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Isabella manages, by the liberal use of cloudpine travel, assorted magic, and her alethiometer, to acquire possession of a parking garage each in Manhattan and Los Angeles.
Into these she has Adarin place a portal set.
And then she mixes up a batch of suitably witchy ink that she'll be able to identify as authentic later, marks up a bunch of pieces of paper with it, and walks into: a bank.
Adarin's welcome to come along, if he likes...
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dark_light
prodigal_miser
Soon enough, Adarin joins her in sleep.
The next day (after the usual age-long wake-up ritual) he retrieves a spare mirror and goes to find his girlfriend.
The next day (after the usual age-long wake-up ritual) he retrieves a spare mirror and goes to find his girlfriend.
dark_light
She is on the phone with her new insurance company! She is done with them soon enough and he gets a good-morning kiss.
prodigal_miser
Kiss!
"So! Want me to do the majority of the planet scrying on my own and give you a list of things I find, or would you like to see what I see?" He shows the mirror. "It won't just be me sitting and staring into the abyss. Promise."
"So! Want me to do the majority of the planet scrying on my own and give you a list of things I find, or would you like to see what I see?" He shows the mirror. "It won't just be me sitting and staring into the abyss. Promise."
dark_light
"I'd like to see, if that doesn't render the mana cost ludicrous!"
prodigal_miser
"It doesn't! It's about the same, I just tell it to show in the mirror rather than in my eyes. I can just tweak the mirror to reflect something else, and it's pretty easy since that's what they already do. It's better for long-term scrying, but a pain for little things."
prodigal_miser
He nods, and then finds a comfy place to sit. Adarin holds the mirror so Isabella can see it, too. Then, he gets to scrying.
It's remarkably easy, to scry. It's like his magic begs to know things, hungers to know more about absolutely everything. There have been mages that had just locked themselves away and lost themselves to the vastness of how much there is to learn about everything around them. There are times when Adarin just wants to do the same, and just listen to the heartbeat of the universe.
(He won't, can't. He has work to do.)
He has parameters for planets they're looking for. Breathable atmosphere, normal gravity, reasonable temperature scale, water, stability, an ecosystem. Orbiting a sun that has at least two billion more years left in it, far away from black holes or other hazardous cosmic anomalies. Close by, something near, it can't be on the other side of the galaxy. There are other parameters, of course, a thousand little things he's got to remember.
Perhaps there are other types of magic that ask for permission, or are nice and polite. His is definitely not one of those. It demands, orders things to change to fit the needs of its users. Adarin orders the mirror to show him what he wants to see. The reflection in the mirror distorts and warps, then bursts into a dazzling display of light.
One at a time, Adarin adds to the parameters ruefully. Whoops.
Then, they start seeing planets.
It's remarkably easy, to scry. It's like his magic begs to know things, hungers to know more about absolutely everything. There have been mages that had just locked themselves away and lost themselves to the vastness of how much there is to learn about everything around them. There are times when Adarin just wants to do the same, and just listen to the heartbeat of the universe.
(He won't, can't. He has work to do.)
He has parameters for planets they're looking for. Breathable atmosphere, normal gravity, reasonable temperature scale, water, stability, an ecosystem. Orbiting a sun that has at least two billion more years left in it, far away from black holes or other hazardous cosmic anomalies. Close by, something near, it can't be on the other side of the galaxy. There are other parameters, of course, a thousand little things he's got to remember.
Perhaps there are other types of magic that ask for permission, or are nice and polite. His is definitely not one of those. It demands, orders things to change to fit the needs of its users. Adarin orders the mirror to show him what he wants to see. The reflection in the mirror distorts and warps, then bursts into a dazzling display of light.
One at a time, Adarin adds to the parameters ruefully. Whoops.
Then, they start seeing planets.
dark_light
Isabella flings her hand over her eyes when the mirror flashes, then when it's subsided leans in fascination over Adarin's shoulder to see what there is to see.
"This is so cool. We should pick a shortlist, then quiz the alethiometer about them."
"This is so cool. We should pick a shortlist, then quiz the alethiometer about them."
prodigal_miser
Adarin grins and nods.
There are lots of things to see, as it turns out. Many planets are boring and dull - brown, tan, not a speck of other color to speak of, no visible water - but not all.
The first interesting planet is one that isn't technically a planet at all. Orbiting what looks like a gas giant, there's a large moon that's speckled with trees in autumnal colors, bright oranges and reds and yellows. Large, faintly blue crystals dot its surface, jutting from the landscape like monuments, or scars. There's water that can be seen, clear and pure, flowing in a stream.
There are lots of things to see, as it turns out. Many planets are boring and dull - brown, tan, not a speck of other color to speak of, no visible water - but not all.
The first interesting planet is one that isn't technically a planet at all. Orbiting what looks like a gas giant, there's a large moon that's speckled with trees in autumnal colors, bright oranges and reds and yellows. Large, faintly blue crystals dot its surface, jutting from the landscape like monuments, or scars. There's water that can be seen, clear and pure, flowing in a stream.
dark_light
"Ooh, a moon, good not specifying we wanted planets only. This place is pretty. Water's drinkable?"
prodigal_miser
"Thanks! No idea if it's drinkable. I'll check."
He pokes the scry and asks it to tell him about the water of the moon. He asks if it's drinkable. Short answer: no. The longer answer is that the crystals that dot the landscape are toxic, and when eroded by water - the water becomes such as well. It's possible that there might be a filtration system to fix it, but on its own, the answer is no.
Adarin explains this to Isabella. When that's done, he says, "We could probably get around it with distillation, but I'm not sure that the water would be good for irrigation and farmland."
He pokes the scry and asks it to tell him about the water of the moon. He asks if it's drinkable. Short answer: no. The longer answer is that the crystals that dot the landscape are toxic, and when eroded by water - the water becomes such as well. It's possible that there might be a filtration system to fix it, but on its own, the answer is no.
Adarin explains this to Isabella. When that's done, he says, "We could probably get around it with distillation, but I'm not sure that the water would be good for irrigation and farmland."
dark_light
"Pity..." She has her notebook out; she identifies the planet in her notes and marks down the undrinkability. "It's certainly attractive, but I bet we can do better."
prodigal_miser
"Probably!"
Next planet. As expected, the next few are utterly boring - one is grey, one is tan, and the last is brown. That's about the only distinction between any of them.
Thankfully, the one after that is definitely interesting. Large, jagged cliffs dot its surface, broken up by rivers that cut large canyons through mountains and hills. There's sparse vegetation, but plant-life is definitely present. It looks arid, but not uncomfortably so. Rather than a moon, rings surround the planet - drawing attention to the magnificent sky. There, auroras slowly swirl, multi-colored and glittering.
Next planet. As expected, the next few are utterly boring - one is grey, one is tan, and the last is brown. That's about the only distinction between any of them.
Thankfully, the one after that is definitely interesting. Large, jagged cliffs dot its surface, broken up by rivers that cut large canyons through mountains and hills. There's sparse vegetation, but plant-life is definitely present. It looks arid, but not uncomfortably so. Rather than a moon, rings surround the planet - drawing attention to the magnificent sky. There, auroras slowly swirl, multi-colored and glittering.
dark_light
"Oh damn, this is also pretty. Any reason taking pictures of the pretty ones would interfere with the scrying? I should've thought of that at the last pretty one."
prodigal_miser
Adarin snickers. "No, it won't interfere. You can take pictures. Want me to go back to the other pretty one so you can take pictures of it, too?"
dark_light
"Yes. Yes I do. I can send NASA a present, maybe publish a photobook."
prodigal_miser
"We'll make even more money with it. It'll be brilliant."
Obligingly, he keeps the scry on this pretty one, then goes back to the first when Isabella's done taking a picture.
Obligingly, he keeps the scry on this pretty one, then goes back to the first when Isabella's done taking a picture.
dark_light
Isabella takes pictures, and then kisses him on the cheek, and then asks about the water on this one.
prodigal_miser
He grins at the kiss. Some more scrying occurs, then - "This one's drinkable, though some parts have some salinity. Not as much as Earth's oceans, but some."
dark_light
"I can desalinate, and it must rain some or there must be aquifers to feed those rivers. Okay, what's wrong with it? Continent-sized polonium deposits, constant meteor showers, dinosaurs roaming around looking for tasty human snacks?"
prodigal_miser
Adarin tilts his head at the translation of 'dinosaurs.' "... I didn't know dinosaurs were a thing until now. I have now been informed. I'll check."
Scry, scry, scry - then...
"Aha. The aurora actually isn't much to worry about, that was my first guesst. But it's got a lot of geological activity. Thus, cliffs. So there would probably be earthquakes."
Scry, scry, scry - then...
"Aha. The aurora actually isn't much to worry about, that was my first guesst. But it's got a lot of geological activity. Thus, cliffs. So there would probably be earthquakes."
dark_light
"Were a thing, they're extinct. Maybe after we've utopianized everything we can play Jurassic Park. How many earthquakes? Like, more or fewer than California?"