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Cam is out flying. There's a decent cloud of atmosphere around the gold plane, now, millenia of demons making air around themselves for comfort and not sealing it up because why would you bother. There's a small forest, here - the effect is kind of ruined by the lamps it has to grow under, but it's still pretty.
He feels an open summons and lets it grab him -
the Connecticut Yankee summons Demon Cam
from_scratch
connecticut_yankee
"Wait, what? You aren't how much of a jerk?" Whatever this is sounds categorically more important than the display.
from_scratch
"She isn't enough of a jerk to smirk at you and step out of her circle on the strength of you asking her if she's ready to start. Which would give any summoner who knew what was going on a heart attack even if she didn't then exploit the fact that you never expressly told her not to turn your guts into bees."
connecticut_yankee
"...oh."
Hank looks at the display and sees a long string of ironclad anti-bee provisions. "Oh.
Um, this looks like it has everything we went over and, apparently, then some."
Focus on business. The near miss will be less terrifying.
"Eyndiel, do you mind if the scooter's cosmetically different, more 1890s-looking?"
Hank looks at the display and sees a long string of ironclad anti-bee provisions. "Oh.
Um, this looks like it has everything we went over and, apparently, then some."
Focus on business. The near miss will be less terrifying.
"Eyndiel, do you mind if the scooter's cosmetically different, more 1890s-looking?"
from_scratch
"That's fine, as long as it works," says Eyndiel.
"Should it have a giant wheel and a tiny wheel?" asks Cam innocently.
"Should it have a giant wheel and a tiny wheel?" asks Cam innocently.
connecticut_yankee
Hank laughs. "I was just thinking of something that looks like it could plausibly be running on internal combustion and made of steel, as opposed to whatever the outside of your spaceship was."
Also, apparently a scooter is like a future bicycle. He already knew that, definitely.
Also, apparently a scooter is like a future bicycle. He already knew that, definitely.
from_scratch
"All clunky and steampunk with visible rivets," suggests Cam. "It can chug and sputter at intervals."
"And I'll take it home and sell it to a museum," suggests Eyndiel, smiling.
"Sure, why not. Any other last-minute stuff to add?"
"And I'll take it home and sell it to a museum," suggests Eyndiel, smiling.
"Sure, why not. Any other last-minute stuff to add?"
connecticut_yankee
"Not on the common sense side. The justified-paranoia parts definitely look complete enough, but then I'm used to taking it for granted that employees don't need to be told not to destroy the planet."
from_scratch
"She can't destroy the planet," says Cam. "Or at least she'd have to be really creative. And this will prevent her from destroying things which are smaller than the planet and larger than train-obstructions. If you're all set, you say something like, oh, 'You may accept the terms presented and be on your way' is traditional."
connecticut_yankee
"She can if she—" Hank shuts up.
"Uh, you may accept these terms and be on your way."
"Uh, you may accept these terms and be on your way."
from_scratch
Eyndiel bows a little, smirking, and then sets about making herself more presentable.
"I'll go fetch you your things," says Cam, and he steps out of the room to pretend to address a separate demon. He comes back with a boxy scooter made of steel and rubber and leather, unpainted and undetailed. "How's this?" he asks Hank.
"I'll go fetch you your things," says Cam, and he steps out of the room to pretend to address a separate demon. He comes back with a boxy scooter made of steel and rubber and leather, unpainted and undetailed. "How's this?" he asks Hank.
connecticut_yankee
"Could plausibly come from Camelot. Not necessarily saying I could build one, but it's 1890s enough that it looks like it."
from_scratch
"I really doubt you could build one. It's battery-powered, for one thing. Eyndiel, copies of your scripts if you need them and some cloud fluff to turn into incidentals are under the seat. We'll show you where to start. Thisaway."
Thisaway they go.
Thisaway they go.
connecticut_yankee
"I mean I haven't ruled out being able to build what this looks like. With an actual internal combustion engine and everything." Hank looks under the seat. "Cloud fluff?"
from_scratch
"The, ah, place where changers receive their mail - it will need renaming under the new scheme, I imagine - is an infinite quantity of a glowing soft fluffy substance often referred to as cloud fluff which makes a good default for using to turn into other things," says Cam.
When they get to where Eyndiel needs to start, she hops on her scooter and starts it up and goes on her way.
When they get to where Eyndiel needs to start, she hops on her scooter and starts it up and goes on her way.
connecticut_yankee
"Strange. Is it actually better for transforming in some way, or is it just availability?"
from_scratch
"They get used to it, and it's a nice medium density, and it sticks to itself but not to most other substances and can be pretty easily sculpted by hand," says Cam. "Is I think most of the draw. Water is also a nice medium density but lacks the other attributes, for example."
connecticut_yankee
"Sounds convenient.
It's actually interesting, though, because here the afterlife Heaven isn't depicted as full of clouds. I don't know when that started in my world, but it'd be too much of a coincidence if it isn't somehow related to the changers' Heav— eh, let's call it Pittsburgh."
It's actually interesting, though, because here the afterlife Heaven isn't depicted as full of clouds. I don't know when that started in my world, but it'd be too much of a coincidence if it isn't somehow related to the changers' Heav— eh, let's call it Pittsburgh."
from_scratch
"Pittsburgh...? What is it depicted as being like? For that matter, do they have the lakes of fire thing? The lakes of fire are real."
connecticut_yankee
"Sure, it's not like there's another one here to get it confused with.
Mainly artists just show a bunch of people looking happy, including at least one dead saint to mark it as obviously Heaven. The clouds would be a useful shorthand.
Definitely yes on the lakes of fire. But if everyone can extinguish them at will, they wouldn't be much use for torturing people, would they?"
Mainly artists just show a bunch of people looking happy, including at least one dead saint to mark it as obviously Heaven. The clouds would be a useful shorthand.
Definitely yes on the lakes of fire. But if everyone can extinguish them at will, they wouldn't be much use for torturing people, would they?"
from_scratch
"They're not for people. They're for garbage disposal. I will find calling it Pittsburgh confusing. We could draw from daeva languages again, call it Ambular or something."
connecticut_yankee
"Sure, why not.
If there are similarly neutral words for the other two I'll probably have to write these down. But it's not like the words would mean anything if anyone found it."
If there are similarly neutral words for the other two I'll probably have to write these down. But it's not like the words would mean anything if anyone found it."
from_scratch
"In English as spoken in Hell, Hell is sometimes called 'Void'. Yes, no, maybe? Fairyland, similarly: 'Evergreen'."
connecticut_yankee
"Nothing to worry about there. Is 'Void' descriptive? Emptiness plus lakes of fire sounds surprisingly unpleasant considering that the population should have everything they want."
from_scratch
"Oh, we do. There's stuff in the void that people have made. Most of the population lives on an enormous tacky plane of solid gold, it's incredibly stupid and covered over in most inhabited areas with a layer of less stupid materials. But by itself it's all void, like in Ambular it's all cloud by itself."
connecticut_yankee
"Much better than the other way around. Or movers in either would be pretty stuck. Is there a reason it's that convenient?"