(no subject)

[sythyry]

Waking [13 Hispis 4385]

Prophetic Dream

I was awakened the first time around midafternoon the next day by a tremendous magical occurrence. Locador, it was, with Spiridor and Kennoc, and a tremendous weight of Mutoc. I decided, foolishly, that Vae was probably just trying to find the bathroom or some such thing.

I went back to sleep, and dreamed that Flokin (in the form of a three-headed bright-orange Sleeth) came to talk to me. "I lost a big and flamey-red silk handkerchief," It said. "It's right down there." It pointed at a vast patch of rippling red cloth that must have covered half a city-state on the world-branch below. "I want you to go find it."

"It's right there, isn't it?" I asked it.

"Yes, but I can't find it," the god said. "That's your job."

I would chalk this up to dreams being confusing, but actually it's theologically correct. The fire god is that confusing too. It says so in all the textbooks.

"I do hope I don't have a fever," I told the god. "All the textbooks say that the only dreams you talk in are fever dreams."

Then another magical occurrence occurred to me. This one was just Mutoc and Locador, but it was quite loud, and woke me up again.

Assassination Attempt

I opened my eyes. I had somehow slithered out of the fireplace in my sleep, and was lying in a frighteningly undignified position on the dingy yellow hearthrug. It was a stylistic calamity, for my feathers do not at all go well with dingy yellow.

Floating in the air above my head were seven dull brown levitating ceramic mugs, their handles tied together with butcher's twine. One of the mugs had an intricate wooden spoon in it.

I quite diligently and sensibly breathed fire at it.

"Hey! And why are you breathing fire at me?" it demanded, blocking the flames with a thoroughly complicated spell that teleported them a hundred miles away. "Careful of the spoooon!"

Oh, dearie, I thought to myself. I've just tried to attack the fire god.

"I didn't know that that was one of your forms," I said apologetically.

"The I just got a spoooooon!" chirped the cups. "So I wanted to be some cups to go with it!"

Oh, dearie, but slightly less dearie than before, I thought to myself. I've just tried to attack the nendrai.

"I thought you were Flokin," I quite cleverly remarked.

"And why are you trying to destroy the fire god's carved wooden spoon?" she asked, quite sensibly.

I remembered my dream. "Do I have a fever?"

"Yes, the you certainly do," she said. "Not another explanation for your behavior or your hallucination-like reasoning can I imagine!"

Chase Scene

"I'm not quite sure I believe you. For one thing, you didn't actually touch me to see if I felt hot," I said, rather crossly. I don't much like being woken up by nendrai pretending to be fire gods, you see.

"The acting-fevered is all on you, Sythyry," said Vae. "Not any need to actually touch you have I."

"No, I really want to know if I have a fever," I said, and rolled over and flew off. "Phaniet? Phaniet? Where are you?"

Kantele looked up from her desk. I imagine she was putting some papers in order, not that she ever lets papers get out of order. "Phaniet is in the solarium ... well, one of the solaria off that way, I think. Enjoying the view and a vigorous discussion with Este."

"I had better not interrupt her then," I said.

She curled her tail. "Este would surely appreciate the interruption." She grinned. "What, you miscast a spell and now there are cups following you?"

"No, that's Vae, being more than usually inexplicable. You can help. Do I have a fever?" I landed on her shoulder and pressed my neck to her nose.

She felt me with nose, tongue, and fingerpads, those being the main furless parts of her body that are suitable for touching her employer. "You do not have a fever. Why?"

So I told her about the Flokin dream. Vae buzzed around overhead, clinking together impatiently.

"Sythyry, that is a true manifestation of Flokin," she said.

"Oh, dear. I didn't really want to go questing," I said.

"Oh, it's not your manifestation of Flokin. It's from Bettangour's Tales of Gods, part of Yuzu's story. You read it to Lithia when she was four. It happened three hundred and twenty-nine years ago."

I blinked foolishly at her.

"As your personal secretary, allow me to recommend that you have a chalice of kathia before you attempt any sort of rational thought or purposeful activity," advised my wise secretary.

"The important advice is this!" clattered Vae. "Without such enhancement, I fear for the safety of my precious, precious spoon!" She wrapped the spoon in six-plus-twelve defensive spells.

Barroom Brawl

They abducted me to the galley. Mellilot seethed leaves and spices, and filled a child's-size chalice for me, and an adult's-size chalice for Kantele, and ... "Vae, would you like some kathia?"

"The yes, the yes!" Vae can't easily refuse things that primes offer her.

"Um ... which cup of you should I pour it in?"

Vae turned back into a ugly, large lizard. "Not in me, not in me!"

I drank two and a third child-sized chalices -- I ought to have had an adult chalice, come to think of it -- and tried to make sense of the day. "OK. That wasn't the fire god. Flokin doesn't use Mutoc Locador spells."

"Not Flokin, not Flokin. The two nendrai who are dear to you use Mutoc Locador spells! And very sweet they are today! See? A spoon!", said Vae.

"Very well ... what about this spoon?"

OOC

[Sythyry usually has nothing to do with RL, but I've been sick lately, and kind of like this. No other incidents are related to RL. -bb]

Comments

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

Theory:

Oxie came to visit Vae ("The two nendrai who are dear to you use Mutoc Locador spells! And very sweet they are today!" How does Vae now how Oxie is doing today specifically?), bringing her the spoon as a gift, which is why Vae is so jealously guarding it.

During the visit, Vae mentioned your plans to make a weapon against her. Such a device would necessarily be a weapon against Oxie as well.

Even if Vae is okay with you having such a weapon, Oxie may not be.

Conclusion:

Oxie just smacked you with some sort of nendrai version of Magesterium in the Daylight, looking for a weakness to counterbalance your new weapon.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

An interesting theory! But in fact Oixe is trapped at home for the next century or so, until her+Vae's egg has hatched and the monster within matured and left home.

But yes, the artifact would be useful against Oixe. Not as useful as against Vae; Oixe is rather more the warrior than Vae, rather less the sorcerer. I shall have to attend to the matter ... somehow. I have no idea how.

The only weapon involved in the scene was me trying to breathe on Vae. Though Mellilot's kathia is weapon-powerful if not actually weaponized.

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

But in fact Oixe is trapped at home for the next century or so

According to whom?

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

According to everyone. Nesting nendrai are like that.

[deor.livejournal.com]

So Oixe is trapped at home - how far can her spells reach?

Also, how fortunate that it takes 100 years for a nendri egg to hatch - I imagine the Tree would be crawling with them if they reproduced faster!

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

It takes Vae several teleports to get to Oixe, and Vae is far, far better at Locador than Oixe is. Vae gave Oixe some ... they are envelopes, I suppose, but they are also sentient Locador elementals (of the artificial variety, not the dreadful spawn of the space god). They teleport repeatedly, and serve as messengers.

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

Not a bad theory... I certainly didnt have a CLUE what happened in this writing!

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Actually, just what you'd expect happened, and Vae came to wake me up to tell me about it -- even on Strayway, there aren't many people she can be happy at. I was just unusually sleepy, is all.

I'll finish the story next time!

[Bard, as often happens, thought to write a couple sentences before getting to the actual plot, and it kind of expanded. -bb]

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Oh -- and "wizards need to take dreams seriously, but usually, they're just dreams."

[momentrabbit.livejournal.com]

"Very well ... what about this spoon?"

Not what, Oh Zi Ri. Whom.

[rowyn]

It's a good thing you've only taken an interest in the Seamstress's Guild and the Smith's Guild. The Assassin's Guild would have none of you!

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

How do you know shi hasn't? If not like the members just go around announcing they're in it.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Assassin's guild?

Murder is illegal here, remember?

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Even of foreigners? I thought that was how thieves stayed in business.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

My translator has been in the brandy. Thieves steal, which is to say, they take things from foreigners, which is somewhat legal. Murder, even of foreigners, is killing them: rather less legal.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Right! The only people you can kill are monsters, and that would be the adventurer's guild.

[rowyn]

And your criminals do not organize? Lucky you!

[kensaro.livejournal.com]

A survey of the Guild of Merchants in the docks area of Ankh-Morpork found 987 women who gave their profession as "seamstress" – and two needles.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

So Oixe used a kennoc spiridor etc. spell to find Vae since she wasn't at home, then sent her a wooden spoon as a present?

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Pretty close!

[goodluckfox.livejournal.com]

"All these moons are yours except Europa. Attempt no landings there."

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

We're going away from the moons, not towards them.

[kensaro.livejournal.com]

I can't imagine Flokin being offended by getting fire breathed at it, ey'd probably consider it being affectionate, or at least familiar. :)

[postrodent.livejournal.com]

My dear Sythyry, I would have to guzzle a dangerous amount of narcotic tea for my daily life to begin to be as strange as yours.
In any case, I suggest that you stock up on... what do you guys have that burns swiftly or explodes brightly? I seem to recall that Flokin enjoys consuming such things. So if the fiery god actually appears, it may perhaps be mollified by a snack.