« Back
Generated:
Post last updated:
everyday's a revolution
Blair gets dropped on a new world
Permalink Mark Unread

Cooper, Anna May, and Blair are probably a bit too deep in the bottle, because they're sitting by Anna May's ATV, Cooper with a glue gun and a pile of plastic rhinestones, Anna May with car stickers and a pair of scissors, and Blair themselves with a paintbrush and some cheap acrylics, laughing and teasing and having a grand old time.

Blair finishes the last painted star with a little curlicue flourish, because stars are Fancy, then laughs and stands and twists to see what Cooper's doing. "You 'bout done with that?" they ask, "I've got a hankering to take this baby for a spin."

Anna May giggles, a flush on her cheeks. "That'll be a sight. Wonder what's it's gonna do?"

Cooper narrows his eyes in concentration, his tongue poking out between his lips. "It's gonna flip on your fool ass is what, this's dumber than Hunter jumping that ravine."

"C'mon, don't be such a sourpuss, where's your sense of adventure?" Blair teases.

Cooper pauses to consider that, then says, solemnly and carefully, "My sense of adventure is currently drunk off its ass, call back in, oh, a week."

They stick their tongue out at him, but he just rolls his eyes and pushes the last little rhinestone in place. "There. Try not to break your neck."

Blair whoops then climbs on as their friends back away. The ignition turns like a knife through butter, and the ATV purrs to life. They glance around, spot a likely hill, say, "Hey y'all, watch this - " and floor it, zooming and jumping with a laugh. They're at the apex, and then something flashes and twists and there's stars in the black -

And they're elsewhere, dropping to the ground and jarring to a stop. Blair's stomach turns, and they barely hang on as a handle goes in their gut.

Permalink Mark Unread

They're on a beach now. It's a lovely day! There are people around, all of them wearing wooden medallions. Most of them seem to be hunting for clams. At least, that's what they're doing before they notice the ATV and turn and stare. The adults urge the children to keep their distance.

Permalink Mark Unread

Wait what - 

Cooper and Anna May aren't here, Blair's somewhere weird - they were in the mountains, how'd they get to the beach -

They're still kinda drunk, but they're able to realize that apparently three people adding random ass designs to a ATV results in teleportation.

"Uh. Howdy y'all. Sorry 'bout that, was playing with a new design. Uh. Where am I?" they call out in English (not remembering to activate their communication tattoo, they hardly use it).

Permalink Mark Unread

Panicked foreign language! Confused foreign language?

One man tries a different foreign language.

Permalink Mark Unread

...Not America probably then. Ahhhh they are way too drunk for this.

They touch their tattoo, a curling musical staff, a treble clef by their ear and notes spilling down to their throat. It glimmers briefly, then they clear their throat and say, "Uh. Sorry. New design went kinda topsy turvey. ...Where am I?"

Permalink Mark Unread

A young woman glances at the others and takes several steps toward Blair. "We call this place Acarthen," she says. "Who gave you our language?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I've got a communication tattoo. Haven't heard of Acarthen, what country's that?"

Permalink Mark Unread

She shares a glance with an older woman before answering.

"Acarthen is the country. Who granted you your communication tattoo?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Uh." They try to remember. "Artist was with Body Art Tattoos? Or something like that. Is this somewhere in Europe?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"You are not in Europe anymore," says the older woman. "What god makes your tattoo work?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Uh. No. I'm from Appalachia. In America. No god? Or, like, the God, depends on who you ask I guess. It's just magic? A craft, you know? Made me better at being myself." They'd thought it'd make them a better singer, 'communicate with everyone' had been a kinda weird effect.

Permalink Mark Unread

"What kind of craft? Who can do that kind of craft? Why aren't you sure if it's a gift from your god?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"...All crafts? Everyone? And uh, I am way too drunk for theology."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Here no one knows how to do any magic. Can we learn to do yours?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Not sure. If you don't already have it."

Permalink Mark Unread

"You mentioned 'the' god earlier. Which one is that?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"...The. Abrahamic one?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Doesn't have a name? What do you carry for your Abrahamic god?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Uh. Do you not know what Christianity is. Christians and Jews and Muslims believe there's one God, therefore He doesn't need a name? And those're the Abrahamic religions. I think. And what do you mean, 'what do I carry.'"

Ah where are they. These're humans, they look human, the air's breathable, the chance of a tricked out ATV teleporting them to another planet is ridiculous.

They could ask for a star chart or something, except they don't know a single damn constellation except the Dippers and Orion and not seeing those wouldn't rule out shit.

Permalink Mark Unread

"Who told you there was only one god? There are at least half a dozen. And I mean what you carry from your god. Like this, I wear this for Forth." She holds up her pendant.

Permalink Mark Unread

"I. Used to have a cross pendant my gran got me? When she decided I was being a rebellious heathen? But that wasn't from God unless everything is. We. Don't interact with Him. Like not provably."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Ah. Huh. We interact with Forth. Provably."

Permalink Mark Unread

"...I think I want a star chart. And maybe a glass of water and somewhere to sober up."

Drinking and crafting: not trying that again, but no amount of coulda woulda shoulda's is gonna get them out of this pickle they're in.

Permalink Mark Unread

"I don't know what a star chart is but you can have a rest anywhere you like as long as you're not in anyone's way and have someone bring you some water." To one of the children: "Ofrec! Get our guest some water!"

Permalink Mark Unread

No star charts. Okay. Low tech, humanish aliens. With actual gods and weird magic.

They get off their ATV and examine it a bit. It's faded, the paint already flaking and the rhinestones coming loose. It might not be safe to ride, let alone try a repeat. And they can't just repair it, trying the same design twice is bad luck and worse if you're playing high-stakes.

Plus, the craft mead they were all drinking might've played a role, craft alcohol does weird things to magic which someone should've remembered.

"Uh. I reckon it's probably a bad idea for anyone to mess with this. Or touch it. Specially since y'all don't have the same magic? I'll. Try a new design later, see about getting home."

Permalink Mark Unread

"How are you going to use that to get home?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Hopefully same way I got here. I use it to get places, I guess we accidentally made it very good at getting people places."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Can you use it to take people or things with you, back and forth?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Uh. It broke this time, so I'd probably have to make a new design each time? And probably anyone and anything I could fit on it."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Well. You can stay here while you fix it. If you want more from us than plain water you'll have to earn your keep."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Suppose that's fair." And place to rest?

Permalink Mark Unread

Large parts of the beach are not in use. No one seems to be volunteering to let Blair into their house.

Permalink Mark Unread

Ugh. Anyone back home except douchebag neighbor would'a let them stay at least a night.

"Once I'm recovered I can make things - more themselves. Last longer, work better. Have'ta craft it somehow, but I could like paint a wall and that wall'll stand until the magic wears off. Which's a while if it's just sitting there being a wall."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Can you improve weapons? Would the magic on them last longer than on your vehicle?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"...Yeah? Magic usually lasts at least round about a year. I'd wanna know who's being shot at first, though."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Us, if Thecal and Nanem get involved in the war in the west. We don't want to start anything, just be prepared if things don't wait for us to start them."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I am not from this planet probably and am really, really way too drunk to decide war stuff. - Oh, is there an apocalypse beast? Because I'm pretty sure everyone on my planet noticed the apocalypse beast."

Permalink Mark Unread

"No. How likely is your apocalypse beast to follow you here?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Uh. It lives in the north and I think's never bothered with Appalachia, dunno how'd it even notice me being there to follow."

Permalink Mark Unread

"It had better not follow you. Well, what are you willing to do, if not weapons?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"If I wasn't drunk and had ever talked to more'n two people here I'd be less bleh about weapons. I can do buildings, clothes, vehicles, phones - most any solid item - and make drinks that do shit, I can't do things on people, I'm not trained, but non-people're easy."

Permalink Mark Unread

"What is a phone?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Communication thingy, I don't know how to make one from scratch."

Permalink Mark Unread

"What can you do to buildings and clothes?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Make them. Better at being buildings and clothes? Like durable and warm and shit."

Permalink Mark Unread

"And do they do anything else? Allow you to track the wearer or steal their energy?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"That's. Not what they do normally, I can't make something into a thing it's not."

Permalink Mark Unread

She addresses her own people. "Anyone want to volunteer to test our guest's magic on your clothes? No kids." Some five-or-so-year-olds immediately look disappointed but she doesn't seem to be counting eleven-year-olds as kids because there's one of those in the group of three volunteers that drop what they're doing (or drop the pretense that they're doing anything but watching Blair) and come over to talk to Blair.

"Can you enchant things while someone's still wearing them?" asks a volunteer.

Permalink Mark Unread

"I have to do something - paint it, embroider it - the magic's in the craft."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Did you bring your tools?" asks one of the people interested in clothes that are better at being clothes. "If not I have some thread you can use."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Uhh, no, didn't. Thanks."

Permalink Mark Unread

He runs off up the beach and into the woods. He's gone a couple minutes.

"I'm not sure I have anything you can use," says another of the interested people. "What would work?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Anything that can change it, the more permanent the change the longer the magic lasts."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'll... figure something out?"

The other guy comes back with a spare shirt and some red thread which he offers Blair. These people's textiles all seem to be handmade.

Permalink Mark Unread

Drunk embroidery had not been on their list of things they wanted to do today. But, whatever.

The handmade cloth doesn't strike them as that weird - they still have hand-me-downs that're a couple hundred years old, with embroidery slowly added or changed over the years to keep the magic fresh.

"Hm. Any patterns you like a lot?" they ask spare shirt guy.

Permalink Mark Unread

"I like waves. Does the pattern you choose determine the magic you get?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"More that it helps to match patterns to people, it's the working that does the magic."

Permalink Mark Unread

He nods but he doesn't really understand.

Half the people here have given up the pretense of still being busy and are just watching Blair now.

Permalink Mark Unread

They embroider with slow but neat stitches. Concentrating on it's hard, and they keep fumbling, but the haze from the alcohol's clearing a bit, especially once they have some water. They do just the collar, as a proof of concept, then say, "The collar should resist tearing, now. I can do the rest after I've slept."

Permalink Mark Unread

They test that.

"You can stay at my house till tomorrow," says spare shirt guy.

Permalink Mark Unread

Argh why couldn't they have been dropped somewhere that likes outsiders.

"Thanks. I reckon I can do more once my head's stopped fiddling with the devil."

Permalink Mark Unread

"What's a devil?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Uh. Evil being. Probably made up."

Permalink Mark Unread

"You'll tell us about any that aren't, right? Especially if they might follow you here?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Cross my heart - that means very yes."

Permalink Mark Unread

His house is tiny. And handmade. He offers Blair a quilt and a spot on the floor that they can sleep on if they want. It's not an insult, looks like he also sleeps on the floor, there don't seem to be any beds.

Permalink Mark Unread

Um. They are not an expert at woodwork. That is more their sister's realm. But Blair should be able to make beds at least, beds are pretty simple. This guy was nice to them and believed them and they kinda wanna help him out before skedaddling.

For now, though, they thank helpful guy, wrap themselves in the quilt with their head buried, and start working on sleeping off the alcohol.

Permalink Mark Unread

If they don't wake up just from people doing things near them then they won't be woken till the next morning.

Permalink Mark Unread

Blair wakes up a bit blearily - they don't usually sleep that long, ugh, and they're kinda hungover still. Can water and a direction to a - probably no bathrooms given technology levels, maybe an outhouse be provided?

(They think they could reconstruct indoor plumbing. They do not think they could do it fast, and they are the wrong person to be uplifting a society from no-beds to indoor-metal-plumbing.)

Permalink Mark Unread

His oldest daughter can show Blair to the latrine while he fixes breakfast.

It's a chilly, foggy morning.

Permalink Mark Unread

Fog they're familiar with, at least, and they have ever used a latrine.

They help with breakfast-related tasks, then, but don't really eat much themselves - never hungry in the morning - then head out to their ATV to poke around. The magic's definitely worn off, but it should still run, it's physically sound, hopefully nothing broke or aged unnaturally or anything.

Some digging reveals minor signs of overheating in the engine, but most pertinently an empty tank.

And, of course, there's no gas stations out here.

They run a hand down their face, and try to think of how to make a distillery. And what to use for yeast and sugar.

Uh, grapes, apples, blueberries - maybe other berries - have yeast they think. And fruit's a sugar. And a society without any kind of alcohol would be weird, there's gotta be something used locally.

They head back to the house, say, "I got a look at my vehicle, it'll take a few days minimum to fix, assuming I can find - specific types of fruit, I need to make a liquid thing for it. Is there anything I can fix or improve while I'm here? I'm pretty handy, can work with a variety of tools."

(Speaking of, did they actually see any signs of wood on the walk around?)

Permalink Mark Unread

Wood exists! It's a little hard to tell but there's a wood frame under the earthen walls of the house. There's a collection of logs and branches under a waterproof blanket that are probably firewood. Where the sand ends a sparse woodland starts. What there aren't are convenient already-felled large straight pieces.

There are berries, too.

"Can you make arrows? Or dig clams?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Have never made arrows or dug clams before, but I'm a quick learner."

Permalink Mark Unread

"There's probably more room for error with the clams. Come down to the water with us after breakfast and I'll show you how."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Can do."

Permalink Mark Unread

Before they can make it to the beach, though, there's someone who'd like to talk to them. She lurks near the house waiting for them.

Permalink Mark Unread

"Can I help you?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yes. I'm wondering why you don't have gods. Does your magic interfere?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Uh. I don't know? The magic doesn't interfere with belief in gods, ours just might be hands-off. I really don't know why our planets are different like that."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Could you become a god as easily as I could?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"...I could. Convince people to worship me, that wouldn't make me a god?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Come walk with me, I want to talk with you privately. The tide's still going out, we have time."

Permalink Mark Unread

...Okay then.

They follow.

Permalink Mark Unread

"I want to know how your magic interacts with gods. If it's kept your home from getting any, is that just because using it prevents you from becoming one, or does your magic make gods mortal just by happening around them? It's not safe to test but it's important to know."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Back up to the 'becoming one' part. That's possible here?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yes, it is. I don't know what's wrong with you or your home that prevents it."

Permalink Mark Unread

...There's not quite not a single damn thing wrong with their world, there's a lotta things gone wrong, but - an outsider doesn't get to call them wrong.

"Unless somebody's - themself-ness - was 'deity,' I don't see how it'd happen in the first place, and you'd need a mountain's worth of craft to change that much. How do you become a god?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"They say by walking fearlessly out of mortality and into either death or godhood. They say by being indestructible and destroyed. I don't find what they say very clear, personally. How would you make someone a deity whose themself-ness was already that way? What would it mean for someone to be that way and not be a god yet?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"People - aren't born their full selves, and can grow away from the people they fundamentally are. Person-craft is supposed to help people be their full selves, and can give magic that's - fit to the person, like my language tattoo. So if someone was - not themselves unless they were a deity, you could maybe give them deity-magic? But. I don't think that's ever actually happened, and there've been - something like a hundred billion people in history?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"And you have reasons for not wanting to enhance people here. There are no safe tests but it's so important to know what you can do. If, say, Forth could use you to destroy the other gods and rule unopposed..."

Permalink Mark Unread

"...What does Forth do - command - whatever, and why is 'destroying the other gods' a plan?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"They compete for followers to drain of energy."

Permalink Mark Unread

"And all the gods except Forth do that?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Of course not. Forth is no exception. She also drains people's energy, she just also helps keep us safe and doesn't usually kidnap and torture anyone."

Permalink Mark Unread

'Usually.' Great.

Of course the actual literal gods are assholes. Why expect anything different.

"I'd be really hesitant to make a god more themselves, that has way more potential to go wrong than stumbling my way through body-paint."

Permalink Mark Unread

"But can you destroy one?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I could make a weapon very itself maybe, but trying to change a thing into something it's not is probably how you get apocalypse beasts."

Permalink Mark Unread

"What about protecting people? If someone's self is not being tortured, can you make them impossible to torture?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Um. Maybe? But - it's not affecting the world about you, it's - I might could help someone become a person with an impossible-to-torture-and-traumatize mind, if that's the sort of person they were - person-crafting in general makes people awfully durable, 'harder to kill' is purt easy. I ain't a theorist, but Lord willing and the creek don't rise, a weapon'd turn out better. But I ain't got a dog in y'all's fight, I ain't ever talked to nobody from this world 'cept y'all, I don't know what y'all'd do with a weapon after the gods are dead, or if the other gods're like you say."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Can you make a house only allow in the influence of people the homeowner chooses to allow in?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"...That'd be a thing. If the influence was magical that might could work. Dunno if'n I can keep people out out."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Sometimes it's magic. Sometimes it's followers with bows and clubs. We're expecting traders from Nanem later today, if you want to ask them questions. I suggest you not insult their god or talk about... anything I've said, none of it is safe."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Making a house harder to damage's easy. Ish. And yeah, I'd like to talk to more'n you, no offense."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm sure I would too. We should go down to the beach now."

She explains things about clams on the way. How to dig, how to pull them out of the sand, why low tide is the time to harvest them.

Permalink Mark Unread

Blair's a quick learner and good with their hands, and picks it up relatively fast.

(This is not how to make best us of them, of their abilities, they should be making things, but whatever, that's how these people want them to earn their keep for the week.)

Permalink Mark Unread

(It isn't.)

"Are you feeling more able to make decisions today?" Leora asks while they work.

Permalink Mark Unread

"Still a bit hungover, but my head's clearer, yeah."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Now that you've seen something of Acarthen, what are the top three things you prefer about your own home?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Uh. I don't reckon you mean stuff like 'everybody I know lives there.' Indoor plumbing, that's nice. Electricity. Probably germ theory? ...No, wait cars. Those're technologies, though, not magic."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Technologies. So we don't need you to make them, just to teach us. Which of those things can we learn the fastest?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Germ theory? That doesn't require metal working. It's about not getting sick. I don't know many basic technologies, though, I'm lost on blacksmithing and shit."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Well, tell us about germ theory, then. How do we avoid getting sick?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Okay, so, 'germs' are these tiny critters - like, real tiny, you cain't see 'em without fancy equipment - that live everywhere. Most've 'em are good or neutral. A coupla're bad, or cause trouble if they get where they don't belong, and specific types cause specific illnesses. But most die if they get real hot, like boiling water hot, so you can boil your drinking and cooking water. Running water and scrubbing'll also knock 'em off your hands, so like after this I'll wanna wash my hands in a stream or somesuch. Soap's good for washing with, if'n it's got lye it'll kill germs purt good, I dunno when that was invented but I know how to make a lye soap outta ash and fat."

"Hm. Surgical stuff should be cleaned in boiling water - anything that can survive being boiled, it's a good idea to treat it that way 'specially if there's an outbreak. Hell, prolly wouldn't hurt to stick anything you're using for a surgery straight in a fire for a spell, my ma did that with needles for lancing boils."

"And waste should be really, really far from your water source, 'specially human waste, waste's pretty heavy in bacteria, like latrines - I think in this sorta sandy soil two hundred feet's your best bet."

"What else... Oh, strong alcohol kills germs purt good, you can clean something with pure, clear alcohol and it'll be just about completely clean, or mix a bit in with water. And if you're taking care of someone real sick, wash your hands a lot, like after every time you touch them and when you leave, indoor plumbing helps an awful lot with that but you can probably manage without. Wounds should be run under water to wash out dirt and germs, any bandages should be cleaned in boiling water before and after being applied, and really dilute alcohol can be used to clean it but I seem to remember that's mostly for the skin around the wound, alcohol directly on a wound can slow down healing I think? But anything touching the wound should be super duper cleaned."

Pause. "I can write all that down with pictures, but I dunno y'all's writing system. ...If y'all have don't have one, writing's mighty useful, it's for keeping records with. And with writing I could record all the later technologies that're super useful so y'all might could get to them yourselves, like indoor plumbing."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I've heard of writing. If you think it would be useful we can have Carel design a system for us and record what you've said. This germ theory sounds very useful if it's true. Carel! How long will that take?"

"I can have something by this afternoon if I'm not busy with clams."

"Do that, then. I'd also like to hear about electricity and indoor plumbing and cars."

Permalink Mark Unread

They can explain in as much detail as they know - which is a lot about cars, they still drive their however-many-greats-grandfather's old Chevrolet roadster, and that involves a shitton of maintenance both magical and mundane - and more than a smidge about plumbing (how everything fits together, basics about pumps, don't use lead it's toxic, they kinda once helped someone install primitive plumbing off the grid but they were mostly following orders and not planning, etc.), but not much more about electricity than half-remembered high school physics classes.

"There's a lot more I know or half-know, I can spend a bit getting my thoughts all lined up in a row then recite it to whoever's writing?"

It's amazing what they can dredge up with a stern grandma lady facing them down and their next few meals on the line.

Permalink Mark Unread

"If any of this is true I'm going to be very happy. How about you go find Carel and see if she's ready for you?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I ain't got a single idea how to prove it all, but my ATV's engine works like a car's? So once I get that running - and I'll need some supplies - I can show proof of concept."

Permalink Mark Unread

"And we'll be able to tell if we get sick less often taking your advice. But I suppose that'll take longer than you mean to be here."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yeah, I'm heading out soon as I get some fuel brewed - do y'all have alcohol? It's a bad fuel plain, but I can coax it into working. Asking 'cause using some'a y'all's yeast'll prolly be easier than finding my own."

Permalink Mark Unread

"We have that. We'll have more this evening. Does it matter what kind?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I need to make the alcohol myself. The yeast - uh, anything that'll make for a higher proof? I'm mostly trying for a clear alcohol. I'll also need to figure out a still I think, to get it potent enough to be much use."

Permalink Mark Unread

"You'll want to see Athan about yeast, that's him over there." She points. He's just pulling up another clam and not making any pretense of not staring at Blair. He waves. "Do you drink the alcohol or put it in your engine?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"It's for the engine. Alcohol burns, not as well as gas but better'n wood. The burning makes the engine go."

Permalink Mark Unread

"And we need to work metal to make an engine like that. And for the wires for electricity. Can you tell us anything about that?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Uh. Getting fires hot enough is the problem - bellows? Do you guys have those? They blow more air at a fire. Also coal burns hotter than wood, I think, if you can find that, but there's steps, you need - easier metals before you get to big ones. Um. Either bronze is brass and tin or copper and tin or brass is copper and something, there's some mix of those elements and bronze makes a decent early metal."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I know who would know and what it would cost to find out but it's not a price I can pay. ...What are the best ways you know of to feed more people off the same amount of land?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Fertilizer, like livestock droppings, is low-tech. Hydroponics? That lets you stack things, is basically growing plants directly in water. I know some soil science, a pretty good amount about farming - crop rotation is a big thing, replenishes nutrients in the soil, nitrogen fixers and all. I don't know your plants but chemistry can't be that different. Genetics might make breeding better plants easier, too, but I only half remember that."

Permalink Mark Unread

"We grow plants directly in water already but I take it you mean something besides farming seaweed. How do you rotate crops?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Okay, so, plants need food and water same as animals, and part of their food they get from the soil. There's a bunch of different types of plant foods in the soil, and different plants eat different things. Like, corn, corn's hungry and eats up nitrogen - one of the soil-things - and if the soil runs out of nitrogen the corn won't do so well, and eventually the field goes barren. But beans have germs on their roots that make nitrogen for them, and they make more'n they use so when they die a whole bunch is put in the soil. So if you plant corn in the field one year, then beans the next, and keep rotating them, the soil won't run out of nitrogen. If you don't know what eats what and what produces what, you can also leave a field fallow for a year, with the useless stuff from last year's harvest still on it so it'll compost. Rotating stuff also makes for less root disease. I think a four-field system was a big part of the agricultural revolution? You got, like, something like corn, something like beans, a fodder crop, and something for grazing, so you're putting livestock on one or two of the fields too, which's helping the soil. If you've only got a coupl'a fields, you can companion plant, like beans and corn and squash all together, that's does a decent job, too."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I don't know what livestock is and most of what we grow on land lives for more than a year, it's mostly trees and bushes. And by Forth's kindness we rarely need to replant everything at once. What sort of companion planting would you do for our woods?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Uh. Okay. Livestock is animals used for meat, eggs, milk, wool - like, chickens are great, goats are great, lotsa people have cows. Chickens are a ground bird, you could probably catch some wild ones and just keep them penned up, breed them to lay more eggs over time. I - do not know how to get from wild herd animals to cows and goats, most wild herd animals will probably not put up with being milked. And orchard planting - at home there's magic music, makes the apple trees better, but here... Forest farming's a thing, there's extra stuff you can put in the shade to supplement a diet, but trees don't usually strip the soil the same way grains do. Irrigation might help, though, especially if you have drought years, that's ways of getting water from where it is to where you need it without just picking it up in buckets."

"Uh. If you wanna feed a lot of people, annual crops are really the way to go, you want grasses that have easily-accessed edible seeds, then you breed them to have better seeds and plant them somewhere it's easy to get to them for harvest. Or find a plant with an edible root, breed that to be a bigger root over time, that's how we got potatoes I think."

"With the water - do y'all do water husbandry? Like, penning up a whole bunch of fish and feeding them so you have fish all the time, I think I know how to make a fish trap that a fish can swim in but have trouble swimming back out of."

Permalink Mark Unread

"There are people who farm seeds like that, but they trade with us for what they don't grow, I'm not sure we'd be better off copying them. But we could definitely use a fish trap. How does it work?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"You might could trade them the information I have, but yeah." And they explain the fish trap, which mostly relies on fish being dumb - you have a bottle or a basket or even just a giant fenced off area, with an opening like a funnel, so the part facing the water's wide and the part facing the trap's narrow, and then the fish goes in and can't figure out how to get back out. There's fancy things you can do with - probably reeds here - where you angle them so the fish can push through, but they snap back together and are closed from the other side. Baiting the trap makes it more likely the fish will enter.

Permalink Mark Unread

"We'll certainly try that. Thank you."

It's not long before she calls a halt to the clam-digging.

"You don't have to help cook," she tells Blair. "Carel is probably ready for you, she tends to overestimate how long anything will take her."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Alright, thanks."

And on to recite everything she can dredge up or half-remember about science and technology, drawings included. (They are pretty good at drawing, and their geometric style lends itself well to diagrams. Their drawings seem to be more - it's intuitively obvious what they mean, as if they're ready to leap off the page, and you barely need to read the labels and accompanying text to figure them out).

Permalink Mark Unread

"Is your art magic?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Things I make are, unless I make a point of - not putting myself in them."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Is that true of everyone in Appalachia?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Kinda? Some people ain't much good at it, but yeah, it's a thing in my world. Magic's usually just, like, durability, though."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I appreciate the information you've given us. If all this is accurate we should welcome you any time."

There's a distant, and growing, sound of singing and footsteps and wheels.

"...And you should wash up if you're going to, we'll be eating soon."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Food sounds good."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm glad."

She heads off to talk to Leora in the couple minutes they have. The sounds get louder. People spread blankets for a very big picnic.

Permalink Mark Unread

Food! And hopefully something to drink, they're thirsty.

Permalink Mark Unread

Is that grits? On closer inspection no it isn't, it's some kind of nut meal. Whatever it is is serving as a porridge and loaded with seaweed and clam meat. There's plain water and some sort of berry wine.

The traders have brought wagons of stuff with them, but no one seems to be inspecting it yet. Carel is hugging one of them. Everyone else is sitting down. No one is eating yet, maybe waiting for everyone to be ready.

Permalink Mark Unread

Ugh. Waiting to eat. The worst part about manners.

They're gonna try some of that wine. They probably shouldn't, but, hey, life's an adventure.

Does anyone seem like they want to talk to Blair? (Blair doesn't particularly feel like talking to anyone, they've been interrogated enough thank you very much, but it beats sitting around.)

Permalink Mark Unread

The guy Carel's hugging breaks off the hug and goes looking for them.

"You're lost too, I hear."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yeah. Freak magic accident. You ain't from these parts either?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Sort of. Parents moved north and west to get away from a war between gods, now we probably have to move again. Could Appalachia hold any more people?"

Permalink Mark Unread

" - Lots, it's pretty empty. The planet as a whole - uh, population before the apocalypse was getting pretty near overshooting comfort levels, after yeah planet's basically empty. Could fit a couple billion more and still have lotsa room to grow, long as people ain't growing too fast. We'd probably wanna kill the apocalypse beast before any major immigration effort, though."

Permalink Mark Unread

"When you say 'billions' I assume that's a figure of speech, how many people exactly do you mean?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"...Actual literal billions, like I don't know, two? Maybe three. Assuming people ain't gonna have a ton of kids. World had about eight billion before the apocalypse, no clue how many after but I reckon a lot of the people in cities died. Which was like half the population. For how many the planet can hold long term, I've heard everything from 'ten billion' to way, way more, I reckon depending on our future farming tech. Though some people argue the 'comfortable' level's lower, most people weren't living awfully comfortably when we had eight billion."

Permalink Mark Unread

"That's millions of times more people than I've ever seen and I travel a lot. How much of an ongoing threat is the apocalypse beast?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Uh. Hasn't burned down my mountain yet. We don't really talk to outside folk anymore, communications fell, so I wouldn't know elsewhere."

Permalink Mark Unread

"What would it be worth to you to take a couple hundred people back with you? We have steel tools to trade and we're willing to work."

Permalink Mark Unread

" - If we can figure out how I'd do that for free, we could squeeze people in and anyone willing to carve out their own life's welcome, I'll give anyone who objects a good talking-to. But I got here by accident, my ATV can maybe fit me and two more people even if I get it working again, we'd need a vehicle able to hold that many people and I'd need to modify the shit out of it, or figure out something for multiple round trips."

Permalink Mark Unread

Nod. "Is there anything we can do for you while you're here? Do you need anything for the repairs that we might have?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"I think it's just outta fuel, but I can make more fuel outta really strong clear alcohol. Which I know how to do with corn, which's a grain, could probably manage with fruit. ...Look, if I find my way home, I'll try and get, I don't know, a double-decker bus or some shit, come back here and haul off as many people as we can cram in, as many times as we can swing it. Maybe someone'll figure out something to stop an apocalypse while we're at it."

Permalink Mark Unread

"We have alcohol but it might not be the kind you want. What would it take to stop your apocalypse?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Don't know. Most likely the beast happened when someone screwed up on self-crafting. Some way to reverse that, though making someone less themselves is hard. Might could return their human mind, if they're don't have it anymore."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I don't think I know anyone who'd do better at that than people from your home. I assume Carel's already tried asking if you can teach self-crafting and the fact that she's not covered in tattoos means you can't or won't. And I guess there's no safe way to figure out how your apocalypse beast would do against a god. Still feels like I'm missing some way we can help each other but I can't think of anything else."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yeah. Problem with self-crafting is I've never done it, and it can get mighty dangerous."

Permalink Mark Unread

"It does sound like that. Let me know if you think of anything we can do for you."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Knowing more about this world would help."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yeah? I don't know what'll be new to you, should I start with 'humans are divided into groups of people that share a language and customs' or 'Nanem borders Acarthen and Seria to the east and Avarza to the south' or what?"

Permalink Mark Unread

"Uh, I know the first. Some explanation on what those places are would help. Also the gods, my world doesn't have those in evidence, like how do I avoid running afoul of one."

Permalink Mark Unread

"You serve a god who's less likely to kidnap and torture people and they'll get mad if someone steals their follower, that's the only protection anyone has. Acarthen is here, that's Carel and Leora's land and people. Nanem's a nation that borders Acarthen on its inland side and has a lot less sea access. Is that the kind of thing you mean by what those places are?"

Permalink Mark Unread

Yeah this world sucks. They're pretty sure they can do something in the vein of self protection, but, like, what.

"Pretty much. You guys wouldn't happen to have protective magic items, would you? I can probably do something really metaphorical and stretchy with like an evil eye amulet or shit, but that's iffy to rely on."

Permalink Mark Unread

"You get magic protection by serving a god who decides to keep you safe in return."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Great. Awesome. Just wonderful. I suppose I should be trying to avoid too much attention? ...Which might could be hard if'n I'm moving around. Ugh, I might actually want to stay in one place until I can reinvent person-craft then, or figure out the dimensional jump..."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yeah, I think the safest thing for you to do is stay here and try to get home before you get involved with any gods or wars or anything like that. I'd be glad to have you if you wanted to go home with me but you really don't."

Permalink Mark Unread

"I'm really starting to see why you'd be willing to take your chances with the apocalypse beast."

Permalink Mark Unread

"Yeah. ...We're keeping everyone waiting, it's time for lunch. Sorry about that."

Permalink Mark Unread

Alright. Foodwards?

Permalink Mark Unread

Yup. The food's all nice, either fresh or preserved, not half-spoiled and cooked in a hurry. They're generous with it, too, making sure the traders get as much as they want. They trade news while they eat, mostly about war and gods and how unsafe everyone is.

Permalink Mark Unread

They express their enjoyment appropriately, and keep half an eye on the others for cues on manners.

Also listening for news potentially relevant to taking off into the distance, that should be a thing.

Permalink Mark Unread

If he takes off into the distance he'll have to be careful of the war that's going on. It seems to be happening further inland. Maybe if he kept to the coast he could go around where most of the fighting is.

Permalink Mark Unread

It's increasingly less of a plan, now, given the fighting, but they'll keep that in mind.