(no subject)

[sythyry]

Moving the Illusion [3 Oix 4261]

Me:"Vae? There's been a bit of trouble and such from your breakfast assault..."

Vae got moderately angry. I haven't really seen Vae get moderately angry before. She started turning leaves into huge thick lightning bolts jumping all around this way and that, and twisting the trees into horrible tormented spirals, and blasting the Halflight Road with fireball after fireball until the soil was half burnt away and the other half baked into brick.

I was heroically reduced to hopping up and down on a branch and squeaking, "No, no! Calm down! It's not like that!"

Eventually she calmed down, one of those quick mercurial moodshifts that no sane person can really manage. The change was almost as terrifying as the rage: one instant she's blasting the road with fireballs, the next she's smiling at me and looking all sweet and harmless.

So I told her that Oorah Thrassen had chosen to retaliate by means of a taunting illusion, and the duke had offered her seven marzipan teddy bears if she'd dispose of it. (This was a lie, of course. The duke said nothing about offering her anything. The marzipan teddy bears are coming out of my own finances, at three lozens each unless I can get a bulk discount or persuade the confectioner that it's for the good of the city.)

Vae:"Oh, that's the all of it?"

And she modified the giant striding, other-thinging illusionary duke to be perceptable only as a distortion to thauiectic structures.

Me:"Um ... what are thauiectic structures?"

Vae explained, and explained, and explained, and explained, and explained. It didn't help.

I asked Dr. Winge in class. He explained, and explained, and explained, and explained. It has something to do with gods' nightmares, or maybe vibrations. In any case, only a few creatures can percieve them without help. We got an odd little device (costing about three lozens) from someone in Applied Theology, and, yes, there's the illusion, still urinating by the city gate.

I flew back out after class, gave Vae her bears, looked away from her for a bit, and when she was more or less recovered, asked her to move the illusion. Now it's marching on the underside of the branch, not far from her home.

Vae:"And the memory's back on me, Sythyry, you've not seen my home yet."

Me:"Not now, Vae!" I didn't really want to have The Conversation again today. "I've got to see the duke tonight again, and doubtless get scolded for letting that illusion show up. Or something."

Vae:"You will let me show you, won't you?"

I said yes. It can't be worse than Bfelmykh, can it? Besides, I'm the ambassador to her, I suppose it's part of my job. And I am feeling pretty confident that she won't kill me right now -- she was careful to avoid me when she was having that angry fit.

And, for the record, The Conversation was about not being able to carry seven marzipan teddy bears without a spell, and her answer was to give me a space-distorting pocket all along my tail, and, of course, to start crying when I mentioned to her what she had done and asked if she'd please take it off. Sometimes she'll start crying when I just say, "Excuse me, Vae?" in that special The Conversation tone of voice. Even Ficina doesn't cry so easily as Vae.

Well, usually when it's every-third-day, I'm relieved when I'm done with Vae. Tonight there's this duke who's just been humiliated in front of his entire city, though, and I rather wish there weren't.

Comments

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

You know, there's a very simple solution to the illusion, given Vae is capable of moving it... Move it over to Oorah Thrassen where the actions it's performing will be quite symbolic.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

So you're saying you don't want a Tail of Holding?

And I'd imagine you could bill the marzipan to the duke or somebody. You should really have a budget. And a salary, for that matter...

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

I'd love to have a space-distorting pocket along my tail - or a tail, for that matter.

[goodluckfox.livejournal.com]

Yeah a Body Part Of Holding would be really cool. :) My school books are HEAVY. Heck, I could carry around tools and books and music and cameras and extra batteries... heck, food and water and firemaking materials and tents and extra clothes...

Sounds like a good project for an Applied Enchatment student. :)

[vernononfm.livejournal.com]

Uh.. That would make a good project for an enchantment student who tons of experience.. It would be rather difficult, as it would have to
a) not harm the owner
b) move with the owner's appendage
c) allow free movement from the pocket world to ours (the WT one, not the thing you monsters call a world!)
d) exist persistently
e) not allow stuff to fall out when you didn't want it to (ie, if were on your back..)

So, all in all, I'd love to be able to make one of those, as it would be more a symbol of my might and power in enchantment, than something useful.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Well, generally (d) is inherent in enchantments, and (c) and (e) are the same thing, really.

I can see where enchanting a person without hurting them might severely curtail your choices when designing a ritual, though... I imagine it'd be hard to do a standard 'Big Bag' enchantment on somebody's mouth or, er, whatever.

[kris-schnee.livejournal.com]

Wasn't there a student -- Silverspray -- working on a form of body enchantment equivalent to what we call "hand-waving bad-science-fiction genetic engineering?"

[brennabat.livejournal.com]

*in her best psychologist voice* By using a specific tone while giving The Conversation, you have linked the sadness and shame produced by The Conversation to that tone. In essence, you have turned the tone in to a conditioned stimulus. In turn, the conditioned stimulus causes a conditioned response. In this case, the conditioned response is the sadness and shame connected to The Conversation, linked via repeated association. *end psychologist voice*

On my world, we have Mentoc practitioners. Their magic is often undetectable unless you know what to look for. Do not be fooled: sour expressions, beards, and black and white portraits are mere outdated cliches. Such cliches will not work to identify them! However, they do occasionally like titles. Also, their books are extremely expensive. Danger: they may have access to remote control rodents.