View Flat HTML
View Metadata
Search Post
The Lord Ruler is in his palace, when he sees a sight he hasn't seen in centuries. Trees, sunlight...is he hallucinating? The fact that there's a forest in his living room isn't the surprising part. The fact that there's a forest on his planet is. As soon as he walks through the door to where his living room isn't, it's definitely not a hallucination.
His stores of Allomantic metals abruptly disappear. They're still physically there, but the power is completely gone. He immediately turns to go back, only to see more forest.
At least his Feruchemy still works—he can tell because he's still alive—but that won't last him forever. He only has so much stored youth, and without both sets of abilities he can't replenish it. He hasn't been in so much danger since the beheading that one time. Returning to Scadrial is the highest and currently only priority. If spontaneous forests are a thing, he needs to find someone who can explain them and more importantly how to get back.
The next few hours are spent walking in an essentially randomly chosen direction, with the sun to his right. He's quite certain that suns are supposed to be moving across the sky, but that's not a pressing emergency. He already knew he wasn't on his own planet when he saw proper trees and plants instead of ash-covered monstrosities. Whenever he calls out, nobody responds. If it's an empty spontaneous forest, he's probably doomed.
After some time, he hears his stomach growl. He hasn't seen much that looks edible, but possibly that's just because he's not used to real plants. Berries. Berries used to exist. Those berries look tasty, and if they're poisonous it's not like he needs to worry about it. As always, he has a truly ridiculous amount of stored health in his gold jewelry. Tapping gold just in case, he eats a handful.
+ Show First Post
unprophesied_of_ages
unprophesied_of_ages
"The reason I ask is because Thorn thinks you're only acting because of orders. In the case where his people come here, that particular misconception might or might not matter."
unprophesied_of_ages
"That we're mutually vassals and I surprised you with a 'take no new action' order.
No, wait, he also knows that I handed you control of my Empire when I left. Never mind."
No, wait, he also knows that I handed you control of my Empire when I left. Never mind."
imeanforever
"So Thorn expects that either I get along well enough with you or that you're crafty enough with orders to do that, and I think he's got enough information to know that you aren't quite that crafty with orders. He wasn't crafty enough to get adequate control over me. Acknowledging that my initiative is valid won't cause extra problems there."
unprophesied_of_ages
"He might conceivably think that I thought I could control you that way, but we can probably assume he doesn't. Glorious savior it is, then.
I feel like the most interesting things—the emigration to Fairyland, that I can help people forget things—should definitely not be published. Even sorcery, there's no credible reason why we should want people to know about it even though we do."
I feel like the most interesting things—the emigration to Fairyland, that I can help people forget things—should definitely not be published. Even sorcery, there's no credible reason why we should want people to know about it even though we do."
imeanforever
"And we should hang on to things we know and Thorn's people don't, like the fact that sorcery works in the mortal world after all, as long as possible."
unprophesied_of_ages
"Oh, definitely.
Speaking of which, are you a match for Thorn's sorcerers now that you have the earrings?"
Speaking of which, are you a match for Thorn's sorcerers now that you have the earrings?"
imeanforever
"I... will be able to surprise them relative to what they'd expect of my competence otherwise. I think I could beat Rainfall unless Rainfall surprised me or figured out that the earrings were helping. I might need more practice using them to know if I could beat Blossom."
unprophesied_of_ages
"To a first approximation, they will let you think fast enough to stop time relative to your opponent. If you also need physical movement for sorcery, I can get you another spike to match."
imeanforever
"I might need to move my eyes, turn my head, to see more of the space."
unprophesied_of_ages
"Oh. Right. I use them together so much, I tend to think of that as part of the mental one. Suppose I probably should, then."
imeanforever
She nods. "I'm not sure where to put a third chunk of metal that won't get in my way..."
unprophesied_of_ages
"You could put it where your bronze earring is. Since you already have two spikes made of bronze, and those are touching your skin, you could store the alertness in one of those instead.
The next spike goes through your heart. Do you think you might want to rethink it?"
The next spike goes through your heart. Do you think you might want to rethink it?"
imeanforever
"I didn't know the spikes could be dual-purposed like that but I suppose it makes sense; I'll do that. It can't kill me. What other side effects might I need to consider?"
unprophesied_of_ages
"More spikes can make you more susceptible to Allomancy that affects emotions. The first few barely matter, but if you're racking them up like this I imagine you'll want to be warned."
imeanforever
"...I can layer my spell a few more times. Does it make me more susceptible to anything else?"
unprophesied_of_ages
"Not unless you get a lot more. Inquisitors have enough spikes, enough pieces of soul tacked onto their own, that they need a linchpin spike holding them together. You'd be up to seven Hemalurgic spikes with the next one; that's less than I have."
imeanforever
"Okay. It seems like a win to add it, probably. If at some point the disadvantages of having a lot of spikes outweigh the advantages of some particular subset of spikes I can take them out."
unprophesied_of_ages
"They are conveniently interchangeable that way. I can get the relevant one in probably five minutes."
imeanforever
"If you take a spike out of a mortal's heart, what happens to the mortal?"
unprophesied_of_ages
"They heal the damage because they're an Inquisitor and have stored up enough health to do that. I would have mentioned this when you asked about downsides otherwise."
imeanforever
"You may in general operate in ways conducive to the good-faith advancement of our mutual goals."
unprophesied_of_ages
"Thank you." He was hoping for something broad.
He takes off and returns in a few minutes with a six-inch piece of pewter partially sticking out of his chest.
He takes off and returns in a few minutes with a six-inch piece of pewter partially sticking out of his chest.