It has never done anything wrong. In fact, none of the air in the patch has, even when it has been in other patches. It's so innocent.
Generated:
Post last updated:
an innocent patch of empty air
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
A small human appears out of nowhere in the innocent patch of empty air.
She is wearing a many-pocketed black coat over an outfit that is mostly white with silver accents. On her head there perches a silver-accented white tiara, strangely stubborn about staying in place. She is also wearing a backpack, and a pair of wings resembling the gnarled branches of an ancient tree, strung with cobwebs that catch the air with improbable efficiency.
She can see land over thataway, but when she tries to move towards it, she discovers that her wings aren't rated for downless maneuvering. All she manages to do is set herself spinning vertiginously. She flails in a mostly-unsuccessful attempt to stabilize herself, and yells things that might mar the air's innocence.
The air is scandalized. It will never be the same again.
Time goes by.
Time goes by.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
She manages to get herself straightened out, stops swearing, takes a few deep breaths, and starts carefully experimenting.
Most of the things she tries don't work. She hopes she hasn't moved away from solid ground much, but it's hard to tell for sure just by looking. Still, better to experiment and learn even if she screws up in the process, rather than just sit still and hope for rescue.
Several times she has to take a long break. All this spinning isn't doing her stomach any good and she'd really rather not find out what happens when you throw up without gravity, especially not while she's still unable to escape the consequences. So to speak.
Most of the things she tries don't work. She hopes she hasn't moved away from solid ground much, but it's hard to tell for sure just by looking. Still, better to experiment and learn even if she screws up in the process, rather than just sit still and hope for rescue.
Several times she has to take a long break. All this spinning isn't doing her stomach any good and she'd really rather not find out what happens when you throw up without gravity, especially not while she's still unable to escape the consequences. So to speak.
Eventually, someone approaches the edge of the world.
He looks at her quizzically and calls something out to her in an unfamiliar language.
He looks at her quizzically and calls something out to her in an unfamiliar language.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Hello!" she calls back. "I'm stuck, can you help me?"
Since there seems to be a language barrier, she demonstrates her stuckness by trying and failing to move purposefully in the air. And now she's spinning again. At least she's figured out how to stop that in relatively short order - spread her wings out wide to create drag, make small adjustments until she slows down. But her poor stomach is distinctly ungrateful for the commotion.
Since there seems to be a language barrier, she demonstrates her stuckness by trying and failing to move purposefully in the air. And now she's spinning again. At least she's figured out how to stop that in relatively short order - spread her wings out wide to create drag, make small adjustments until she slows down. But her poor stomach is distinctly ungrateful for the commotion.
He tries another language. At least, it's probably another language.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Sorry, I don't understand that either!"
He falls silent.
<Are you stuck?> inquires a voice that resembles his except that it is mental and without actual component words.
<Are you stuck?> inquires a voice that resembles his except that it is mental and without actual component words.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
...What.
Okay, she can work with this.
<Yes,> she tries. Will that work? If it doesn't she can try something else.
Okay, she can work with this.
<Yes,> she tries. Will that work? If it doesn't she can try something else.
<I'll try to tow you out,> he says.
And then he steps off the edge of the planet, pushes off the corner, and floats in her direction.
And then he steps off the edge of the planet, pushes off the corner, and floats in her direction.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Okay, that's also surprising.
<Thank you! How are you doing that? And why is there only down on the surface?>
<Thank you! How are you doing that? And why is there only down on the surface?>
<I'm a kama,> he replies. <And I don't know, that's just how the planet works.>
On closer approach, it seems he has long pointy ears and is in his early or mid teens, though gawkily tall enough to have quite a bit of height on Sable.
On closer approach, it seems he has long pointy ears and is in his early or mid teens, though gawkily tall enough to have quite a bit of height on Sable.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
People having quite a bit of height on Sable is something she was very much used to, back when there were people around to be shorter than. For that matter, even the horrible mindless person-things of Terraria are all taller than she is. It's not unusual.
The ears are a bit odd, but she's not about to stare. That would be rude.
The ears are a bit odd, but she's not about to stare. That would be rude.
He offers her his hand.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
She takes it.
<Thank you so much. I was beginning to think I'd be stuck there forever.>
<Thank you so much. I was beginning to think I'd be stuck there forever.>
<People don't usually go to random parts of the edge often, so it's lucky I came by.> He tows her toward the planet. <How did you get there?>
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
<I was stranded in a strange world and trying to get home. I got to the point where the only thing left to do was test my transport spell and hope it worked. Clearly I didn't have it right.>
<Maybe my mom can send you home. She's a wizard,> he says, and they touch feet to ground.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
<That would be nice.>
She folds her wings neatly to her back once she's on the ground; they tuck in surprisingly small, except where the branch-tips sweep down past the edge of her coat.
<My name's Sable, by the way. Sable Arrowsmith.>
She folds her wings neatly to her back once she's on the ground; they tuck in surprisingly small, except where the branch-tips sweep down past the edge of her coat.
<My name's Sable, by the way. Sable Arrowsmith.>
"Mallyn Camlenn," he says aloud. <I've never seen wings like that.>
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
<They're from the world I was stuck in. I have enough materials to make another pair if you want one, but you seem to be able to fly already, and more effectively at that.>
<It's one of the first things kyma learn. How did you get stuck in the wrong world?>
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
<...A giant snake with a mirror for a face ate me,> she admits. <Well. Insofar as a mirror can eat. It went at me with its mirror and suddenly I was somewhere else.>
<...Does that happen a lot?>
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
<Up until it happened to me, I would've said it doesn't happen at all!>
<That's weird. My house is a few miles that way,> he adds, pointing. <We can see if my mom can send you home.>
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
<Yes, it is very weird. And the ten years I spent in Terraria were much, much weirder.>
<This world is called Elcenia,> he mentions. <Do you want to walk or fly?>
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
<Well...>
She spreads her wings and flaps them tentatively.
<It seems like they're functioning normally now that there's a down again. I think that's the problem they were having before. Sure, let's fly, flying is more fun and generally faster.> And she takes off, flapping her inexplicably lift-generating cobwebs.
She spreads her wings and flaps them tentatively.
<It seems like they're functioning normally now that there's a down again. I think that's the problem they were having before. Sure, let's fly, flying is more fun and generally faster.> And she takes off, flapping her inexplicably lift-generating cobwebs.
Mallyn follows her with his sleekly efficient flying magic.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Since it's only a few miles, there's no need to push for speed. She accelerates gradually. Flap flap. How do those cobwebs manage to catch any air at all.
It's certainly very confusing, but it's not more of a visual puzzle than Mallyn flying unsupported even by cobwebs.
Eventually he sets down at a house with plants on the roof. It sits in what looks like a park, or an ex-park, although there are the beginnings of more houses being constructed in a ring that will have the plant-roofed house as a part of it.
Eventually he sets down at a house with plants on the roof. It sits in what looks like a park, or an ex-park, although there are the beginnings of more houses being constructed in a ring that will have the plant-roofed house as a part of it.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
<Oh, that's pretty,> says Sable, landing with moderate grace and folding her wings again. <What a nice house.>
<Thanks. My aunt Rhysel made it for us,> says Mallyn, and he opens the door. In the living room two small girls who don't look anything like Mallyn or each other are playing a board game; in the kitchen a short silver-haired woman with a baby in a sling on her back is stirring something. <Everybody except my dad and little brother will be able to understand you if you just talk your own language,> he adds.
And then, simultaneously (well, mostly, he hasn't practiced this very much) sending Sable a non-linguistic translation, he says, "Mom, I went to the edge of the planet and someone was stuck in the part without any down magic, and I towed her out, and she says she's from another world."
Silver-haired lady (who doesn't look anything like Mallyn or either of the girls, but does very slightly resemble her redheaded baby) turns around, blinking.
And then, simultaneously (well, mostly, he hasn't practiced this very much) sending Sable a non-linguistic translation, he says, "Mom, I went to the edge of the planet and someone was stuck in the part without any down magic, and I towed her out, and she says she's from another world."
Silver-haired lady (who doesn't look anything like Mallyn or either of the girls, but does very slightly resemble her redheaded baby) turns around, blinking.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Um. Hi," says Sable. "I'm Sable."
And they're all real people. She can tell. In fact they are alive to kind of an astonishing degree, the silver-haired woman and the two small girls. She's glad of her Terrarian enhancements, or she'd probably have to close down her groundsense to get away from all that aliveness.
And they're all real people. She can tell. In fact they are alive to kind of an astonishing degree, the silver-haired woman and the two small girls. She's glad of her Terrarian enhancements, or she'd probably have to close down her groundsense to get away from all that aliveness.
"Hi!" says the larger of the small girls. "What world are you from? This is Elcenia. And Mallyn's from Barashi and so is our dad but he's still at work. In Barashi. You're carrying a lot of stuff. What is it?"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"The world I'm from doesn't have a name I know of, but the world I was just in is called Terraria," she says. "That's where all of my stuff is from. Like these wings for example." She opens her wings illustratively, careful to keep them relatively close so as not to bump into anything, and then folds them down again. "Unfortunately for me, they don't work very well without a down."
"Well, Mom's a wizard," says the chatty girl. "Mom, can you send her home? I mean if she wants to go home. Do you want to go home?"
"Maybe," says the silver-haired woman, turning off the stove and slowly approaching the living room.
"Maybe," says the silver-haired woman, turning off the stove and slowly approaching the living room.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I would really appreciate it if I could go home," says Sable. "I was stranded in Terraria for ten years and both my parents probably think I'm dead."
...That came out more depressingly than she meant it to. Should've stopped with the first sentence.
...That came out more depressingly than she meant it to. Should've stopped with the first sentence.
"...It might be complicated to send you home depending on how exactly you've been moving around," says the silver-haired woman. "It's probably not complicated to bring your parents here."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"And equally uncomplicated to send them back afterward, right? Because sending them back afterward is important. My parents are - it wouldn't be good for the world if they vanished and never returned."
"Yes, they could be sent back afterward. Or you could just send letters back and forth," says silver-haired-lady. "...You've met Mallyn, I'm Ehail, and these are Rithka," (chatty girl), "Cenem," (quiet girl), "and Nemaar." (the baby).
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"It's nice to meet you all," says Sable. "I'd really like to send a letter to my parents, then. Or bring one of them here. Letter first, probably. It wouldn't be good to just vanish them suddenly; they might be in the middle of something important."
"Well, we'll get you some paper," says Ehail, "and you can write something, and once I've got dinner in the oven I'll draw the sending circle."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Thank you very much," she says.
"You're welcome."
Ehail sets Sable up with paper and a stick of graphite on the coffee table, and goes back to cooking.
Rithka sits next to Sable and attempts to espy the contents of the letter-to-be.
Ehail sets Sable up with paper and a stick of graphite on the coffee table, and goes back to cooking.
Rithka sits next to Sable and attempts to espy the contents of the letter-to-be.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
She spends a little while just staring at the blank page, trying to think of what in the world she could possibly say.
"On Elcenia you start letters with whoever you're writing to, in case the wrong person opens it," Rithka says. "Or the right person opens it without knowing they're the right person."
(Mallyn quietly takes Rithka's half of the board game she was playing with Cenem.)
(Mallyn quietly takes Rithka's half of the board game she was playing with Cenem.)
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"...It's the same where I'm from, yes," says Sable. "Although I'm not sure if that's the reason."
But at any rate, she can open with:
Mother,
But at any rate, she can open with:
Mother,
"Then you say whatever goes in the middle of the letter, like, 'I am in Elcenia with some nice people who will have you over for dinner if you want as long as you don't want to eat beans'."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
...Sable giggles. She can't help it.
"I think she will not insist on eating beans," she says.
What she puts down on paper is:
It's me, Sable. I'm alive and okay. I've been in a very weird world, and now I'm in a different, also very weird world with some people who can do things like send you this letter. The little girl sitting next to me says that her family will have you over for dinner 'as long as you don't want to eat beans'.
"I think she will not insist on eating beans," she says.
What she puts down on paper is:
It's me, Sable. I'm alive and okay. I've been in a very weird world, and now I'm in a different, also very weird world with some people who can do things like send you this letter. The little girl sitting next to me says that her family will have you over for dinner 'as long as you don't want to eat beans'.
"And then when you're done with the middle part you put your name in case they don't know your handwriting."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Well, I already put my name," she says. "And I'm not done with the middle part just yet."
Because she definitely needs to add:
The first weird world (it's called Terraria) was unpleasant and full of nasty monsters, but apart from those it also had all sorts of marvellously useful things, and I brought lots. Examples include: a pair of wings that you can put on and take off and fly with; candy that makes you permanently healthier; a bow that shoots dragons.
Because she definitely needs to add:
The first weird world (it's called Terraria) was unpleasant and full of nasty monsters, but apart from those it also had all sorts of marvellously useful things, and I brought lots. Examples include: a pair of wings that you can put on and take off and fly with; candy that makes you permanently healthier; a bow that shoots dragons.
Rithka looks suspiciously at Sable and scoots away from her. "A bow that what?"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"...Um, when you shoot an arrow with it the arrow turns into a huge snaky ghost dragon thing that is extremely on fire. I'm not going to demonstrate anywhere near your house. But they're good for when I'm surrounded by dangerous monsters and want to stop being surrounded by dangerous monsters very quickly."
"...So you don't shoot dragons with it."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Not habitually, no."
"Habitually?" asks Rithka.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Well, it's a bow, it doesn't care what it shoots at. I care what I shoot at, so I only shoot at dangerous monsters that are trying to kill me."
"And not just. Random families of mostly dragons. That you happen to meet."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"No. You're people. I—you're people."
"...Okay."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Now Sable is distracted from her letter-writing again.
"What else are you going to put?" asks Rithka.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Well..."
Since it was just pointed out to her that the last bit was ambiguous, she adds a clarification: That is, a bow that turns arrows into great big flaming ghost snake monster things. Not a bow for shooting at dragons with.
Since it was just pointed out to her that the last bit was ambiguous, she adds a clarification: That is, a bow that turns arrows into great big flaming ghost snake monster things. Not a bow for shooting at dragons with.
"Good," says Rithka, and then she nods, turns into a squirrel, and jumps onto Sable's head.
"Rithka, you're not supposed to do that to people," says Mallyn.
"But -"
Mallyn shakes his head.
Rithka the squirrel leaps from Sable's head to Mallyn's head and then settles around his neck.
"Rithka, you're not supposed to do that to people," says Mallyn.
"But -"
Mallyn shakes his head.
Rithka the squirrel leaps from Sable's head to Mallyn's head and then settles around his neck.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
As cute as sudden headsquirrel was, Sable is glad Mallyn said something; she still has her groundsense open - it's a hard habit to kick, after living in Terraria for so long - and all those life candies didn't do quite enough to make touching living things comfortable, especially when Rithka is so... whatever makes her glow like that to groundsense. Being a dragon, apparently.
She finishes her letter with:
Sorry it took me so long.
Love,
Sable
She finishes her letter with:
Sorry it took me so long.
Love,
Sable
In the kitchen, Ehail puts dinner in the oven, then she goes upstairs and comes down again without her baby, and then she goes into a little room in the middle of the house and starts drawing on the floor.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
...well. That's a thing that's happening.
In a little while:
"I can send your letter now. I'll need you to act as the focus," Ehail says.
"I can send your letter now. I'll need you to act as the focus," Ehail says.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"And how do I do that?"
"Come here, put your hand in that space, and concentrate on who you want the letter to land on - I made a circle for sending to a person instead of a place, since you've been away a long time."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Okay."
She goes there and puts her hand in that space and concentrates firmly on her mother.
She goes there and puts her hand in that space and concentrates firmly on her mother.
And Ehail puts the letter in the middle, and casts a spell.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
And away goes the letter. Like magic, you might say.
"Well, that was relatively simple," says Sable. "Thanks again."
"Well, that was relatively simple," says Sable. "Thanks again."
"You're welcome. I can check for a response in a few angles."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Okay."
"In the meantime, well, you can have dinner with us, and we can put you in the guest room - is there anything else you need?"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I don't think so," she says. "Dinner and a guest room is already much more than I was expecting when I was floating next to the edge of the planet."
"It's lucky you were near it," says Rithka, still a squirrel around Mallyn's neck. Cenem has won the board game and moved on to reading a book. "And not really far away from everything. Or really near the sun! Or on the moon!"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Yeah," she says. "Well, on the moon might not have been so bad, if the moon has down."
"The moon has down, but nothing else," says Cenem.
"It has a good view," says Ehail. "But, yes, nothing else."
"It has a good view," says Ehail. "But, yes, nothing else."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I wasn't sure where I'd end up, so I brought lots of things with me. As long as I can grow Terrarian potted plants there, I would've been... mostly okay. Being stuck in midair with no land and no down is a much bigger problem."
"I'm not sure you could have grown plants there," says Ehail. "The soil isn't exactly fertile. Maybe if you brought your own compost."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Terrarian plant pots take care of that part just fine. And I did actually bring a few stacks of dirt, just in case."
Rithka hops off Mallyn's neck to go look at Sable's luggage.
"...Are they still floating?" she asks.
"...Are they still floating?" she asks.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Sable's luggage continues to be: a backpack. It does not seem to be full of dirt.
"...No," she says. "Uh, a stack of dirt looks like this."
She digs in one of the many pockets of her coat and comes up with a little brown cube, about an inch on a side. It seems plausibly made of compressed dirt.
"...No," she says. "Uh, a stack of dirt looks like this."
She digs in one of the many pockets of her coat and comes up with a little brown cube, about an inch on a side. It seems plausibly made of compressed dirt.
"...That's not enough dirt to grow a plant in," says Rithka slowly, like she knows this news must come as a nasty shock.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"It's magic. Terrarian magic. This cube is made of nine hundred and ninety-nine much bigger cubes of dirt; that's why it's called a stack. I'd rather not demonstrate inside the house, though, I think you probably don't want large cubes of dirt in the middle of your floor even if I can clean them up afterward."
"...Okay," says Rithka.
She turns into a bird and flies to sit on Ehail's shoulder. Ehail pets her.
She turns into a bird and flies to sit on Ehail's shoulder. Ehail pets her.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Sable puts the small cube of dirt away.
And presently there is dinner on the table, and a redheaded man who also does not look like any of the kids except for the baby comes home. (He does strongly resemble the baby.) He kisses his wife, gets a brief explanation of who the fuck is in his house, and introduces himself to Sable as Gyre.
Dinner is delicious and non-Terrarian.
Dinner is delicious and non-Terrarian.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Sable is highly enthusiastic about dinner. It contains foods other than all the ones she has had ten years to get sick of, and they're all very tasty.
Ehail is flattered.
After dinner Mallyn studies, rather ferociously, and Rithka and Cenem study too, different things and with less ferocity. Ehail shows Sable the guest room, and then draws a small summoning circle, attempting to retrieve any reply that may have been made to the letter.
After dinner Mallyn studies, rather ferociously, and Rithka and Cenem study too, different things and with less ferocity. Ehail shows Sable the guest room, and then draws a small summoning circle, attempting to retrieve any reply that may have been made to the letter.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Sable deposits her backpack in the guest room and sits there. The guest room is nice.
The letter comes back with a reply written on it!
The letter comes back with a reply written on it!
Which Ehail presents to Sable unread.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Sable reads it.
"Um, my mother says that she'd very much like to visit."
"Um, my mother says that she'd very much like to visit."
"Well, I can summon her, then," says Ehail. "Right now?"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I think so, yes."
"All right."
Ehail gets to work on yet a third circle. She consults a book but is able to do much of it by memory. Sable is again called upon to be a focus. And then she casts the spell.
Ehail gets to work on yet a third circle. She consults a book but is able to do much of it by memory. Sable is again called upon to be a focus. And then she casts the spell.
Koridaar Retaan
greatcomposure
And then there appears a woman.
"Hello, Sable."
"Hello, Sable."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"...hello, Mother. I'm sorry I got stranded in a strange universe for ten years," says Sable.
"I'll just leave you two to catch up," says Ehail. "Let me know when you want to be unsummoned."
Koridaar Retaan
greatcomposure
"Thank you," says Sable's mother.
"You're welcome." Ehail lets herself out of the office and shuts the door most of the way.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Sable hugs her mother. Catching-up is had. She gives her mother some presents, some of which are to be passed on to her father. (She is relieved to discover he's still alive, and that the world still hasn't ended.)
There is a small girl eavesdropping at the door.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I've got lots more, but I think that'll be enough to start with, especially the life candies - they nearly fixed my ground," says Sable. "And Rithka is eavesdropping on us." She turns towards the door. "Hello, Rithka."
A squirrel creeps in. "Hi. You didn't finish closing the door."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Your mother left it a little open. This is my mother, Camellia Arrowsmith. Mother, this is Rithka. She was watching me write my letter, too."
Koridaar Retaan
greatcomposure
"...Pleased to meet you," says Camellia.
Rithka turns into a human again. "Hi."
Koridaar Retaan
greatcomposure
Camellia blinks.
"You meet the most interesting kinds of people, Sable," she remarks.
"You meet the most interesting kinds of people, Sable," she remarks.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Sable giggles.
"What? What'd I do?" asks Rithka, looking down at herself. "I'm not interesting, I'm not even allowed to pierce my ears yet."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"In the world we're from, there aren't any people who can turn into shapes other than the one they started with," says Sable.
"I'm a dragon," says Rithka. "I did say. Do you only have, like, Barashin kinda dragons?"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"We have stories about dragons but not any actual dragons to go with them. At least as far as I know. There was that one incident with the bat-malice but I don't think that's the same thing at all."
"Oh. Well, I'm an actual dragon, and so are Mom and Cenem."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Dragons seem to be very magical."
"Yeah, it's pretty great!"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I can see that."
"Should I get Mom or is your mom staying longer?"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Sable glances inquiringly at her mother.
Koridaar Retaan
greatcomposure
"I think I should go home and reassure Azal as soon as possible," she says.
"Okay."
Rithka dashes out of the room. Presently Ehail appears. "You're ready to go back?" she asks.
Rithka dashes out of the room. Presently Ehail appears. "You're ready to go back?" she asks.
Koridaar Retaan
greatcomposure
"Yes, thank you."
"All right. Here -" She hands her a blank piece of paper. "If you want to send another letter this will be easier to find than one you write on paper from your own world."
And then: unsummon.
And then: unsummon.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Away goes Mother.
"You're being really helpful," says Sable. "It's nice."
"You're being really helpful," says Sable. "It's nice."
"It's no trouble," Ehail assures her. "My sister-in-law was stuck here away from her home world for quite a long time, too."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"How'd that happen?"
"Some students at the wizarding school used a summoning spell they hadn't thought through and couldn't put her back. But she acclimated and lives here by choice now."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Well, that's a nice way for things to turn out."
"Anyway, for you to go home too there are a few things to try. What eventually worked for Rhysel - she's the sister-in-law I mentioned - was resetting her home world to Elcenia so that she could be sent to Barashi. Also, since then some better wizards than I have worked on and implemented something called a summoning circle, which is an area where if you walk onto it you'll be sent to the other end. I'm not sure that either of these will work with whatever you did to get here, or whatever happened to put you in Terraria, but they're things to try - except I can't make a summoning circle myself."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Okay," says Sable. "...It would be really, really useful to be able to get back to Terraria if I could be sure of getting home again from there... it's a dangerous place, but there's a lot of useful magic there. It seems like you have a lot of useful magic here too, but it does different things."
"If you can be moved around normally at all there's no obvious reason you couldn't go there and back in particular," Ehail reassures her.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Okay, good," she says. "...If there are other people who want to go to Terraria and get useful magic things, I guess I can't stop them, but it's really dangerous there and I don't want anybody to get hurt. I guess if somebody really wants to I could go with them or something. If I can be moved around normally."
"What are the dangers?" asks Ehail.
(Rithka, squirrel, climbs up her mom's skirt to be in her lap as a human. Ehail pets her hair.)
(Rithka, squirrel, climbs up her mom's skirt to be in her lap as a human. Ehail pets her hair.)
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Lots of horrible monsters that try to kill people. Lots and lots and lots of horrible monsters that try to kill people. Some of them can float through walls or teleport or do all kinds of other weird things. They appear out of nowhere when there's a person nearby, and some of them disappear again if you run away far enough but some of them just keep chasing you."
"That's a dumb way for a world to be," opines Rithka.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"It's not much fun. But usually, the more horrible and dangerous the monster, the better the useful magic stuff that falls out of it when it dies. Oh, and when anything dies in Terraria it explodes into pieces. That's not really dangerous, though, just gross."
"Ewwww!" says Rithka.
"You... must know how to handle yourself there, since you did," says Ehail. "But you could probably benefit from bringing, probably a kama, maybe a mage or a sorcerer."
"You... must know how to handle yourself there, since you did," says Ehail. "But you could probably benefit from bringing, probably a kama, maybe a mage or a sorcerer."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"If whoever else wants to go to Terraria has useful magic powers that they can kill monsters with, that would be a big help."
"I'm not sure it's most people's idea of a good time," says Ehail. "Maybe if the useful magic things are valuable someone might want to for economic reasons. I just mean that you should consider asking for help before you go back."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Oh. Well, maybe that too. But I don't think I'd ask somebody to come with me if they didn't want to anyway. It's really dangerous, and I know it well enough that most of its dangerous stuff isn't a big problem for me, but somebody else even with useful magic powers might get in trouble because they didn't know about all the kinds of monsters and their weird magic."
Ehail nods.
"I can try sending you back to your home world with the world reset spell now, if you want," she says.
"I can try sending you back to your home world with the world reset spell now, if you want," she says.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Okay. Um, I'll go pick up my bag again."
She fetches her backpack.
She fetches her backpack.
Ehail finds the spells in a magazine. "Even if this works it won't do anything right away," she says.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Okay. What will it... do?"
"Well - within the scope of purely Elcenian magic, living things have a home world. A summoning spell pulls something whose home world is not Elcenia into Elcenia, and then lets it snap back where it belongs when the spell is reversed. A sending spell pushes something whose home world is Elcenia somewhere else, and then lets it return when the spell is reversed. Right now, you aren't Elcenian - unless something you did or something that happened to you changed that when you got here - so I can't send you, but you aren't under a wizard's summoning spell, so you can't snap back where you came from. But if I cast this spell and it works for you the same way it did for Rhysel, then you'll be Elcenian in a sort of magical sense and I'll be able to send you."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Has anyone ever come to Elcenia without any Elcenian magic involved?"
"No, I don't think so," says Ehail. "Kamai is from Barashi and can't do transworld magic."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I'm just wondering if there might be something weird going on that could make your spell do something unexpected. But I don't know your magic well enough to guess what kinds of things could do that."
"I'm not actually a very good wizard," says Ehail. "You can wait for a better one if you want."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Well, do you know where to find someone who's more comfortable with strange fiddly magic stuff?"
"Rhysel knows a lot of very good wizards associated with the school," Ehail says. "But I wouldn't want to bother her this late without warning - she wouldn't mind, it's only she's got small children and they're hard to get to sleep and keep that way."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"That makes sense. Now that I've thought of weird things going wrong, I'm probably going to be kind of nervous about them until that gets figured out... you could talk to Rhysel tomorrow, maybe? If you don't mind me staying in your guest room a little longer than might be strictly necessary?"
"That's fine," Ehail says. "It's a school break, she should have most of the day available. You're welcome to the guest room. I'm going to start putting the little ones to bed."
"But mom!" protests Rithka. "I'm not tired! I want to talk to Sable!"
"Sable will be here in the morning."
"Aaaaargh."
"But mom!" protests Rithka. "I'm not tired! I want to talk to Sable!"
"Sable will be here in the morning."
"Aaaaargh."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
...Sable smiles a little. Rithka is very cute.
Rithka is very cute. Ehail picks her up and carries her away over her very cute protests.
The house quiets.
The house quiets.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Sable goes to bed in the guest room.
Even though a part of her thinks this is very silly, she sleeps in her armour. Something about being in a different strange world, or a house she didn't build herself, or having other people around—she can't convince herself to change into something cozier and less damage-reducing. It's pretty comfortable armour, though, so she gets to sleep okay.
Even though a part of her thinks this is very silly, she sleeps in her armour. Something about being in a different strange world, or a house she didn't build herself, or having other people around—she can't convince herself to change into something cozier and less damage-reducing. It's pretty comfortable armour, though, so she gets to sleep okay.
The guest bed does not complain.
In the morning she will be able to smell cinnamony apples and scrambled eggs.
In the morning she will be able to smell cinnamony apples and scrambled eggs.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Food! Non-Terrarian food!
She goes to investigate, still wearing her armour and her coat but leaving her bag in the room again.
She goes to investigate, still wearing her armour and her coat but leaving her bag in the room again.
Ehail offers her a plate with some applesauce and some eggs. "Good morning."
The kids are already chowing down; it looks like Gyre's already left for work for the day.
The kids are already chowing down; it looks like Gyre's already left for work for the day.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Good morning! Thank you!"
Eggs! Applesauce! Cinnamon! Sable is highly enthusiastic about this breakfast.
Eggs! Applesauce! Cinnamon! Sable is highly enthusiastic about this breakfast.
<Were you hungry? In Terraria?> asks Mallyn.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
<I had a lot to eat but it was mostly a lot of all the same things,> she explains. <Rabbit. Duck. Blueberries. A few kinds of mushroom. Several kinds of fish. So it's nice to have something that isn't any of the same few things I've been eating for ten years. And your mom makes nice food.>
<You can have as much as you want,> Mallyn mentions. <Seconds and thirds if you like.>
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Sable beams.
She does in fact politely ask for seconds after she finishes her first plate.
She does in fact politely ask for seconds after she finishes her first plate.
And she gets them! There is plenty of food.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
What a nice family. What a nice breakfast. What nice applesauce. (She is really very pleased about the applesauce.)
Ehail feeds her baby, and puts him down for a nap, and then says that she can escort Sable to Rhysel's house whenever she'd like.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I'm not busy with anything. We can go now if that's convenient."
Ehail assigns Mallyn to keep an eye on everything and transfer to Rhysel's to get her if something he can't handle comes up, and then she holds out her hand to Sable. "I can teleport us there."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"...Okay."
She takes Ehail's hand.
She takes Ehail's hand.
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.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
That's good.
"Nice tower," says Sable, gazing up at it. It is very tall and she is very short.
"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.
A redheaded pointy-eared woman comes to the door and she and Ehail start conversing in a language Sable does not speak.
Sable Arrowsmith
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.>
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
<Okay. That's convenient.>
Everyone here is so helpful.
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.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
That sounds like a perfectly reasonable step. <Sure, okay.>
So he casts it and peers at her.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
...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.>
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
<That sounds like it would be really convenient, thank you! Everyone I've met in this world is so nice.>
<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.
Sable Arrowsmith
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."
"This," he says, "is a sentence in Leraal. This is a sentence in Martisen. Etcetera."
Sable Arrowsmith
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.
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.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
The Small Children are cute. Sable smiles.
"Do you want to hold one?" Rhysel asks Sable.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"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."
"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."
Sable Arrowsmith
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."
"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."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Thanks very much," says Sable. "For both the help and the muffins."
She holds the plate and takes Ehail's hand.
She holds the plate and takes Ehail's hand.
And Ehail brings them to just outside her own house, and lets them in, and distributes muffins to studying children.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Muffins!
Indeed muffins.
And then two people, including someone who looks like a grown-up blue-haired Cenem, come, and there is some brief murmuring before Ehail hands them Cenem and lets them depart with her.
And then two people, including someone who looks like a grown-up blue-haired Cenem, come, and there is some brief murmuring before Ehail hands them Cenem and lets them depart with her.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Well, that's a thing that just happened. Sable isn't sure of its significance, but can't figure out how to ask or whether it is her business in any way, and concludes that it probably isn't.
Rithka looks disgruntled, but Mallyn pats her on the head and she looks less disgruntled. Then she tells him to make her beads, and he says she has plenty of beads and anyway he doesn't know how to do it on purpose.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Beads?" wonders Sable.
"When I first got kamai, I couldn't, uh, control it," says Mallyn. "...I can now. But I used to accidentally do a lot of things and one of the things was making beads."
"I ran out of the really pretty ones!" says Rithka. "I want to go to work with Daddy again and make things."
"He'll give you stuff to make things with even if I don't make you beads," Mallyn says.
"I ran out of the really pretty ones!" says Rithka. "I want to go to work with Daddy again and make things."
"He'll give you stuff to make things with even if I don't make you beads," Mallyn says.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Hmm," says Sable. "What did the really pretty ones look like?"
Rithka turns into a sparrow, flies upstairs, and comes down with a necklace of colorful stone beads.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Those are pretty," Sable agrees. "I wonder if I could make beads. I can use Terraria magic to make a lot of different kinds of things, but I've never done beads in particular."
"How does it work?" asks Rithka, putting her necklace on.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"...Very weirdly and Terrarian-ly. I sort of - sit next to a magic thing that lets me make things, and hold ingredients, and think about the thing I want to make, and then if I did it right the thing appears."
"Whoa, cool," says Rithka. "Can I learn it? I can't learn kamai until I'm like super old and I don't really want to be a wizard but that sounds fun!"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"...You might be able to learn it. I'm not sure. It might only work for people who have been to Terraria, and you probably shouldn't go to Terraria just to do its weird magic."
"Oh. Because of all the monsters?"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Yeah. They're dangerous. And most of them are also really gross."
Rithka nods solemnly.
Then bounces. "Are you gonna make beads?"
Then bounces. "Are you gonna make beads?"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I think I'll try! Do you know where would be a good place to set up my stuff?"
"The guest room? Or out in the garden if it's a whole lot of stuff."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I think I'll go out in the garden," she decides.
She goes out in the garden, finds an emptyish spot, and gets out a tiny miniature table that turns into a small but human-scale table and a tiny miniature chair that does likewise.
"Stone beads like those ones, or glass?"
She goes out in the garden, finds an emptyish spot, and gets out a tiny miniature table that turns into a small but human-scale table and a tiny miniature chair that does likewise.
"Stone beads like those ones, or glass?"
"Ooh, glass ones. In a lot of colors. Little ones! You can sew little beads together and make bead fabric! Daddy's assistant showed me!"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Well, if making the beads works I can turn them colours afterward," she says. "I'll make plain ones first."
And she gets out a small cube of glass, and holds it, and looks contemplatively at the small table.
Nothing much happens for a bit.
And she gets out a small cube of glass, and holds it, and looks contemplatively at the small table.
Nothing much happens for a bit.
Rithka watches the nothing with great anticipation.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
And...
...a very large pile of beads appears on top of the table. They are, very briefly, arranged into a cube whose bottom face takes up about half the table. Then the pile collapses, pouring beads everywhere.
"That is more beads than I expected!" says Sable.
...a very large pile of beads appears on top of the table. They are, very briefly, arranged into a cube whose bottom face takes up about half the table. Then the pile collapses, pouring beads everywhere.
"That is more beads than I expected!" says Sable.
"Wow!" exclaims Rihtka. She fills her pockets as best she can, which doesn't really make a dent in the bead quantity.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"...Do you know if there's... I don't know, a bag? To put these in?" She looks at the mound of beads heaped around the table. "Maybe multiple bags?"
Rithka looks consideringly at the beads, and then goes and gets a wooden box that looks like it will possibly hold them all.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Sable helps scoop beads into box. They are all of an exactly uniform shape and size, little and perfectly round with a hole through the middle.
"These are perfect sewing beads," says Rithka. "How do you turn them colors? Will they be all mixed up? I could get more little boxes from when we bought cups."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I have magic things to turn things colours," she says. "If you get little boxes I can do them by the little-boxful."
"Okay!"
Rithka goes and gets a dozen boxes. They will not individually hold all the beads; more like two thirds if each little box is brimful.
Rithka goes and gets a dozen boxes. They will not individually hold all the beads; more like two thirds if each little box is brimful.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Sable has to fetch her backpack; she rummages in it and comes up with a lot of tiny vials of liquid in various colours. Many of them raise the question of how a vial of liquid can even do that - the stable gradients, the stable split colours, the sparkle effects...
"Which ones do you want beads of?"
"Which ones do you want beads of?"
"Whoa, how are those... colors?" she asks, pointing at the weird ones.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Magic, of course. Do you want to see what they look like on the beads? I can use them as many times as I want and they don't run out."
"Yeah. I might need more boxes."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Let's see some of the weird ones first."
She picks up a vial of pale sparkling blue liquid and turns a little-boxful of beads pale blue and sparkly. They're very pretty - the pale blue is swirled with darker streaks, and the sparkle effect is made of little magical glints that fade in and out.
"That one is called Stardust," says Sable.
She picks up a vial of pale sparkling blue liquid and turns a little-boxful of beads pale blue and sparkly. They're very pretty - the pale blue is swirled with darker streaks, and the sparkle effect is made of little magical glints that fade in and out.
"That one is called Stardust," says Sable.
"Oh gosh," sighs Rithka.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"It's part of a set of five," she says, and picks out four more bottles to do four more boxes, naming each colour as she deploys it.
Nebula is a deep magenta with dots of white streaking across it like tiny shooting stars. The dots always travel upward, no matter the orientation of the surface.
Vortex is a dark green with paler streaks that always seem to swirl toward the center of the object no matter how you turn it.
Solar is a shiny, vivid orange-yellow with a faint pulsing glow.
And finally, 'Celestial' is a combination of all four: the background fades slowly from green to blue to purple to blue to green to yellow, glowing faintly all the while, and tiny points of light fade in and out as they chase each other across its surface in a slow whirling dance. It's a bit much, but in a pretty way.
Nebula is a deep magenta with dots of white streaking across it like tiny shooting stars. The dots always travel upward, no matter the orientation of the surface.
Vortex is a dark green with paler streaks that always seem to swirl toward the center of the object no matter how you turn it.
Solar is a shiny, vivid orange-yellow with a faint pulsing glow.
And finally, 'Celestial' is a combination of all four: the background fades slowly from green to blue to purple to blue to green to yellow, glowing faintly all the while, and tiny points of light fade in and out as they chase each other across its surface in a slow whirling dance. It's a bit much, but in a pretty way.
"These will make such pretty things," exclaims Rithka. "I bet Daddy will want you to dye more stuff."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I can do that! Let's see, how about Midnight Rainbow next?"
Waves of intense colour sweep across a dark surface.
Waves of intense colour sweep across a dark surface.
"Wowwwww." Rithka is practically vibrating out of her skin with excitement. She turns into a sparrow for a closer, beady-eyed look at the colors and so she can hop from box to box.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
It is so cute.
Sable dyes the remaining six boxes of beads in interesting named colours:
Shifting Sands is a shimmery pale yellow with a fast-moving pattern of lighter and darker sparkles.
Shifting Pearlsands is the same thing but slower, and pink with blue undertones.
Twilight is a dark, dark purple with a moving pattern of dim clouds and occasional bright starry sparkles. The whole boxful of beads presents a unified pattern; the violet-white stars seem to dance from bead to bead, darting between the drifting clouds.
Hades is a few shades darker than Stardust, and surrounds each bead in translucent ghostly white flames that entirely decline to catch on anything.
Living Ocean is a dark blue with slow waves of lighter blues and blue-greens.
Phase is dark grey with a fast-moving pattern of purple streaks that zoom all the way off the object's surface and keep going a little before fading out completely. Like Nebula's dots, they always travel up.
Sable dyes the remaining six boxes of beads in interesting named colours:
Shifting Sands is a shimmery pale yellow with a fast-moving pattern of lighter and darker sparkles.
Shifting Pearlsands is the same thing but slower, and pink with blue undertones.
Twilight is a dark, dark purple with a moving pattern of dim clouds and occasional bright starry sparkles. The whole boxful of beads presents a unified pattern; the violet-white stars seem to dance from bead to bead, darting between the drifting clouds.
Hades is a few shades darker than Stardust, and surrounds each bead in translucent ghostly white flames that entirely decline to catch on anything.
Living Ocean is a dark blue with slow waves of lighter blues and blue-greens.
Phase is dark grey with a fast-moving pattern of purple streaks that zoom all the way off the object's surface and keep going a little before fading out completely. Like Nebula's dots, they always travel up.
Rithka is fascinated. "This isn't even all the colors! I don't know where to find more boxes though!"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Do you have things other than boxes? Little bags, maybe...?"
"Ummmm."
Rithka goes back inside. She comes out in squirrel shape, then shifts into her human form and with this change presents a vase, a jar that may have recently held some kind of spice, two mugs, and a flowerpot.
Rithka goes back inside. She comes out in squirrel shape, then shifts into her human form and with this change presents a vase, a jar that may have recently held some kind of spice, two mugs, and a flowerpot.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Sable fills these with magically colourful beads!
Blue Acid and Red Acid have a slow shifting light/dark pattern that moves outward from their apparent center in expanding circles; Pink Gel and Gel (which is dark blue) have a slow 'falling' gradient effect that seems to drip illusory colour onto whatever is beneath them, but doesn't actually stain the mugs; and Wisp turns the beads a bright, pale, faintly translucent turquoise that glows just the tiniest bit.
Blue Acid and Red Acid have a slow shifting light/dark pattern that moves outward from their apparent center in expanding circles; Pink Gel and Gel (which is dark blue) have a slow 'falling' gradient effect that seems to drip illusory colour onto whatever is beneath them, but doesn't actually stain the mugs; and Wisp turns the beads a bright, pale, faintly translucent turquoise that glows just the tiniest bit.
Rithka dashes back inside and comes out with soup bowls. They are, at least, clean.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Is Rithka's family going to miss any of these vessels?
Well, anyway.
Reflective turns the beads into tiny round mirrors that catch the light prettily. Purple Ooze is purple and oozy; its light/dark gradient effect moves in slow, slow arcs. Negative has an interesting effect on the transparent glass beads: now they seem to show a skewed version of whatever colours are behind them, turning light to dark and dark to light and green to purple. Living Rainbow is a more muted version of Midnight Rainbow, one colour flowing into another without any background in between. Shadowflame Hades is like Hades but bright violet. Shadow turns beads into little blots of perfect dark...
"Do you want any of this?" wonders Sable, pulling out a vial with a strangely jittery effect. "I brought it along for completeness' sake, but it hurts my eyes to look at it too long."
Well, anyway.
Reflective turns the beads into tiny round mirrors that catch the light prettily. Purple Ooze is purple and oozy; its light/dark gradient effect moves in slow, slow arcs. Negative has an interesting effect on the transparent glass beads: now they seem to show a skewed version of whatever colours are behind them, turning light to dark and dark to light and green to purple. Living Rainbow is a more muted version of Midnight Rainbow, one colour flowing into another without any background in between. Shadowflame Hades is like Hades but bright violet. Shadow turns beads into little blots of perfect dark...
"Do you want any of this?" wonders Sable, pulling out a vial with a strangely jittery effect. "I brought it along for completeness' sake, but it hurts my eyes to look at it too long."
"Just a little," decides Rithka.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
She does just a handful of jittery beads - "it's called Void" - and then puts the jittery bottle away and, after thinking about it a little, pours Void into the slightly underfilled Shadow bowl. Amid the perfectly black beads, the jitter effect is substantially less painful to watch.
There are a few more colour variants of things she's already used, including an entire series of Reflectives - Copper, Silver, Gold, Obsidian (which is a dark shiny purple-black that only reflects faint hints of its surroundings), and a generic 'Metal' that looks most like black iron.
There are a few more colour variants of things she's already used, including an entire series of Reflectives - Copper, Silver, Gold, Obsidian (which is a dark shiny purple-black that only reflects faint hints of its surroundings), and a generic 'Metal' that looks most like black iron.
Rithka likes those a lot. "They match my hair," she says.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"They do!"
"And there's silver for Mom. Are there jet ones? For Cenem."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I don't think so," she says. "...It's possible I could try making different dyes, but that's tricky. And I'd need something to make it out of and you probably don't have pieces of jet lying around, do you?"
"Not, like, the rock. Cenem could give you a scale!"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"That sounds like it might work!"
Rithka zips back into the house. She comes back a moment later with a shiny black scale.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Sable has set up a weird thing next to her little table. She has produced an extra vial of Reflective Dye from somewhere.
She takes the scale and the vial and sits and stares at the gently blooping tubes.
She takes the scale and the vial and sits and stares at the gently blooping tubes.
Rithka watches the tubes gently bloop.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
And... now instead of a vial of shiny mirrored liquid and a shiny black scale, Sable has a vial of shiny black liquid.
She grins and holds it up to show Rithka, and then dyes a batch of beads with it.
She grins and holds it up to show Rithka, and then dyes a batch of beads with it.
"Perfect!" exclaims Rithka. "You could get more scales and make more colors! You don't have all the dragon colors."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I don't have all the dragon colours, it's true. But I also don't have a lot of extra Reflective Dyes... it's one of the easiest things to get more of if I can go back to Terraria at all, though."
"Daddy has a lot of dragon scales. He bought tons of them a while ago and now nobody else can get more than a few at a time so he can sell all the dragon scale jewelry."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"That sounds like it's probably working out very well for him. How many dragon colours are there?"
"Thirty!"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"That's more than I could make with just what I have. But maybe I can go back to Terraria, and if I do I'll pick up more dyes to make dragonscale dyes with."
"I mean, you have some of them. There's gold and copper and stuff."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I think even those might turn out a little bit different. The Reflective Metal Dye doesn't match your hair just so, but the Jet Dragonscale Dye - that's what it called itself - turned out exactly like the scale. I think if I made a Gold Dragonscale Dye it would look more like a gold dragon and less like a shiny gold-coloured mirror."
"I guess. If you made it out of one of my scales would stuff you dyed rust?"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I don't think so, if it wasn't going to already. Dyeing things doesn't change what they are, in general, just what they look like."
Rithka nods. "What if you made dye out of a rusty scale? Then you might need more than thirty."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I don't know what a rusty scale dye would turn out like. It might just make whatever dye it was going to make without the rust. Or it could turn out rusted. I'll bring lots extra, anyway, if I get to go collect more dyes."
"Yeah! And you can make them of all kinds of things! Like - like - pretty birds. And gemstones that don't have dragon kinds. And stuff."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"That would be fun."
"Yeah! And if you get lots of extras you could sell Daddy bottles of dye and he could dye anything."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I'm not sure if the bottles work for people who aren't - properly Terrarian," muses Sable. "Do you want to try dyeing some beads, to find out?"
"Yeah!"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Okay, here."
She gives Rithka the Reflective Metal Dye vial (because why not) and pours out some plain beads into one of the remaining empty bowls.
She gives Rithka the Reflective Metal Dye vial (because why not) and pours out some plain beads into one of the remaining empty bowls.
Rithka takes the dye.
"...What do I do with it?"
"...What do I do with it?"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"It should sort of - say," she says. "If it doesn't, then I don't think you can use it. When I pick up a bottle of dye it kind of 'tells' me what the name of its colour is and what things it can dye and how to do it."
Rithka tries shaking the dye, and then holding it up to her ear. She sighs and frowns and sulks.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"It's okay, I can still dye stuff for you," says Sable. She starts putting bottles neatly back into her dye box. The thwarted bowl gets one of the split colours, and at first it looks like they were all dyed plain brown, but she stirs her hand through the beads and it turns out that each one was dyed so that exactly its top half became brown and exactly its bottom half became silver, whichever orientation it happened to be in at the time.
Rithka does stop pouting at the pretty new beads.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I like those."
She tries a more complicated split colour - "this one's called 'Blue Flame and Black'" - and it does the same thing, colouring the top halves of the beads in a pretty blue-turquoise gradient and the bottom halves in plain black. And now they are running very short on bowls.
She tries a more complicated split colour - "this one's called 'Blue Flame and Black'" - and it does the same thing, colouring the top halves of the beads in a pretty blue-turquoise gradient and the bottom halves in plain black. And now they are running very short on bowls.
Rithka runs inside and comes out with a box with a picture of a cookie on it, a set of teacups, and two pairs of shoes.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"...Where are you going to put all of these things once you have pretty beads in them?" she wonders.
"In my room! And then I'll sew the beads."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Is there room in your room for all these things?"
"...If I put some of them on the bed and just be small to sleep yes!"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Sable giggles.
"I'm wondering if it might be time to figure out a different way to store all the beads so they're nice and separate but you can still use your bed and your bowls and your teacups and your shoes!"
"I'm wondering if it might be time to figure out a different way to store all the beads so they're nice and separate but you can still use your bed and your bowls and your teacups and your shoes!"
"Oh, these aren't my shoes."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"...Whose shoes are they?"
"Those are Mallyn's and these are Mom's."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Have you asked Mallyn and your mother if you can fill their shoes with beads?" inquires Sable, trying and rather thoroughly failing to keep a straight face.
"If they needed their shoes right now they would be wearing them, right now," says Rithka.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"But will they need their shoes between now and when you have finished using all the beads you're going to put in them?"
"...Maybe not?"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I think you should probably ask before you fill someone else's shoes with beads," says Sable.
"But then they might not let me fill their shoes with beads," says Rithka. "And then we can't use all the colors!"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"What do you suppose will happen if you fill their shoes with beads and then they decide they would rather not have beads in their shoes?"
"They'll have to find somewhere else to put beads in," says Rithka. "Because they can't just dump them out on the floor. And then the beads will be somewhere okay for beads to be."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"They might," says Sable, "decide to dump all the shoe beads in a big box. And then that will be four colours of beads all mixed up. But if you go ask now, maybe your mother will think of a better way to organize your bead collection."
"Like what?" asks Rithka.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Well, if I could think of one myself, then I would. But your mother probably knows more about your options than I do."
Rithka sighs long-sufferingly. "You won't do beads in the shoes?"
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I am not going to put beads in anybody's shoes without the permission of the people whose shoes they are."
Rithka sighs and carries the shoes back into the house. She's gone for a while.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Sable admires the lovely beads and puts away the dye crafting station. And picks a few escaped beads off the ground and tidies them up and drops them in the (now rather depleted) big box.
Rithka comes back with a large sorter made of rock that sort of resembles the plate Rhysel made for the muffins.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"That looks like it could hold a lot of beads! Where'd it come from?"
"Mallyn took me to Aunt Rhysel's and she made it."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Your Aunt Rhysel is really nice," says Sable.
She starts transferring beads to the sorter, from the most dubious containers first.
She starts transferring beads to the sorter, from the most dubious containers first.
"She is," agrees Rithka.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
The Camlenn family will now have the use of their soup bowls again. And that vase and that flowerpot and that jar and those mugs.
The sorter plus the little boxes have plenty of room for beads, but— "I think maybe I should make another batch if we want to do all the rest of the colours," says Sable. "There's hardly any left, even though there were so many to start. I just hope I can get them to all land in the big box this time."
The sorter plus the little boxes have plenty of room for beads, but— "I think maybe I should make another batch if we want to do all the rest of the colours," says Sable. "There's hardly any left, even though there were so many to start. I just hope I can get them to all land in the big box this time."
Rithka nods.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Sable puts the big box on top of the small table and gets out her cube of glass and makes another load of beads appear.
So many beads. But at least they land neatly in the box and don't spill all over the ground this time.
Then she starts piling beads into the sorter's remaining compartments and dyeing them, in splits and gradients and the few remaining Weird Colours.
So many beads. But at least they land neatly in the box and don't spill all over the ground this time.
Then she starts piling beads into the sorter's remaining compartments and dyeing them, in splits and gradients and the few remaining Weird Colours.
Rithka is delighted with all of them.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Rithka is so cute.
Yes. Yes she is.
When the sorter is full of all of the kinds of beads, she tries to pick it up, finds it quite heavy, turns into an eight-foot-long lizard with wings and iron scales, picks it up without trouble, and then shifts again and goes back into the house.
When the sorter is full of all of the kinds of beads, she tries to pick it up, finds it quite heavy, turns into an eight-foot-long lizard with wings and iron scales, picks it up without trouble, and then shifts again and goes back into the house.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
...Well. Dragons.
Dragons!
She comes out again and starts hauling variously appropriate bead containers away to be restored to their rightful locations.
She comes out again and starts hauling variously appropriate bead containers away to be restored to their rightful locations.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Sable giggles.
She puts away all her things and cleans up the last few especially stealthy stray beads off the ground.
She puts away all her things and cleans up the last few especially stealthy stray beads off the ground.
And while dinner is on the stove, Gyre comes home, and Rithka immediately shows him the beads and the haphazard sewing in progress.
He is very impressed and wants to know where he can get some of these dyes for use in his workshop.
He is very impressed and wants to know where he can get some of these dyes for use in his workshop.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I'd have to go back to Terraria to get another full set to leave with you - I didn't pack spares of every single thing," says Sable. "But Rithka tried using them and it didn't work. I think you'd have to go to Terraria if you wanted to be able to dye things with them. And I don't know exactly what kind of going to Terraria would make you properly Terrarian enough to use the dyes."
This is disappointing! But he is pleased to hear that the dyes don't run out and plans to bring some things home to have dyed tomorrow if Sable doesn't mind.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"Sure!"
"Great!"
And now dinnertime!
And now dinnertime!
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Dinner! Hooray!
It is delicious and non-Terrarian in nature.
After it, Ehail asks if Sable will want anything summoned or sent this evening.
After it, Ehail asks if Sable will want anything summoned or sent this evening.
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
"I'm not sure. I want to wait until Mother has a chance to find Father and talk to him before trying to fetch her letter back, and she said it might take a day or two. So maybe not yet."
"All right," says Ehail. "And there's been no word from T- Aar Camlenn so I imagine he's still working on the analysis revision."
Sable Arrowsmith
greatestgift
Nod nod.