe the branch was going to be destroyed by angry Airador/Aquador/Pyrador elementals all working together. Unless the sapients developed machines to stop them. Maybe? It had a lot of words I didn't understand. Anyway if that's your world Siege I'm really really sorry! There were a whoooole lot more entries by this sort of Sleethish-person,
ysabetwordsmith that were much less alarming. She has lots and lots of books! And she said there's going to be a Lunar Eclipse tomorrow which there isn't so I'm pretty sure she's extradimensional.And my own letters to Boomsy were there too! And I know I didn't put them there among these other people's writings. "So how did they get here?"
"You tell me," Void-Dancer said. "It's your enchantment." He put it back and tapped eight times. That got
tuftears, who wrote about cursed dice and cooking and getting the little pictures of himself drawn. He cooked with foods I didn't recognize, like "reduced-fat Swiss cheese" and "whole wheat hot dog buns". Are those just one ingrediant or several? It's like the individual words make sense but all together -- what?Nine taps was
terrycloth, who had just ... um ... it sounds like he'd used some HORRIBLE Mentador magic on himself that had overwhelmed him so much with a sensation of pleasure that he'd done nothing but bask in it while his friends were killed and raped. D: Seven staring gods! That one was very confusing too and Void-Dancer didn't want to wait while I tried to figure out what had actually happened. Maybe I misunderstood it? I hope I misunderstood it. If I didn't misunderstand it I'm really sorry about you too Terrycloth! "If these aren't extra-dimensional entities, they're certainly very ... creative," Void-dancer said.
"Wait you think they might not be from other dimensions?"
"The possiblity that they are locals -- perhaps even Boomstarter Sevenclubdrummer himself -- playing some kind of prank on you had crossed my mind." He went to 10 taps, which had
alex_muridae complaining about some kind of entertainment (a play maybe?) he hadn't liked because the natural philosophy in it didn't make sense. It didn't make sense to me either. Even the explanation of why it didn't make sense didn't make sense. "I will grant that all this seems far too extensive for a mere prank, however. More conclusively, the spell on your scroll is reaching across dimensional boundaries.""Ohh! You can tell that? I knew you were the right person to look at it!"
He very nearly smiled at that. Smirked a little at least. He went back to one tap on the scroll and pointed to one of the
symbols next to Terrycloth's name. "I'd like you to have a look at this.""Oh I've seen that next to everyone's names in the scroll! Why does it mean anything to you?" I asked.
"Yes. It's a symbol in the God's Tongue. Specifically, it's a formulaic element representing the sensory proximity of two seemingly unrelated points in space."
"... what?"
Void-Dancer looked at me. He said very slowly, "One uses it to describe scrying spells."
"Ohhhh."
"Accordingly, I believe it may be representing the link which allows these individuals to see your writings. Or perhaps one letting you see theirs. But, as noted previously, I am not an enchanter. I am hardly convinced that you warrant the designation of "enchanter" either, but you did make this enchantment. Or so you have told me. Can you tell if this symbol is here to serve an arcane purpose?"
I turned the scroll around and leaned over it to stare at the symbol for a while. This would be a lot easier if Resgy had let me use the Laboratory of Various Visions. Looking at an enchantment to see what it might do is a completely different skill from looking at an active spell -- even if an active spell that was cast by an enchantment -- to see what it's currently doing. Which yes I'm an enchanter (technically) so I'm better at it than Voidsy but I'm still not that good. "I think I'm supposed to poke at it? To make it do whatever it's going to do?" I said after a while. I poked at the little symbol. It didn't do anything. I poked at the name next to it. That also didn't do anything. I tried poking at it with a pen and then with the scroll case and then with the Illusidor-Locador spikes on the bottom scroll rod and THAT did something! It changed the scroll from mine to Terrycloth's!
"Ohhh that's brilliant I wish I'd thought of it!" I exclaimed. "That's much easier than putting it in the case and tapping especially if I have to tap eight or ten times or whatever."
Void-Dancer covered his face with one hand. "Right."
I poked at other names excitedly, and they all worked. Then I tried writing the little symbol and putting names after it and that was tricky because sometimes I needed to write the name for it to work but sometimes it was a description instead. I think I've got the hang of it now that's why I've been putting the little symbols in front of the names while I'm writing this. So they'll be easier to find.
After a minute or two of me experimenting, Voidsy pulled the scroll back from me. "Show me where these extradimensional monsters have been talking to you."
I showed him what I'd been writing and what all of you (or at least the ones of you I know about) have written back. He read through it all with a considering look on his face. Though he sighed when he read about how I got fired. "Have you even looked for a new job yet?"
"Nooooo it's only been three days and I like not having a job."
"Do you have any savings? At all?"
"I've got some lozens! I'm not broke."
"Define 'some'."
"... enough."
"For rent?"
"That's not due for days and days yet."
"For five days."
I waved a hand. "Right! Plenty of time."
Void-Dancer rested his forehead against his palm. "Of course. As you say, sister. But do not come to me and whine at the end of the week about how desperate you are for rent money."
"I won't! It's sweet of you to worry though." I leaned over and gave him a hug while he grumbled at me and pried off my hands.
After my brother finished reading everything, he put the scroll back in its case. "It would be premature to draw any conclusions about the nature of this working or "Here"'s intentions towards it. However, given that the Wizard Sythyry has had regular contact with extradimensional monsters like these for some time, and that zie does not appear concerned about them, I would venture that you need exercise no more care with regards to this artifact than you would with any other potent Locador magic."
"Yay!"
Void-Dancer paused and gave me a look. "Let me rephrase that. You need exercise no more care than I would. Or than any other sane practitioner."
I blinked. "What's the difference?"
"Just be careful, will you?"
"Sure!" I hugged him again. "Thanks so much for looking at it for me and for having lunch with me Voidsy! I really owe you!"
"Yes. You do." He gave me an awkward pat on the back. "Now, I have duties I need to attend to, sister." He opened the street exit from the Chamber of Respite for me. "Do not forget to be careful around those monsters. If you are going to keep in touch with them, you should find out more about them. Such as what they are and where they're from."
I looked at the scroll case. "I'm not sure how to do that I can read what they've written but I don't think they don't say things like "and I'm a Prime living on the World Tree" I mean that's not usually something you need to tell people. You just assume that they're Primes living on the World Tree too. Until they say something inexplicable about natural philosophy or whatever."
"Perhaps you could try asking them?"
"Ohhhh! That's a great idea! I'll try that! Byeeeeeee Voidsy!" I bounced through the door and onto the street, while my brother covered his face with his hand and shook his head.
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no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 03:52 pm (UTC)http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=56
So for most of us, it's just a written journal. Also, Terrycloth does, um, how do I describe it, a mutual storytelling group? Where people cooperate to come up with fictional stories on the fly? Just don't assume that everything he writes actually really happens. By the way, please please PLEASE don't look into that topic too much more deeply, as it might cause some major major confusion. Just don't assume that everything everyone writes about is 'real', though I am doing my actual best to make my replies as real and true and USEFUL to you as I can!
no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 04:07 pm (UTC)Uhm, hmmm. I don't think that is working. Let me describe what I *would* be like if I were on the Tree. That might give you a frame of reference. Here goes. I'd be a young Cani university student, interested in mutoc corpador and shapeshifting magic, who has some traff or libertine leanings and who has a very active interest in sex, especially as combined with shapeshifting magic and interesting corpador things, who is interested in social change or whatever is considered very new ideas about how to structure society and the way society handles things like money, labor, and government, and interested in philosophical questions on what is *not* known about how the gods treat souls when the bodies die, and what questions still aren't answered about that, and when they have and have not made exceptions to the normal behavior in the past. I'd also be interested in lots of natural philosophy and magic theory, and business and math for business. I would be living in one of the most powerful and civilized upper branches, but most definitely not the most powerful or civilized city thereof. I wouldn't be nobility, but I would be from a fairly well to do non noble family.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 11:00 pm (UTC)So you don't really feel like you belong as a member of your species? I've known people like that I heard Sythyrs was practically married to a Herethroy who wanted to be Orren poor thing. I'm not sure my great-grandpa Delfie was really comfy being Khtsoyis either.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 11:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 07:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 08:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 09:26 pm (UTC)I'm not sure how her view of my journal shows up, and have absolutely no way of distinguishing between 'happened to someone, as far as she is concerned' and 'completely fictional, as far as she is concerned'.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 11:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 11:18 pm (UTC)http://www.livejournal.com/allpics.bml?user=terrycloth
Hope that works! Oh, if you ever go back reading his journal... stay away from the Kijji pictured ones. Kijji is a horrible terrible awful chaotic evil monster that I think Accanax made, an unknown number of branches down from you. Though reading those WOULD give you an idea how to combat it... the stories are soooo saddd and terrible...
no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 11:32 pm (UTC)Mmm,'horrible terrible awful chaotic evil monster', I like that. Say it again! It's a lot better than 'mentavore'. And gives less away!
no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 11:39 pm (UTC)... and Gavin was just warning me about you.
And you're a mentavore?
no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 11:40 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 11:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 09:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 10:41 pm (UTC)By the way can you tell us more about Boomsy? I might have missed it, but could you give a description of zir? Which type of prime zie is, gender, any features that you think we ought to know, stuff like that.
By the way, I made some other older replies that you might want to look at some time, including those pictures you asked for, and lots more explanations of things aaaallll ovverrrr!
no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 10:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 10:44 pm (UTC)But I try to make my answers as useful to you as I can, which basiclly means, "Think of it as a spell we have access to."
no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 10:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 10:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 11:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 11:23 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 07:28 pm (UTC)Whole: the entirety of something.
Wheat: a type of cereal grain.
Whole wheat: The the entirety of the grain, rather than the grain with the tough and fibrous (but also nutritious) hull milled away.
Hot: an adjective to describe something that has been heated to a high temperature; in slang, a reference to something being very new and attractive, i.e. 'what's hot and what's not?'
Dog: a non-sentient canid.
Hot dog: not in fact a canid heated to a high temperature, but a kind of sausage!
Bun: a type of bread, usually a small rounded loaf of bread which is quite light and fluffy in composition. In slang, may refer to a person's derriere. The reason for this escapes me at this time!
Hot dog bun: not in fact a reference to a canid's derriere heated to a high temperature or one that is attractive in some fashion, but a small rounded loaf (of quite light and air-filled bread) which has been cut in half for the placement of the aforementioned sausage!
Thus, the whole phrase simply describes a very nutritious and reasonably tasty small loaf of bread, suitable as a meal when appropriate sandwich fillings have been inserted therein.
Hope that helps! ^_^
no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 11:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 11:19 pm (UTC)There's a type of canid called a 'daschund', which is noted for being extremely long in proportion to its legs. (The dog is a pet animal and not a sentient; it has no arms.) The visual similarity led to sausages being called 'daschund' sausages, which soon led to them being called "dogs", "daschund" being more verbally cumbersome. Since you cook a sausage before you can sell it... The "dog" is thusly rendered hot!
Allegedly, early sausages sometimes contained dog meat when no better meat could be obtained, and it's a common joke that you do not really want to know what goes in a sausage if you are going to eat it.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-28 11:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-29 12:21 pm (UTC)It's not so much that I think they're harmless, as I think they're less dangerous than my day job.