(no subject)

Gavotte's a Kind of Dance and [3 Hivvem 4261]

Zeilock and his sailor Trye (an old Rassimel shoemaker) zipped Gavotte for Cloudthief over to the edge of the branch.

Zeilock:"So, where does your nendrai live?"

Me:"Underneath the branch."

Zeilock:"Whereabouts?"

Me:"Vheshrame Mene. If it's still inside the city-state down there."

Zeilock:"Haven't you been there?"

Me:"Well, I have."

Zeilock:"And you don't remember how you got there?"

Me:"Oh, it was pretty memorable. It's hard to forget a Locador spell that's that strong."

Zeilock:"Pah, useless Zi Ri."

Me:"..."

Vae:"Hiio! And is this the skyboat, Sythyry?" She showed up in a festive shape, consisting of her own shape with seven big flappy wings made of silk and flower petals. Five huge ones on one side and two small ones on the other side. She looked ridiculous, and downright anti-aerodynamic. I would have been quite offended that she could fly looking like that, except of course I was so startled my feathers fell off.

Me:"Yeek!"

Trye:"Yeek!"

Zeilock:"Welcome aboard, ma'am."

Me:"..."

Vae:"The thanking!" She teleported to the deck. Ostentatious beast.

Trye:"Welcome aboard, ma'am."

Zeilock:"May I give you a tour of the Gavotte? Here, this is the starboard, and this is the port-stern wing. This here's the bowsprit, and that there's the jib." (Not his exact words.)

Vae:"The that's very interesting! And what is the this, and the this, and the this?"

Zeilock:"The levitation engine, the emergency teleport, and the scrying enchantment."

They chatted about skyboatery and skyboat-magery for a long time.

Trye:"Zeilock, were we planning to sail somewhere, or just talk about it?"

Zeilock:"Sailing, of course!"

Trye:"Where will we go?"

Vae:"And where did you have in mind."

Me:"Over the city."

Zeilock:"To the bottom of the World Tree!"

Vae:"The exciting is that plan! And going now, shall we?"

Zeilock:"The sooner, the better!"

Me:"The doom!"

(no subject)

Gavotte's a Kind of Dance and [3 Hivvem 4261]

Zeilock and his sailor Trye (an old Rassimel shoemaker) zipped Gavotte for Cloudthief over to the edge of the branch.

Zeilock:"So, where does your nendrai live?"

Me:"Underneath the branch."

Zeilock:"Whereabouts?"

Me:"Vheshrame Mene. If it's still inside the city-state down there."

Zeilock:"Haven't you been there?"

Me:"Well, I have."

Zeilock:"And you don't remember how you got there?"

Me:"Oh, it was pretty memorable. It's hard to forget a Locador spell that's that strong."

Zeilock:"Pah, useless Zi Ri."

Me:"..."

Vae:"Hiio! And is this the skyboat, Sythyry?" She showed up in a festive shape, consisting of her own shape with seven big flappy wings made of silk and flower petals. Five huge ones on one side and two small ones on the other side. She looked ridiculous, and downright anti-aerodynamic. I would have been quite offended that she could fly looking like that, except of course I was so startled my feathers fell off.

Me:"Yeek!"

Trye:"Yeek!"

Zeilock:"Welcome aboard, ma'am."

Me:"..."

Vae:"The thanking!" She teleported to the deck. Ostentatious beast.

Trye:"Welcome aboard, ma'am."

Zeilock:"May I give you a tour of the Gavotte? Here, this is the starboard, and this is the port-stern wing. This here's the bowsprit, and that there's the jib." (Not his exact words.)

Vae:"The that's very interesting! And what is the this, and the this, and the this?"

Zeilock:"The levitation engine, the emergency teleport, and the scrying enchantment."

They chatted about skyboatery and skyboat-magery for a long time.

Trye:"Zeilock, were we planning to sail somewhere, or just talk about it?"

Zeilock:"Sailing, of course!"

Trye:"Where will we go?"

Vae:"And where did you have in mind."

Me:"Over the city."

Zeilock:"To the bottom of the World Tree!"

Vae:"The exciting is that plan! And going now, shall we?"

Zeilock:"The sooner, the better!"

Me:"The doom!"

cliffhanger...

It's like a Minuet but Moderately Fast [3 Hivvem 4261]

Vae and Zeilock peered at each other.

Trye:"Ma'am, I believe that Captain Zeilock wants you to teleport the ship to the bottom of the tree."

Vae:"And why is that? And doesn't it fly?"

Zeilock:"It is not quite fast enough to get there."

Vae:"And how far is it there?"

Zeilock:"I don't know!"

Me:"Does the World Tree even have a bottom?"

Zeilock:"I don't know!"

Vae:"The let's find out!"

Me:"Let's not!"

Vae:"The I'm curious!"

Trye:"I'm interested!"

Zeilock:"I'm obsessed!"

Me:"I'm doomed!"

Zeilock:"Let's go!"

Me:"Let's fly away from the branch for a while, so that we don't leave more gigantic Locador signs pointing right at Vheshrame Mene."

Everyone else:"What?"

One quick lecture on the fancy theory of magic analysis and Locador magic and nendrai doing really stupid things later, we flew off away from the branch, at top dragonfly-wing speed.

Nendrai From All Around Come Here [3 Hivvem 4261]

One hour of flying away at Gavotte's top speed, and I absolutely refused to let Vae teleport us. Nobody paid me any attention. Vae did decide to be careful. She surrounded Gavotte with some squirmy Locador spells like fans of black claws (to make it easier to manipulate as a single thing), and some squirmy Magiador Illusidor Locador spells like poorly-buttered bread (to make her Locador tracks less screamy-bright from outside the universe.)

And then, travel, nendrai-style. Her best teleport spell surrounded us like a flower of straight black claws and curved black claws, and brought us a great distance down. Zeilock and Trye oooh'ed and aaaah'ed, and compared the scenery with things on their charts, and said that we'd come to the edge of the Pojorian Gap. I helpfully cowered under a table.

Travel, travel, travel. The far edge of the Pojorian Gap. The Sereyn Estates on Telesteia. Somewhere off the edge of Drethshcheia. Zeilock had to get a different chart-book to find that -- a thin chart-book, with lots of gaps.

Travel once more.

Zeilock:"We're off the chart, I think!"

Trye:"No, we're by the Nereidscray."

Zeilock:"Are you sure? ... Oh, yes, you are right. Next time we'll be off the chart."

Vae:"Uh-Oh..."

Me:"What's wrong?"

The Other Nendrai:The wide-ranging and generous and very powerful zap!

Vae:"Ow! That stings!"

Zeilock, Trye, and me:(all die)

cliffhanger...

It's like a Minuet but Moderately Fast [3 Hivvem 4261]

Vae and Zeilock peered at each other.

Trye:"Ma'am, I believe that Captain Zeilock wants you to teleport the ship to the bottom of the tree."

Vae:"And why is that? And doesn't it fly?"

Zeilock:"It is not quite fast enough to get there."

Vae:"And how far is it there?"

Zeilock:"I don't know!"

Me:"Does the World Tree even have a bottom?"

Zeilock:"I don't know!"

Vae:"The let's find out!"

Me:"Let's not!"

Vae:"The I'm curious!"

Trye:"I'm interested!"

Zeilock:"I'm obsessed!"

Me:"I'm doomed!"

Zeilock:"Let's go!"

Me:"Let's fly away from the branch for a while, so that we don't leave more gigantic Locador signs pointing right at Vheshrame Mene."

Everyone else:"What?"

One quick lecture on the fancy theory of magic analysis and Locador magic and nendrai doing really stupid things later, we flew off away from the branch, at top dragonfly-wing speed.

Nendrai From All Around Come Here [3 Hivvem 4261]

One hour of flying away at Gavotte's top speed, and I absolutely refused to let Vae teleport us. Nobody paid me any attention. Vae did decide to be careful. She surrounded Gavotte with some squirmy Locador spells like fans of black claws (to make it easier to manipulate as a single thing), and some squirmy Magiador Illusidor Locador spells like poorly-buttered bread (to make her Locador tracks less screamy-bright from outside the universe.)

And then, travel, nendrai-style. Her best teleport spell surrounded us like a flower of straight black claws and curved black claws, and brought us a great distance down. Zeilock and Trye oooh'ed and aaaah'ed, and compared the scenery with things on their charts, and said that we'd come to the edge of the Pojorian Gap. I helpfully cowered under a table.

Travel, travel, travel. The far edge of the Pojorian Gap. The Sereyn Estates on Telesteia. Somewhere off the edge of Drethshcheia. Zeilock had to get a different chart-book to find that -- a thin chart-book, with lots of gaps.

Travel once more.

Zeilock:"We're off the chart, I think!"

Trye:"No, we're by the Nereidscray."

Zeilock:"Are you sure? ... Oh, yes, you are right. Next time we'll be off the chart."

Vae:"Uh-Oh..."

Me:"What's wrong?"

The Other Nendrai:The wide-ranging and generous and very powerful zap!

Vae:"Ow! That stings!"

Zeilock, Trye, and me:(all die)

(no subject)

to Gavotte With Me and You Now [3 Hivvem 4261]

All adventurers wear bound Heal the Awful Wound spells, which restore one to life if one is killed. The city guard supplied me with two when Vae almost killed me with an umbrella spell. I gather that Zeilock and Trye consider themselves adventurers.

Heal the Awful Wound does not heal one generously. One is still quite badly wounded, or zapped in our case.

Still, if I must compare getting killed and then healed by a Heal the Awful Wound to, say, being dumped by one's boyfriend for stealing from him, or (in my estimation) being a both-female Herethroy, I think that the social troubles are preferable. There's a good reason that execution is a good punishment for medium crimes! The only one I can think of who's had it worse is Thery, giving birth, and that's because she died several times.

The three of us sort of lay on the deck and moaned, while the nendrai ripped pieces out of each other and blasted each other with growing armies of elementals. Under other circumstances, it would have been all very interesting. It is regrettably hard to stay interested, or even stay awake, when one has just been killed and is about as badly wounded as possible.

Vae lost, of course.

("Of course" isn't quite an "of course". Her magic is very good, but she's not very experienced at using it. The other nendrai is of a distinctly older and weaker variety (N. violens), but seems to have learned a good deal about using the powers he does have over the last many centuries. (This is the great value of having had a Nendrai Ethology class -- after the nendrai defeats me, I can describe in detail its strategies, powers, and likely history.))

To be specific, Vae lost by virtue of the N. violens disembowelling her thoroughly while she was distracted unravelling some minor but tricky curse the N. violens had tossed at her.

Vae:[in Common]"And may I surrender now?"

N. Violens:[in Common]"Oh, certainly!" And stopped ripping her entrails out.

So we all got soundly defeated. Trye healed Vae as best he could, and then the N. Violens used a horrible Mutoc-based spell to heal the other 98% of the injuries he had done to her. He was barely scorched, himself, and didn't bother with healing.

N. Violens:[in somewhat archaic Ketherian, which I won't try to reproduce] "And would you like to stay and chat a bit, or simply get driven off?"

Me:"Can we go home yet?"

Zeilock and Trye:"Let's stay!"

Vae:"The chat a bit, and apologize."

N. Violens:"And who are all of you?"

Us:introduce, introduce, introduce, introduce.

N. Violens:"Llethillasessat am I, and the perplexed welcome to my territory I give, Trey, Zeilock and Sythyry." He glared at Vae.

Vaisessasilmin:"The big apology to you for our intrusion on your territory. Not saw we the markers, for large were our steps."

Llethillasessat and Vaisessasilmin:A complicated discussion in a disturbing hissy language that is not the Nice Language and has nothing nice about it, presumably about boundary markers and how Llethillasessat should mark so that someone like Vaisessasilmin could avoid rudeness.

Llethillasessat:"The all of you look drooped and woesome. Come home with me, rest, recover, and tomorrow when you feel better you shall be driven off."

Never Say a N. Violens Can't Dance [3-6 Hivvem 4261]

Llethillasessat rules a two hundred mile segment of the Nereidscray with an iron tail. Or maybe he's benevolent and nice. All the blee seemed to be very careful and polite around him. Then again, we were being very careful and polite around him too.

I suppose I ought to describe his palace. Um ... it was big. And had some rooms. One of them had a comfortable fireplace. Vaisessasilmin tucked me in and put a whole bunch of defensive spells around me, and I cast Extra Sleep in the Morning so I could get extra sleep in the afternoon, and I slept a long time and a half (the half from the spell), and woke up feeling awful. Being dead even for an instant isn't a very good thing.

Zeilock and Trye were still asleep, and surrounded by a half-bunch of defensive spells. I flew around a little, then decided I was too dizzy to fly and walked around a little, and heard Vaisessasilmin laughing from a parlor. I went to look.

Vaisessasilmin and Llethillasessat were curled up in a complicated knot, and he was tickling her.

That was far too disturbing. I went back to the fireplace and cast Extra Sleep in the Morning for sleep and extra sleep.

Anyways, we primes woke up a few times, and were fed a variety of disturbing local delicacies, and pretty much let the monsters take care of things and us.

On the 6th, we were well enough to travel. We felt rather hung over and ill, but not so bad that we couldn't pilot a skyboat with Vaisessasilmin doing most of the work. We didn't feel like doing any sightseeing. We gave Llethillasessat a variety of presents from Gavotte, which pleased him, but not to near-orgasm the way gifts to Vaisessasilmin do.

The nendrai hugged and smooched. Llethillasessat jabbed a long pointy claw through Vaisessasilmin's heart in mid-hug. Vaisessasilmin giggled and smooched him more.

She was all bouncy and happy and dripping her heart's blood on the way home. Though she was careful to disintegrate it past being a connection to her.

Aftermaths

1. Not only did we not get to the root of the World Tree (if any), we didn't even get out of the region that primes have explored.
2. The city guard interrogated all of us a whole lot.
3. I missed the first day of classes, and I will feel terrible and/or awful for the next couple.
4. I am tired of explaining this to everyone. I should prepare a pamphlet about it to hand around.
5. Various people were buzzing all over and being variously frantic about me having vanished. They were variously calmed down and upset in a longer range when they discovered the truth.
6. Nendrai in love are much more disturbing than primes in love.
7. Vae's not actually in love -- we discussed this a lot on the way back. Not even in lust. Just looking forward to being in love or lust in a few years, preferably with a nendrai closer to her generation. This was more along the lines of a course in Flirtatious Dance than anything else, for her.
8. Flirtatious Dance is very very hard when one is recovering from being killed. I don't have the energy to flirt or dance.
9. Llethillasessat's final heart-stab was halfway a nendrai formality -- a "defeating the intruder and sending her fleeing" end to a fight. And halfway a flirty symbolic gesture.
10. Ilottat sent flowers and comfort tea. The swoon!

(no subject)

to Gavotte With Me and You Now [3 Hivvem 4261]

All adventurers wear bound Heal the Awful Wound spells, which restore one to life if one is killed. The city guard supplied me with two when Vae almost killed me with an umbrella spell. I gather that Zeilock and Trye consider themselves adventurers.

Heal the Awful Wound does not heal one generously. One is still quite badly wounded, or zapped in our case.

Still, if I must compare getting killed and then healed by a Heal the Awful Wound to, say, being dumped by one's boyfriend for stealing from him, or (in my estimation) being a both-female Herethroy, I think that the social troubles are preferable. There's a good reason that execution is a good punishment for medium crimes! The only one I can think of who's had it worse is Thery, giving birth, and that's because she died several times.

The three of us sort of lay on the deck and moaned, while the nendrai ripped pieces out of each other and blasted each other with growing armies of elementals. Under other circumstances, it would have been all very interesting. It is regrettably hard to stay interested, or even stay awake, when one has just been killed and is about as badly wounded as possible.

Vae lost, of course.

("Of course" isn't quite an "of course". Her magic is very good, but she's not very experienced at using it. The other nendrai is of a distinctly older and weaker variety (N. violens), but seems to have learned a good deal about using the powers he does have over the last many centuries. (This is the great value of having had a Nendrai Ethology class -- after the nendrai defeats me, I can describe in detail its strategies, powers, and likely history.))

To be specific, Vae lost by virtue of the N. violens disembowelling her thoroughly while she was distracted unravelling some minor but tricky curse the N. violens had tossed at her.

Vae:[in Common]"And may I surrender now?"

N. Violens:[in Common]"Oh, certainly!" And stopped ripping her entrails out.

So we all got soundly defeated. Trye healed Vae as best he could, and then the N. Violens used a horrible Mutoc-based spell to heal the other 98% of the injuries he had done to her. He was barely scorched, himself, and didn't bother with healing.

N. Violens:[in somewhat archaic Ketherian, which I won't try to reproduce] "And would you like to stay and chat a bit, or simply get driven off?"

Me:"Can we go home yet?"

Zeilock and Trye:"Let's stay!"

Vae:"The chat a bit, and apologize."

N. Violens:"And who are all of you?"

Us:introduce, introduce, introduce, introduce.

N. Violens:"Llethillasessat am I, and the perplexed welcome to my territory I give, Trey, Zeilock and Sythyry." He glared at Vae.

Vaisessasilmin:"The big apology to you for our intrusion on your territory. Not saw we the markers, for large were our steps."

Llethillasessat and Vaisessasilmin:A complicated discussion in a disturbing hissy language that is not the Nice Language and has nothing nice about it, presumably about boundary markers and how Llethillasessat should mark so that someone like Vaisessasilmin could avoid rudeness.

Llethillasessat:"The all of you look drooped and woesome. Come home with me, rest, recover, and tomorrow when you feel better you shall be driven off."

Never Say a N. Violens Can't Dance [3-6 Hivvem 4261]

Llethillasessat rules a two hundred mile segment of the Nereidscray with an iron tail. Or maybe he's benevolent and nice. All the blee seemed to be very careful and polite around him. Then again, we were being very careful and polite around him too.

I suppose I ought to describe his palace. Um ... it was big. And had some rooms. One of them had a comfortable fireplace. Vaisessasilmin tucked me in and put a whole bunch of defensive spells around me, and I cast Extra Sleep in the Morning so I could get extra sleep in the afternoon, and I slept a long time and a half (the half from the spell), and woke up feeling awful. Being dead even for an instant isn't a very good thing.

Zeilock and Trye were still asleep, and surrounded by a half-bunch of defensive spells. I flew around a little, then decided I was too dizzy to fly and walked around a little, and heard Vaisessasilmin laughing from a parlor. I went to look.

Vaisessasilmin and Llethillasessat were curled up in a complicated knot, and he was tickling her.

That was far too disturbing. I went back to the fireplace and cast Extra Sleep in the Morning for sleep and extra sleep.

Anyways, we primes woke up a few times, and were fed a variety of disturbing local delicacies, and pretty much let the monsters take care of things and us.

On the 6th, we were well enough to travel. We felt rather hung over and ill, but not so bad that we couldn't pilot a skyboat with Vaisessasilmin doing most of the work. We didn't feel like doing any sightseeing. We gave Llethillasessat a variety of presents from Gavotte, which pleased him, but not to near-orgasm the way gifts to Vaisessasilmin do.

The nendrai hugged and smooched. Llethillasessat jabbed a long pointy claw through Vaisessasilmin's heart in mid-hug. Vaisessasilmin giggled and smooched him more.

She was all bouncy and happy and dripping her heart's blood on the way home. Though she was careful to disintegrate it past being a connection to her.

Aftermaths

1. Not only did we not get to the root of the World Tree (if any), we didn't even get out of the region that primes have explored.
2. The city guard interrogated all of us a whole lot.
3. I missed the first day of classes, and I will feel terrible and/or awful for the next couple.
4. I am tired of explaining this to everyone. I should prepare a pamphlet about it to hand around.
5. Various people were buzzing all over and being variously frantic about me having vanished. They were variously calmed down and upset in a longer range when they discovered the truth.
6. Nendrai in love are much more disturbing than primes in love.
7. Vae's not actually in love -- we discussed this a lot on the way back. Not even in lust. Just looking forward to being in love or lust in a few years, preferably with a nendrai closer to her generation. This was more along the lines of a course in Flirtatious Dance than anything else, for her.
8. Flirtatious Dance is very very hard when one is recovering from being killed. I don't have the energy to flirt or dance.
9. Llethillasessat's final heart-stab was halfway a nendrai formality -- a "defeating the intruder and sending her fleeing" end to a fight. And halfway a flirty symbolic gesture.
10. Ilottat sent flowers and comfort tea. The swoon!