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It's winter, and all is well with the tribe. Their new magic, an ability to make portals from one place to another, which was found by one of their members during the early-summer trip to meet with the other tribes in the area, let them both build up a decadent food stockpile and move to a much deeper part of the cave system without the worry of being unable to find their way back out. No-one has had to go hungry, and even the fiercest ice storm doesn't reach them; they are as content as kobolds can be.
Well, aside from their new mage, that is. She's bored, and curious. Making portals to known places is straightforward enough, with the magic she found, but that's far from the limit of what it can do... so one day, she slips away, portals off to a different cave system - one can't be too careful, after all - and experiments.
Temperature roughly the same... gravity roughly the same... air the same, not into stone or underwater or in a volcano or on top of a mountain... but, instead of patterning it after a place she knows, what happens if she only specifies those things, and lets the innate patterns of the spot she's casting on do the rest? Particularly this one part, which seems to specify the world...
She finishes the spell, and hesitates for just a moment before activating it.
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lurkingkobold
calescent
"The blessings don't do things. They describe things. If I go draw blessings, they will tell me things, but they won't make things happen."
lurkingkobold
The kobold considers this for a bit.
That doesn't seem to be much more than you'd learn from watching someone grow up, so, okay. It might cause problems in combination with kids not being able to switch tribes, but kids not being able to switch tribes is the real problem there.
That doesn't seem to be much more than you'd learn from watching someone grow up, so, okay. It might cause problems in combination with kids not being able to switch tribes, but kids not being able to switch tribes is the real problem there.
calescent
"Yeah."
Here is the chapel.
"Anyway, you can draw for yourself or other people. Want to try?"
Here is the chapel.
"Anyway, you can draw for yourself or other people. Want to try?"
lurkingkobold
Sure.
Hmm... the kobold drawing for Kiri is probably the best test, assuming Kiri has a good idea of what kinds of results they're likely to get.
Hmm... the kobold drawing for Kiri is probably the best test, assuming Kiri has a good idea of what kinds of results they're likely to get.
calescent
"I never get 'grace', that's one clue. If I sit here drawing until there are only three left they will all be 'grace'."
lurkingkobold
That does seem like a pretty useful test.
Hmmmm...
She rifles around in the bowl and picks a coin: Luck.
Hmmmm...
She rifles around in the bowl and picks a coin: Luck.
calescent
"...Doesn't tell us for sure either way. Draw some more."
calescent
Kiri names them as they go by, explains the ones that aren't clear.
lurkingkobold
The kobold arranges them into rows of five as she takes them from the bowl, and pauses when she's drawn 25.
Luck - Loyalty - Imagination - Joy - Innovation
Intelligence - Resolve - Beauty - Travel - Talent
Swiftness - Kindness - Resolve - Flexibility - Resilience
Flexibility - Serenity - Patience - Loyalty - Strength
Honor - Swiftness - Innovation - Health - Love
They are starting to seem less obviously relevant, but that might be normal when someone draws a bunch like this?
Luck - Loyalty - Imagination - Joy - Innovation
Intelligence - Resolve - Beauty - Travel - Talent
Swiftness - Kindness - Resolve - Flexibility - Resilience
Flexibility - Serenity - Patience - Loyalty - Strength
Honor - Swiftness - Innovation - Health - Love
They are starting to seem less obviously relevant, but that might be normal when someone draws a bunch like this?
calescent
"This doesn't seem to be pointing at anything really clear, anyway. They're not obviously wrong, but most blessings would not be obviously wrong for someone who was in a good mood because they'd recently acquired new magical powers, you know? Honor I don't usually get... patience I don't usually get but it might be more apt than most days today? I don't know what resolve and resilience are doing in there, Aleko has not been clothes shopping so 'beauty' is puzzling..."
lurkingkobold
Nod. Hm.
Maybe it'd help to see what she gets when she draws with her antimagic off: hope, vision, innovation, power, and travel.
That does seem to describe the situation better than what she'd been drawing, yes.
Maybe it'd help to see what she gets when she draws with her antimagic off: hope, vision, innovation, power, and travel.
That does seem to describe the situation better than what she'd been drawing, yes.
calescent
"Okay, so your antimagic probably frustrates the blessing magic, at least partly."
lurkingkobold
Mmhmm. (Good.)
She is a little curious what blessings she'd get, too, hmm... Time, synthesis, triumph, synthesis, time.
...okay...
She is a little curious what blessings she'd get, too, hmm... Time, synthesis, triumph, synthesis, time.
...okay...
calescent
"...That's weird. I mean, it could be a valid draw but five extraordinary blessings in a row... not likely."
lurkingkobold
Maybe.
Oh well. Neat when it does work, anyway. She returns the coins to the bowl.
Anything else before she goes home, hmmmmm. It would probably be a good idea to give Kiri a way to get in touch with her, in case something comes up before it's time for her to return - a little password-activated portal that they can put notes through, maybe.
Oh well. Neat when it does work, anyway. She returns the coins to the bowl.
Anything else before she goes home, hmmmmm. It would probably be a good idea to give Kiri a way to get in touch with her, in case something comes up before it's time for her to return - a little password-activated portal that they can put notes through, maybe.
calescent
"That sounds like a good idea. What would make a good surface to put a little portable portal on?"
lurkingkobold
Hm.
Mirrors are traditional for scrying, and one would work just as well for this, but she'd rather start a new tradition - hmmmmm. Something it wouldn't be too unusual to have or be carrying, a good size but not too big, sturdy enough to not break... well, for this world, how about a book? She can cast on just the cover, so if one of the pages rips that won't break it.
Mirrors are traditional for scrying, and one would work just as well for this, but she'd rather start a new tradition - hmmmmm. Something it wouldn't be too unusual to have or be carrying, a good size but not too big, sturdy enough to not break... well, for this world, how about a book? She can cast on just the cover, so if one of the pages rips that won't break it.
calescent
"All right. I'll go get a blank hardbound. Maybe I'll copy my notes on animalperson language into it."
lurkingkobold
And the kobold casts a portal spell on it: hold it just so and say 'kobold' to activate the portal, which goes to the cave she was experimenting in; hold it this other way and say 'kobold' a second time and it will close, or it will close on its own after ten minutes - watch your hands, but it'll close by shrinking rather than all at once, so there's some warning.
She should be able to check that spot a few times a day, though she can't guarantee it if she's busy or can't get away to read. (She's not sure yet how her tribe will react to that, but 'suspicious' is a reasonable assumption.)
She should be able to check that spot a few times a day, though she can't guarantee it if she's busy or can't get away to read. (She's not sure yet how her tribe will react to that, but 'suspicious' is a reasonable assumption.)