View Flat HTML
View Metadata
Search Post
Tumunzahar makes Menegroth look like a contract project. Which, the Dwarves assure her, it was. The stonework is astonishingly careful and beautiful, silky to the touch up close while from a distance it gives the impression of stretching on forever above, a sky of stone with crystals for stars. Vast natural cave systems are connected by dozens of perfectly smooth, gently sloped broad stone pathways from which the fall, if she fell, would be several miles down. There are handrails. "We use those to move materials carts," someone explains to her, "we're not going to be reckless."
There's an amphitheater, a place where a hundred of the stone walkways twine around to create space for a hundred thousand people to sit in close proximity, and someone is giving a lecture or a demonstration at the base of it, the seats closest to him filled with eager, tiny, bearded Dwarf-children.
And they spiral down, and down, and down, past waterfalls and egg-sized gemstones left half in the rock and halls of crystal. Everything grows gradually more ornate and more perfectly maintained and the clang of hammers fades behind them. "People say," her guide says, "that we only have a council instead of a single King because there were nine winners of the competition to design the throne so we couldn't just select one person to sit it." And they push open the doors to reveal, indeed, nine thrones so elaborate it would be hard to choose between them, and nine squat bearded people sitting them.
+ Show First Post
purposeful_glory
Cool. She uses Daeron's numerals; it's that or Quenya, and while Doriath's less friendly Quenya's the language that has speakers willing to pick up the local languages as necessary. (Asgardian and whatever the Dwarves call their language are right out given alternatives closer to home and less private. She should've asked Rathsvith what the deal was with that. Next time she's there.) So, these are marks you can scratch in the dirt - this she does; they might be spooked by illusions and the only advantage here is convenience - and they will keep track of how many things there are! There are this many blades of grass; now there are this many; you don't want to have to memorize too many symbols, so here's how you go past that with the concept of multiplication as illustrated by a rectangle of dots poked in the ground.
It's not clear if it'll all stick, but they're certainly impressed.
purposeful_glory
She gets them as far as three-digit numbers (in twelves, this is 144 and up), mentions that you can keep going with more places of numbers as far as you like if you want to count a lot of something, and gives them a break at that point if they seem like they might be having trouble with retention.
They look unused to sitting still or learning things. They're very complimentary about the idea, though. Very clever of her.
purposeful_glory
"It wasn't my idea. I learned all these symbols from somebody far away who made them up."
Still. Very clever.
purposeful_glory
"I hope its useful!"
It's... sort of weird how unprepared she is to, basically, uplift, a bunch of people with literally nothing to start with. Disturbing how tempting it is to outright lie to them because they don't have the concepts to understand the truth; she avoids that, simplifying but not to the point of falsehood, but the inclination's there. Loki has never liked the idea that new races are "children" relative to older ones. Childhood is an individual matter and she thinks you could take a bright Midgardian and plop them in a galactic hub and explain things on demand for a few weeks and wind up with somebody who at least sort of knew what they were doing.
But these people are - developmentally adults with a language pre-loaded, but they have no cultural history or context, no life experience that isn't wandering around gathering things, she can't build on anything because there is nothing -
Well. They'll be warm and they'll be able to treat injuries and maybe they'll get somewhere with the counting.
"I'll see if I can do anything about those demons who've been making trouble."
And if she has her way all of these folks are going to live long enough to try it.
She walks off. She didn't come here to be worshipped by people she doesn't even know how to help more than a little; she will wait until she's out of sight before she does overt magic.
It's... sort of weird how unprepared she is to, basically, uplift, a bunch of people with literally nothing to start with. Disturbing how tempting it is to outright lie to them because they don't have the concepts to understand the truth; she avoids that, simplifying but not to the point of falsehood, but the inclination's there. Loki has never liked the idea that new races are "children" relative to older ones. Childhood is an individual matter and she thinks you could take a bright Midgardian and plop them in a galactic hub and explain things on demand for a few weeks and wind up with somebody who at least sort of knew what they were doing.
But these people are - developmentally adults with a language pre-loaded, but they have no cultural history or context, no life experience that isn't wandering around gathering things, she can't build on anything because there is nothing -
Well. They'll be warm and they'll be able to treat injuries and maybe they'll get somewhere with the counting.
"I'll see if I can do anything about those demons who've been making trouble."
And if she has her way all of these folks are going to live long enough to try it.
She walks off. She didn't come here to be worshipped by people she doesn't even know how to help more than a little; she will wait until she's out of sight before she does overt magic.
They cheerfully wish her well.
purposeful_glory
At least they are not terrified of her or something! That would have been bad!
She goes over a rise and flies off. Big lake? Hello big lake?
She goes over a rise and flies off. Big lake? Hello big lake?
There is, indeed, a big lake over the next set of tall hills or short mountains. There are people living beside it. There's an old forest.
Men-type people indeed. The forest looks healthy and totally devoid of spiders, though the Men all avoid it.
purposeful_glory
Loki goes and visits these Men in much the same way as the last bunch: hello, I'm Loki, do you want any help with things, how about a warm singing rock or a healing singing rock or both. What's up with the forest.
There are demons in the forest, if you go too near you'll never be seen again, or be gruesomely eviscerated.
purposeful_glory
What do the demons look like, or does nobody survive seeing one?
She gets a dozen conflicting stories.
Not especially. Some people might just be inventing stories for attention. The consensus is that if you go into the forest you'll see terrible things but probably come back out, and that the demons can really strike anyone.
purposeful_glory
Loki thanks them, sees if anybody wants the math lesson, delivers a math lesson...
...and wanders into the forest.
...and wanders into the forest.
The trees creak around her, and there's a strangled howling in the distance. The forest looks perfectly nice and healthy, though.
purposeful_glory
Gosh. Howling. Somehow lacks the panache of a chittering giant spider, though, this forest could take notes from the other.
A branch crashes to the ground in front of her. Then an osanwë-vision of trees clawing their way towards her, though they're doing nothing of the sort.
purposeful_glory
"If this forest or someone who claims it wants me to leave they could maybe just say so," she says, stepping over the branch.
You speak our language?
purposeful_glory
"Translation magic. What gives with the creepy forest vibe?"