(no subject)

[sythyry]

Nycathath [14 Hispis 4385]

A black giant spread its black wings and leapt off one of the houses on the inistella's back, flying far faster than I could. "What on wood is that?" whined Phaniet, who has never been much of an adventurer outside of the laboratory and the bedroom.

"He is a nycathath," said Rheng. Phaniet did not look greatly enlightened. "He is the large Cani with wings -- he is the bat-giant. In his armor, with his vast metal sword, he is a warrior greater than us, greater than our nendrai."

"I don't see weapons or armor," said Phaniet.

"He creates them with a spell," explained Rheng.

Phaniet shuddered. "So he's a terrible wizard too?"

Rheng snorted. "He has only one spell. But it is a very good spell. Our wizard and our nendrai together cannot match it." (Which is literally true; it is a spell of a dozen aspects, most of which Vae or I can exceed. Just not all at once.)

"Ahoy, the skyboat of the wizard!" shouted the nycathath in a voice of grand drums.

"Ahoy, the nycathath and the inistella!" shouted Yerenthax, nearly as loud and nearly as deep.

"May I come to you and land on your deck? For dire need is upon us, and a great sadness has come to us, and primes shall die if we do not act and act soon," said the nycathath.

"The primes here are my primes! If you kill even one of them I shall slay you with a variety pack of a thousand assorted pre-death and two thousand post-death torments!" hissed Vae.

"Not your primes shall die, but my primes!" proclaimed the nycathath.

"Hostage situation," I hissed quietly to Rheng and Grinwipey. "On my signal, you two zoom over and rescue whoever you can."

"Aw, I can't rush any faster'n a Herethroy humpin' a hat," grumbled Grinwipey.

"Hold on to Rheng. Teleport if you need to."

"You may land," said Yerenthax. "And deliver to us an explanation of your misdeeds."

The nycathath folded his wings, and landed on the balcony. (Strayway's balconies and decks are retractable, and generally kept inside, but fighting through windows is sometimes awkward.) "In brief: five Rassimel philosophers and their families dwell with us. Before yesterday, the most of them fell asleep, one by one. They will not wake; we cannot rouse them. They take neither food nor drink. We fear for them, that they will die."

"Plague ship, is your inistella," I said.

"But these are Rassimel: they are prime, they are the spawn of the healing god. What plague could touch them? It is we who suffer diseases, not primes."

"Actually there are four contagious diseases for primes: one for Rassimel. The symptoms are, first, unaccountable sleepiness; second, a deep sleep from which there is no waking; third, death," I said, in approximately the words of the second lecture of my Diseases and Maladies class a century before.

"What can be done?" demanded the nycathath.

"A routine Healoc spell can heal it," I said. "Nobody dies of it unless they're very unlucky, and quite careless to boot."

"Then bring your luck and your care to the back of mighty Doöaru, if you can, that our companions shall not die!"

"Aw, what a load of licorice-iced pony cupcakes!" said Grinwipey. "What is this, Stupid Catch The Traveller Trick Number Three? You're all like 'We've got this little puggly trouble and we're too stupided in the brain because we've been phelping each other front and back all day like a bunch of doik-fundered puffies, but you get to help us, you lucky wicky plucky vundervoips.' And then we get over there and -- Ooh, pissgargling surprise! All the dying Rassies are really a bunch of duffer-luffing ororosti! And you're all like, Oops, terribly sorry, natural mistake mister, I'm so fuddled from my erotic anaphoresis activities and skoonerdonking that of course I mistake strings of floating eyeballs for furry raccoon boys. Now I gotta kill you.' Sheesh, nycabuster. If you're gonna do a sponge-pounding trap on us, at least do one I didn't have heard of when I was three."

Comments

[ionotter.livejournal.com]

My goodness! Grinwipey certainly is a subtle chap, isn't he?

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

In the sense of "his precise meaning is almost impossible to discern"! At least, I'm generally glad when I don't precisely discern it.

[kensan-oni.livejournal.com]

... It's just pony shaped cupcakes, right? I mean, they're not made from ponies, are they? *whimper*

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

I think they're more likely made by ponies. Unless it's somehow a metaphor for copulation, which must always be considered a likely alternative, for Grinwipey.

[kensan-oni.livejournal.com]

Well, if they're made by ponies, then they must be good. :)

Licorice is good stuff...

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Well, it *might* be true. It seems a simple illusionary scout or far-seer spell could see the truth without risking a trap.

Not that that really puts you in a good situation even so, although with everyone still on the boat you could teleport.

Then again, it could be true *and* a trap. That's always best if you can arrange it.

[rowyn]

Well, best for the Nycathath, anyway. Whose side are you on?

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that he's on the side of Chaos. Even in a world that does not technically have Chaos.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

I was just trying to think like a monster, for the sake of argument and/or being properly suspicious, since I would have been totally fooled by the simple version of the trap.

[mharreff.livejournal.com]

The bound spells make a good compromise, yes? Wake from Mircannis' Endless Slumber cares not at all whether the fine doctor casts it or the one-tentacled Khtsoyis. Put the spells on the several small items with simple triggers, and if there are sick Rassimel, they can be healed, without the healer needing to go to the sick Rassimel.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

That might have been a good idea, though, as with most healing spells, having an actual doctor casting them is better than not. I didn't think of it in any case.

[mharreff.livejournal.com]

Yes, the true thing this is. But the immediate threat would be eased, and the sick Rassimel could seek a healer's attention, or have it sought for them, with a lesser urgency, no?

But making plots and plans for the past is silly.

[mmsword.livejournal.com]

OK, note to self: There are very, very scary things that live between the trees in your home. And I thought the Verticals were bad...

[kensan-oni.livejournal.com]

There has been this theory of mine that somewhere out there there is this nut, and there is this monster species that lives in the nut, and they live in it so when it falls out of the World Tree and makes a new sappling, they'll all ascend to prime status.

... It could work, but I think that that line of thinking is more nuttier then the nut they live in.

[rowyn]

<3

[cowboy-r.livejournal.com]

Does the world tree fruit? For that matter, what are world trees rooted in?

[mmsword.livejournal.com]

That last question so far, isn't really known. Going down trunk gets a bit.. hazardous and though many have attempted to find out what's down there, as far as I know, none have come back.

[chipuni.livejournal.com]

*grin*

Nice idea.

But the next layer of the World Tree is coming in above our heroes, just as it always does.

[kensan-oni.livejournal.com]

But trees both grow and spawn, that's the beauty of being a plant. :D

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

...

[Bard wonders where it could put this nut in Srineia. -- bb]

...

[kobolds.livejournal.com]

I think I love Grinwipey, his comments are hilarious.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

He is a man who speaks his mind.

And he has a filthy, filthy mind.

[Bard beams. "Me too. He's absolutely a delight to write." -bb]

[cowboy-r.livejournal.com]

Pissgargling I can understand as a curse... it would be very unpleasant, one imagines. But Pissgargling surprise? Whoops, that's piss I'm gargling? Hmmm. Not so sure....

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

It's frothy and yellow when it's fresh, so you might think you were drinking beer? Of course, halfway down you realize it's piss, and don't want to *swallow*...

[yotogi.livejournal.com]

So just how big is the large Cani with wings, anyway?

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

(Bat-morph really. Nine feet tall, and brawny.)

[yotogi.livejournal.com]

That's a big bat.

[gavinfox.livejournal.com]

Its a gigantic cani looking MAN-BAT!!

But Batman would still be able to outthink and outfight it!

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

Isn't anaphoresis an uncharacteristically technical term for Grinwipey?

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

He uses quite fancy language now and then.

I have never dared ask him just what he means by it (or anything). I'm afraid he might tell me.

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

It's the medical term for the inability to sweat.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Yes, but I'm more worried about how it might be done erotically.

[cowboy-r.livejournal.com]

I'm sure there's a spell for that....

[shurhaian.livejournal.com]

Sweaty fur isn't pretty, so arguably rendering oneself unable to sweat during exertions(and, presumably, keeping oneself from overheating by other means) is more attractive...

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

Alas! I begin to understand!

[stormydragon.livejournal.com]

Some people find the smell of fresh sweat rather erotic. It's only if you don't shower after and it gets rancid that it becomes a problem.

[shurhaian.livejournal.com]

Possibly so, but I was more referring to the appearance of damp and bedraggled fur - not even properly and all-over wet.

[postrodent.livejournal.com]

Grinwipey sounds like an important addition to your party, there. His, er, prose voice makes me think that he should be compiling an alternate account of your journey, perhaps with the working title "Fear and Loathing in Srineia".

[waywind.livejournal.com]

I second this notion!

*laugh*

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

Grinwipey is a smart thug.