"Well," says Jensal. "You might have noticed that no dragons have particularly objected to being made immortal."

...Matilda waits, to see if more information is forthcoming.

"And you are very clever and can make some deductions from that. I will tell you that the reason dragons don't discuss theology is because we are concerned it would start large conflicts up to and including wars."

"I don't have to go around yelling at people about it," she says. "But it's important to know. Okay. I should figure out how to make lots more people immortal, then."

"I do recommend making it voluntary," Jensal says. "Some people will probably remain convinced that they ought to die eventually no matter what you do."

"People don't have to be immortal if they don't want to be. But it's sad if they don't."

"I agree. But it'll be a little harder to mass-produce than the version for dragons because other kinds of people are less coordinated and unanimous."

"I'll figure that part out once I've figured out how to do it at all," she says. "Right now I'm not even sure where to start. Other people don't have convenient little magical compartments for deciding whether they stay alive... do they? I don't think I know everything about all the kinds of people in Elcenia yet."

"I... don't think anyone will work quite like dragons, but you might want to look at vampires," Jensal says. "Vampires don't have a standard lifespan on their own. They age like humans but live as long as the average of whoever they drink blood from."

"That sure sounds magical," she says. "I'll go looking for some vampires, I guess. How would I find a vampire to talk to?"

"Vampires are reasonably common in Esmaar and you might find some walking around, albeit not necessarily free to talk right then. They're the very pale people who'll typically be outside in concealing cloaks. Sometimes they'll come by the house to ask for meals but not on a schedule so I can't tell you when to expect one, although I can put out word to the house that anyone who gets a visit from a vampire should see if they'll come back to talk to you."

"Okay. Then I'll wander around Esmaar and see if any vampires want to talk to me," she says. "Thank you."

"You're welcome - should I try to detain a vampire here for you or will you be all right without?"

"If I can't find anyone, I'll come back and ask you to try to find one for me, but for now I think you don't need to."

"Okay. Good luck."

The bulk of Esmaar's population is about evenly divided between humans (brown) and elves (paler). There are some mixes between the two, and some halflings, and some vampires like that family over there.

"Well, I want to figure out how the magic works that makes your lifespans change depending on what you eat, and then once I understand that I can probably figure out how to make it work differently so you don't have limited lifespans anymore," she says. "The figuring-out part won't look like much, I would just have to sit quietly and look at a vampire for a while to teach ialdae how to see whatever kind of magic you have, and then sit quietly and look at a vampire for another while to study it once I can see it."

"Would things still taste right?" wonders the eldest child.

"I'm not sure, but probably," says Matilda. "Because if the tasting is magic then I can figure out how it works and if it isn't then changing the magic probably won't do anything to it. Is the tasting magic?"

"It's generally assumed to be," says the friendlier of the dads. "Look, we've got a limited time to go on our walk before I need to get back to work, but if you'd like to follow along I don't see why you can't sit in the living room and meet the family if that will help your research project." He smiles a politician-y smile; he's the only one in the family not in a suncloak.