an innocent patch of empty air | Glowfic Constellation

And Ehail casts a spell and they are just outside a tower that juts abruptly out of a flat farms-and-prairies landscape. Ehail lets her hand go as soon as they've landed.

greatestgift

That's good.

"Nice tower," says Sable, gazing up at it. It is very tall and she is very short.

"They're a traditional sort of building for kyma to live in." Ehail rings a bell.

A redheaded pointy-eared woman comes to the door and she and Ehail start conversing in a language Sable does not speak.

greatestgift

Well. Okay then.

And then the red-haired woman mindspeaks, <Hi, Sable. Come in, come in. My husband's the one who invented the world-resetting spell and should be able to answer your questions.>

greatestgift

<Okay. That's convenient.>

Everyone here is so helpful.

The husband proves to be another elf, who introduces himself through mindspeech as Aar Camlenn and says that to figure out anything he'll need to start with an analysis, which is cast more on himself than on her and will just let him see things about her worldliness.

greatestgift

That sounds like a perfectly reasonable step. <Sure, okay.>

So he casts it and peers at her.

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...There is something going on, but his spell is very confused about exactly what.

<..Whatever is the case about your homeworld it is too complex for this version of the spell. I'll need to invent something finer-grained,> Aar Camlenn says. <In the meantime, if you want to talk to people who are neither kyma nor dragons I can supply you with a translation spell if you like.>

greatestgift

<It's a nice place!> comments Rhysel, pecking her husband on the cheek as he walks past her to get a book and look up a spell. There is a Small Child Noise from an adjacent room and she bolts apologetically.

greatestgift

Small Child Noises are a reasonable sort of reason to run off. Sable doesn't mind.

Aar Camlenn casts a spell.

"This," he says, "is a sentence in Leraal. This is a sentence in Martisen. Etcetera."

greatestgift

"Nice. This world's magic seems like it's really convenient for all kinds of things."

"It often is," agrees Aar Camlenn, putting his book back.

Rhysel comes back and hands him one of two Small Children, who look like tiny versions of her. He accepts his Small Child gravely and rocks her.

greatestgift

The Small Children are cute. Sable smiles.

"Do you want to hold one?" Rhysel asks Sable.

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"Um - no thank you," she says. "But they're really cute."

"Thank you," says Rhysel.

"Do you need anything else?" Tekaal asks, looking between Sable and Ehail.

"Stay for breakfast," suggests Rhysel. "Muffins, they're almost ready."

"We've eaten," Ehail apologizes. "And I shouldn't leave Nemaar this long. But thank you very much."

greatestgift

...Sable is struck by muffin-related temptations, and hesitates.

Rhysel goes and levitates a pan of muffins out of her oven. "Here, to take home - and here's some for the kids," she says, plucking several out of the pan. She grabs a handful of the stone of her counter, turns it into a plate, and hands the pastries over thereupon; the counter reshapes itself into its original smoothness.

"Oh, all right," says Ehail, laughing softly, and then she kisses each of her nieces on the forehead, hands Sable the plate, and holds out her hand for Sable's free one so she can teleport them back.

"I will work on a more developed version of the analysis," Aar Camlenn says, "and let you know when I have something."

"Thank you."

greatestgift

"Thanks very much," says Sable. "For both the help and the muffins."

She holds the plate and takes Ehail's hand.