(no subject)

A Very Strange Orren [18 Lage 4261]

Sorry I haven't written in a while. The last three days of Yylhauntra's visit were very busy, and then classes got very busy. In any case, my favorite great-grandparent has gone off to Pshent, and my boyfriend has finished given his lecture and been duly celebrated and relaxed afterwards, and I've caught up on sleep even.

So Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution and I went out riding this afternoon, like this. We haven't done this since we broke up, and it was good to have a chance to chat with her and such as that.

As if by chance, we took the Cyarr Road out to Crosstown, where the Greystark crosses the Alamme. It's a very nice little town, with a very nice and very strong little fort next to it. Something had agitated the fort, though; there were ivory birds flying this way and that all over Crosstown.

As if by chance, Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution recommended that we stop at The Tavern Beneath the Ballistas, a very pleasant country home sort of tavern. In summer (viz. now) the taverners set out tables in their rose garden. Four of the six of For Anastrense's ballistas can be seen from the garden. Usually there is only one or two guards on the roof, reading or chatting or whatever, and nominally manning the ballistas. Today each ballista had two guards, with an officer of the guard poking them awake.

Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution and I were enjoying a large plate of small triangular sweet eel pastries, and Shadowfrog was enjoying a bushel of bruised apples sprinkled with leftover umbles.

I've never seen a teleport spell in action. Most people don't use them very often, for a number of practical reasons. This one appeared in the garden next to us: to the magic sense it looks like a terrible flower whose petals are long straight claws and long curved claws, opening. It was a pretty potent spell, too: Mutoc Locador with complexity at least 30, if my ~mother~ is getting any value out of her paying for my magic theory classes.

And out steps this very unexceptional and nervous-looking Orren woman.

I suppose that you don't really need manners, if you're good enough to cast strong teleport spells. She looked around, saw Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution, and sort of trotted over to us without waiting for the maitre d'Tavern to seat her.

Her:"Hiio, um, Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution. Is that Hezimikkinen? Or Yylhauntra?"

Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution:"No. Sythyry, meet Vae; she's a Very Strange Orren." She pretty much pronounced the capital letters. "Vae, meet Sythyry, who is just a friend of mine. And Hezimikkinen's half-sibling, by the way."

My clue about how strange: "Vae" means "Woe!" or "Alas!" in an old language. I know this because my boyfriend sometimes says it.

My excuse: my boyfriend has a name like that, and he's a very strange Orren too.

Me:"Hello, Vae! I'm very glad to meet you!" I sort of spread my wings and hissed very nicely at her.

She sort of hissed very nicely back. Most Orren won't do that. She even had the right Zi Ri style accent. I grinned a lot. A slightly annoyed maitre d'Tavern brought her a menu and a plate of little biscuits sprinkled with dried shredded fish.

I have been paying particular attention to Orren reactions to various forms of excitement and pleasure. Well, to Ilottat's, at least. Speaking as an expert -- or expert-wannabe -- on this topic, I noted by the sudden quick breath and various other signs that my greeting (I presumed) had moved her to excitement and perhaps even a low degree of actual pleasure.

Well, that was exceptional. Even Ilottat isn't that easy. I usually have to touch him or something.

Me:"I am truly glad to make your acquaintance, O Vae. If I may be so bold, perhaps we might take luncheon together sometime ... perhaps at, say, Across Saga, in Vheshrame?"

Vae flattened her ears and whiskers, and mumbled, "I don't go to into Vheshrame."

Strenata jumped up and slapped the table. Speaking as an expert -- or expert-wannabe -- on this topic, I would say that she was enjoying a Wild Rush. "No-no-no-no-no! Not that kind of Very Strange Orren!"

Me:"Um ... what?"

Vae cast a very peculiar Mutoc Locador Illusidor Spiridor spell all around our table. Without speaking a word, which is a bit unusual but not that exceptional. A very strong one. A very complicated one. And obviously improvised on the spot.

Maybe my famous grandparent could do that, and maybe not. I'm sure nobody in Vheshrame could.

When Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution said "Very Strange Orren", she wasn't being nearly emphatic enough.

I had, it seems, just made a pass at a nendrai.

(no subject)

A Very Strange Orren [18 Lage 4261]

Sorry I haven't written in a while. The last three days of Yylhauntra's visit were very busy, and then classes got very busy. In any case, my favorite great-grandparent has gone off to Pshent, and my boyfriend has finished given his lecture and been duly celebrated and relaxed afterwards, and I've caught up on sleep even.

So Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution and I went out riding this afternoon, like this. We haven't done this since we broke up, and it was good to have a chance to chat with her and such as that.

As if by chance, we took the Cyarr Road out to Crosstown, where the Greystark crosses the Alamme. It's a very nice little town, with a very nice and very strong little fort next to it. Something had agitated the fort, though; there were ivory birds flying this way and that all over Crosstown.

As if by chance, Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution recommended that we stop at The Tavern Beneath the Ballistas, a very pleasant country home sort of tavern. In summer (viz. now) the taverners set out tables in their rose garden. Four of the six of For Anastrense's ballistas can be seen from the garden. Usually there is only one or two guards on the roof, reading or chatting or whatever, and nominally manning the ballistas. Today each ballista had two guards, with an officer of the guard poking them awake.

Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution and I were enjoying a large plate of small triangular sweet eel pastries, and Shadowfrog was enjoying a bushel of bruised apples sprinkled with leftover umbles.

I've never seen a teleport spell in action. Most people don't use them very often, for a number of practical reasons. This one appeared in the garden next to us: to the magic sense it looks like a terrible flower whose petals are long straight claws and long curved claws, opening. It was a pretty potent spell, too: Mutoc Locador with complexity at least 30, if my ~mother~ is getting any value out of her paying for my magic theory classes.

And out steps this very unexceptional and nervous-looking Orren woman.

I suppose that you don't really need manners, if you're good enough to cast strong teleport spells. She looked around, saw Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution, and sort of trotted over to us without waiting for the maitre d'Tavern to seat her.

Her:"Hiio, um, Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution. Is that Hezimikkinen? Or Yylhauntra?"

Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution:"No. Sythyry, meet Vae; she's a Very Strange Orren." She pretty much pronounced the capital letters. "Vae, meet Sythyry, who is just a friend of mine. And Hezimikkinen's half-sibling, by the way."

My clue about how strange: "Vae" means "Woe!" or "Alas!" in an old language. I know this because my boyfriend sometimes says it.

My excuse: my boyfriend has a name like that, and he's a very strange Orren too.

Me:"Hello, Vae! I'm very glad to meet you!" I sort of spread my wings and hissed very nicely at her.

She sort of hissed very nicely back. Most Orren won't do that. She even had the right Zi Ri style accent. I grinned a lot. A slightly annoyed maitre d'Tavern brought her a menu and a plate of little biscuits sprinkled with dried shredded fish.

I have been paying particular attention to Orren reactions to various forms of excitement and pleasure. Well, to Ilottat's, at least. Speaking as an expert -- or expert-wannabe -- on this topic, I noted by the sudden quick breath and various other signs that my greeting (I presumed) had moved her to excitement and perhaps even a low degree of actual pleasure.

Well, that was exceptional. Even Ilottat isn't that easy. I usually have to touch him or something.

Me:"I am truly glad to make your acquaintance, O Vae. If I may be so bold, perhaps we might take luncheon together sometime ... perhaps at, say, Across Saga, in Vheshrame?"

Vae flattened her ears and whiskers, and mumbled, "I don't go to into Vheshrame."

Strenata jumped up and slapped the table. Speaking as an expert -- or expert-wannabe -- on this topic, I would say that she was enjoying a Wild Rush. "No-no-no-no-no! Not that kind of Very Strange Orren!"

Me:"Um ... what?"

Vae cast a very peculiar Mutoc Locador Illusidor Spiridor spell all around our table. Without speaking a word, which is a bit unusual but not that exceptional. A very strong one. A very complicated one. And obviously improvised on the spot.

Maybe my famous grandparent could do that, and maybe not. I'm sure nobody in Vheshrame could.

When Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution said "Very Strange Orren", she wasn't being nearly emphatic enough.

I had, it seems, just made a pass at a nendrai.

(no subject)

Originally published at Sythyry. Please leave any comments there.

A Very Strange Orren [18 Lage 4261]

Sorry I haven’t written in a while. The last three days of
Yylhauntra’s visit were very busy, and then classes got very
busy. In any case, my favorite great-grandparent has gone
off to Pshent, and my boyfriend has finished given his
lecture and been duly celebrated and relaxed
afterwards, and I’ve caught up on sleep even.

So Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution and I went out riding this
afternoon, like

( Error: Irreparable invalid markup in entry. Raw contents behind the cut. )

(no subject)

Originally published at Sythyry. Please leave any comments there.

A Very Strange Orren [18 Lage 4261]

Sorry I haven’t written in a while. The last three days of
Yylhauntra’s visit were very busy, and then classes got very
busy. In any case, my favorite great-grandparent has gone
off to Pshent, and my boyfriend has finished given his
lecture and been duly celebrated and relaxed
afterwards, and I’ve caught up on sleep even.

So Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution and I went out riding this
afternoon, like

( Error: Irreparable invalid markup in entry. Raw contents behind the cut. )

(no subject)

In the Company of Nendrai [18 Lage 4261]

[This episode is done quickly due to the concrete enthusiasm and well-chosen numerology of of greenreaper. -bb]

My first thought was, more or less, "oh, dearie."

My second thought was, more or less, "Oh, dearie, dearie. She's put us into some horrible pocket universe where she will torture us horribly for daring to make a pass at her."

My third thought was, more or less, "But it's mostly an Illusidor spell." So I looked at the spell. It produced a boundary around the table (Locador) which transformed the sounds of our words and the appearance of our deeds (Illusidor) to give onlookers the impression that we were having a very straightforward and innocuous conversation, in a mindful (Spiridor) way. The boundary was all flexible and penetrable -- when the waiter brought our entrees, the waiter stayed on the outside and the food came in. And since it's a Locador spell, she just had to touch the space around the table with her tail.

Vae wasn't looking angry. Like most Orrens that I have made passes at, she didn't even seem to notice that I had made a pass at her. She was looking at Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution, and fidgeting. "Seeks? Are we being attacked? Is this a trap? Do we need more than a peidachwilio?"

Nendrai, it seem, have their own names for spells.

Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution managed to calm down fairly quickly. "Oh, no, nothing like that. Sythyry thought you were an Orren. Zie enjoys the society of Orren."

Vae flattened her whiskers just like a real Orren. "Oh ... it's two years I'm shy of sexual maturity. The parts that people talk well of, at least."

Me:"Oh, forgive me -- I didn't know -- you look, well, fully grown."

Vae smiled, and thatlooked truly horrible. It wasn't an Orren kind of smile. A Sleeth wearing an Orren body might smile that way. "It's easier to walk around and trade things as a grownup, like, and that's the all of it."

Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution:"What brings you to Crosstown in such a hurry, Vaisessasilmin?"

(She's not named Vae, Woe after all. She's named something long and hissy that gets shortened to that.)

Vae chewed on her arm a bit, nervously. When most people do that, they sort of nibble on the fur. Vae sank her fangs into it, several times, and drew blood each time. Then she tapped her arm with her tail, and the wounds vanished.

Digression on Magic Theory: Healing is ordinarily done with Healoc, which is, of course, the Verb of Healing. But you can do it with Mutoc if you're (a) crazy or (b) far far better at Mutoc than at Healoc. In this approach, you modify the flesh so that the wound is not there any more. It's a fair bit harder to do, both magically (some 10-20 complexity more I think -- that's a lot) and it hurts terribly. It even hurts nendrai terribly when they do it to themselves. Vae winced.

Vae:"I've heard that the city now officially acknowledges that I have moved here, and that it's action against me they're considering."

Me:"She's got spies? In Vheshrame?" This was very unwise.

Vae:"Just the Howling Horn of Hressh-Huu." She cast a sneaky Mutoc Locador spell, reached into a private separate universe, and showed me a copy of Vheshrame's most conservative and accurate broadsheet from three days ago.

I was thoroughly terrified by this time. There are, I understand, only a few limitations on a nendrai's power:

1. The spell must be cast by tail-touch.
2. The spell must involve Mutoc.
3. The spell may not involve Healoc.
4. The spell can only be complexity 40 or 60 or 80 or whatever, depending on the nendrai.

Of those, only the first one is at all comforting. Mutoc can do many, many things; it is perhaps the most flexible of the Verbs. Healoc might repair the nendrai without pain, but Mutoc can do it with pain, as her arm-biting demonstrated. Even a complexity-40 spell can do far too much. But the tail-touch was comforting. "Stand far enough away," I had thought when Yylhauntra was discussing it, "And you're safe." But Vaisessasilmin wasn't even pretending to let it slow her down. Her tail was always touching the space around her, for one thing, and the air, and the lights and smells and such in the area, and her own body, even if nothing else. She always has several convenient targets for her magic.

I looked at the broadsheet. There were editorials urging the Duke to devote the city's resources to Vae's destruction. And other editorials urging the Duke to deal with the problem efficiently and not divert important resources from the issues of Pshent, Oorah Thrassen, and so on.

Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution nodded sadly. "I'm afraid our previous arrangement isn't going to work anymore. We will have to think of a new one."

Vae whined. You don't think of a legendary city-destroying monster whining ... but you don't think of them as being two years short of the fun part of sexual maturity either. At least I don't. "I like Greenspikes! I couldn't just let zir get zir beating!"

"Well, you might have chosen less of a torture for those caravaneers," said Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution. "Subtlety has its advantages, when you're trying to be discreet."

Vae seemed on the edge of tears, which is very disconcerting for a legendary city-destroying monster. "It's not so many friends in Vheshrame I have that I can spare one."

"They wouldn't have killed her," said Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution, very gently. "Primes don't kill primes very often at all. Especially not with witnesses."

Vae put her head in her hands and started crying.

Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution is brave to the point of utter insanity. She put her arm around Vae's shoulders and held her.

Vae proved again what sort of monster she is. She turned into a six-legged purple housecat, and teleported into Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution's lap, and curled up crying.

Nendrai do not cry tears like other people. They cry little triangular blades of glass that force their way out of the nendrai's eyes. It hurts horribly even to watch. I can't imagine how it must feel.

(no subject)

In the Company of Nendrai [18 Lage 4261]

[This episode is done quickly due to the concrete enthusiasm and well-chosen numerology of of greenreaper. -bb]

My first thought was, more or less, "oh, dearie."

My second thought was, more or less, "Oh, dearie, dearie. She's put us into some horrible pocket universe where she will torture us horribly for daring to make a pass at her."

My third thought was, more or less, "But it's mostly an Illusidor spell." So I looked at the spell. It produced a boundary around the table (Locador) which transformed the sounds of our words and the appearance of our deeds (Illusidor) to give onlookers the impression that we were having a very straightforward and innocuous conversation, in a mindful (Spiridor) way. The boundary was all flexible and penetrable -- when the waiter brought our entrees, the waiter stayed on the outside and the food came in. And since it's a Locador spell, she just had to touch the space around the table with her tail.

Vae wasn't looking angry. Like most Orrens that I have made passes at, she didn't even seem to notice that I had made a pass at her. She was looking at Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution, and fidgeting. "Seeks? Are we being attacked? Is this a trap? Do we need more than a peidachwilio?"

Nendrai, it seem, have their own names for spells.

Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution managed to calm down fairly quickly. "Oh, no, nothing like that. Sythyry thought you were an Orren. Zie enjoys the society of Orren."

Vae flattened her whiskers just like a real Orren. "Oh ... it's two years I'm shy of sexual maturity. The parts that people talk well of, at least."

Me:"Oh, forgive me -- I didn't know -- you look, well, fully grown."

Vae smiled, and thatlooked truly horrible. It wasn't an Orren kind of smile. A Sleeth wearing an Orren body might smile that way. "It's easier to walk around and trade things as a grownup, like, and that's the all of it."

Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution:"What brings you to Crosstown in such a hurry, Vaisessasilmin?"

(She's not named Vae, Woe after all. She's named something long and hissy that gets shortened to that.)

Vae chewed on her arm a bit, nervously. When most people do that, they sort of nibble on the fur. Vae sank her fangs into it, several times, and drew blood each time. Then she tapped her arm with her tail, and the wounds vanished.

Digression on Magic Theory: Healing is ordinarily done with Healoc, which is, of course, the Verb of Healing. But you can do it with Mutoc if you're (a) crazy or (b) far far better at Mutoc than at Healoc. In this approach, you modify the flesh so that the wound is not there any more. It's a fair bit harder to do, both magically (some 10-20 complexity more I think -- that's a lot) and it hurts terribly. It even hurts nendrai terribly when they do it to themselves. Vae winced.

Vae:"I've heard that the city now officially acknowledges that I have moved here, and that it's action against me they're considering."

Me:"She's got spies? In Vheshrame?" This was very unwise.

Vae:"Just the Howling Horn of Hressh-Huu." She cast a sneaky Mutoc Locador spell, reached into a private separate universe, and showed me a copy of Vheshrame's most conservative and accurate broadsheet from three days ago.

I was thoroughly terrified by this time. There are, I understand, only a few limitations on a nendrai's power:

1. The spell must be cast by tail-touch.
2. The spell must involve Mutoc.
3. The spell may not involve Healoc.
4. The spell can only be complexity 40 or 60 or 80 or whatever, depending on the nendrai.

Of those, only the first one is at all comforting. Mutoc can do many, many things; it is perhaps the most flexible of the Verbs. Healoc might repair the nendrai without pain, but Mutoc can do it with pain, as her arm-biting demonstrated. Even a complexity-40 spell can do far too much. But the tail-touch was comforting. "Stand far enough away," I had thought when Yylhauntra was discussing it, "And you're safe." But Vaisessasilmin wasn't even pretending to let it slow her down. Her tail was always touching the space around her, for one thing, and the air, and the lights and smells and such in the area, and her own body, even if nothing else. She always has several convenient targets for her magic.

I looked at the broadsheet. There were editorials urging the Duke to devote the city's resources to Vae's destruction. And other editorials urging the Duke to deal with the problem efficiently and not divert important resources from the issues of Pshent, Oorah Thrassen, and so on.

Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution nodded sadly. "I'm afraid our previous arrangement isn't going to work anymore. We will have to think of a new one."

Vae whined. You don't think of a legendary city-destroying monster whining ... but you don't think of them as being two years short of the fun part of sexual maturity either. At least I don't. "I like Greenspikes! I couldn't just let zir get zir beating!"

"Well, you might have chosen less of a torture for those caravaneers," said Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution. "Subtlety has its advantages, when you're trying to be discreet."

Vae seemed on the edge of tears, which is very disconcerting for a legendary city-destroying monster. "It's not so many friends in Vheshrame I have that I can spare one."

"They wouldn't have killed her," said Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution, very gently. "Primes don't kill primes very often at all. Especially not with witnesses."

Vae put her head in her hands and started crying.

Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution is brave to the point of utter insanity. She put her arm around Vae's shoulders and held her.

Vae proved again what sort of monster she is. She turned into a six-legged purple housecat, and teleported into Seeks-A-Peaceful-Solution's lap, and curled up crying.

Nendrai do not cry tears like other people. They cry little triangular blades of glass that force their way out of the nendrai's eyes. It hurts horribly even to watch. I can't imagine how it must feel.

(no subject)

Originally published at Sythyry. Please leave any comments there.

In the Company of Nendrai [18 Lage 4261]

[This episode is done quickly due to the concrete enthusiasm
and well-chosen numerology of of

( Error: Irreparable invalid markup in entry. Raw contents behind the cut. )

(no subject)

Originally published at Sythyry. Please leave any comments there.

In the Company of Nendrai [18 Lage 4261]

[This episode is done quickly due to the concrete enthusiasm
and well-chosen numerology of of

( Error: Irreparable invalid markup in entry. Raw contents behind the cut. )