View Flat HTML
View Metadata
Search Post
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...
+ Show First Post
dark_light
prodigal_miser
He snickers. "My spell didn't catch that, was that a movie? I only know Harry Potter and Star Trek. It has more earthquakes than California, I think, but not by too large of a factor."
dark_light
"It was a movie. Some people cloned dinosaurs from mosquitoes in amber and made a zoo that was not up to code and problems resulted. Anyway, California's quite habitable, this is a solid maybe..." She writes notes.
prodigal_miser
"All right," replies Adarin cheerily. "Next set of planets, then."
Boring, boring, boring - oh look an ocean planet.
This planet apparently took the water parameter to heart and soul. It is almost entirely ocean, with a few sparse islands dotting its surface. Most of the place is humid and warm, with exception to its poles. For the most part, it looks vaguely island-paradisey, but Adarin quickly spots just how many hurricanes the place has. It has a lot.
Boring, boring, boring - oh look an ocean planet.
This planet apparently took the water parameter to heart and soul. It is almost entirely ocean, with a few sparse islands dotting its surface. Most of the place is humid and warm, with exception to its poles. For the most part, it looks vaguely island-paradisey, but Adarin quickly spots just how many hurricanes the place has. It has a lot.
dark_light
"Salty, fishy, or Water Stealin' Place?" asks Isabella, snapping a picture.
prodigal_miser
"Surprisingly not salty," he pronounces. "It's got some fish, but otherwise might be a good Water Stealin' Place."
prodigal_miser
More scrying occurs, finding several other boring planets. Then one that is decidedly not boring.
To say that it has an ecosystem is an understatement. Trees and forests are its dominating feature, large and ancient and several stories tall. There are places that are a bit more varied, with ice-caps and plains and mountains and such, but for the large part - trees. Trees everywhere. Open water is more scarce than on Earth - many of the trees have just soaked it up - but there are occasional lakes and rivers.
To say that it has an ecosystem is an understatement. Trees and forests are its dominating feature, large and ancient and several stories tall. There are places that are a bit more varied, with ice-caps and plains and mountains and such, but for the large part - trees. Trees everywhere. Open water is more scarce than on Earth - many of the trees have just soaked it up - but there are occasional lakes and rivers.
dark_light
"Wow, what stuff. This one I almost expect to be inhabited by people, it's so full of life, is there a way to filter for that?"
prodigal_miser
"Hmm. Let's see!"
He does some tweaking with his scrying, and -
"No people. However," says Adarin a little nervously, "there are giant insects. As in, bigger than us insects. They are kind of terrifying."
He does some tweaking with his scrying, and -
"No people. However," says Adarin a little nervously, "there are giant insects. As in, bigger than us insects. They are kind of terrifying."
prodigal_miser
"Yeah, sure."
Mirror scrying gets tweaked, then - holy shit those are some alien spiders.
Well, not spiders, but the similarity is there. Legs, fangs, exoskeleton, lots of eyes. They don't weave webs, but they do - hang out among the tops of the giant trees, and pounce on unsuspecting giant insectoid-like creatures below. From estimation, they are bigger than people. Bigger than small cars, even.
"I vote this planet's off of the list, on account of terrifying wildlife."
Mirror scrying gets tweaked, then - holy shit those are some alien spiders.
Well, not spiders, but the similarity is there. Legs, fangs, exoskeleton, lots of eyes. They don't weave webs, but they do - hang out among the tops of the giant trees, and pounce on unsuspecting giant insectoid-like creatures below. From estimation, they are bigger than people. Bigger than small cars, even.
"I vote this planet's off of the list, on account of terrifying wildlife."
dark_light
"Yeah. We can make a portal someday - a small portal - and people can go there for risky big game hunting trips or something," shudders Isabella, noting this problem in her notebook. "Yeaugh."
prodigal_miser
He switches the scry to a nice scenic part of the planet for a good picture, then once that's done - back to planet shopping.
By sheer luck, the next one is not boring! Covering the ground is a dark grey sort of sand, or possibly ash, it's hard to tell. It's hilly, but lacks any large mountains, making up for it in uniqueness of plant life. One set of ferns has sort of - berry-like fruits that are clear as glass and shimmer in the light. Another shimmers in the light, its leaves partially transparent and looking to be different colors in the sunlight. Most of the plant-life there has something that's partially translucent, or shimmering, or glass-like quality.
By sheer luck, the next one is not boring! Covering the ground is a dark grey sort of sand, or possibly ash, it's hard to tell. It's hilly, but lacks any large mountains, making up for it in uniqueness of plant life. One set of ferns has sort of - berry-like fruits that are clear as glass and shimmer in the light. Another shimmers in the light, its leaves partially transparent and looking to be different colors in the sunlight. Most of the plant-life there has something that's partially translucent, or shimmering, or glass-like quality.
dark_light
"This one looks like an art project. Wow. Are these planty things not water based or are they getting it all out of the air or what?"
prodigal_miser
"Hmm - I'll check."
He checks.
"There is water, but it's underground. The plants mostly don't use it, though. I'm not sure what they use instead."
He checks.
"There is water, but it's underground. The plants mostly don't use it, though. I'm not sure what they use instead."
dark_light
"This doesn't scream 'human-compatible ecosystem' to me. Huh."
dark_light
"Scrying won't let you check out what the plant things are doing? I'm curious."
prodigal_miser
"I'll look! I'm curious, too."
Scry, scry, scry. Head tilt.
"They survive off of a mixture of light and nutrients from the ground, with some water but not very much. I think they're pretty brittle, if you touch them. It looks like there was some kind of giant volcanic activity centuries ago and it's left everything really, really fertile. Huh."
Scry, scry, scry. Head tilt.
"They survive off of a mixture of light and nutrients from the ground, with some water but not very much. I think they're pretty brittle, if you touch them. It looks like there was some kind of giant volcanic activity centuries ago and it's left everything really, really fertile. Huh."
prodigal_miser
He snickers. "Possibly! At this rate we'll pick one of the boring ones and steal things we like from the others."
dark_light
"Maybe we can find a mostly boring one with rings or aurorae or something, though." Note note.
prodigal_miser
"Maybe. If we pick a brown or tan one we'll probably have to import an ecosystem or something. To break up the blandness."
After several more boring ones (one with rings, though that's its only distinguishing feature) they find something a bit more unique.
Most of the planet is in an ice age - there are some warmer parts near the equator, but for the most part, it's very obviously cold. It's not a barren tundra - it has hills, valleys, and frozen lakes, though it very obviously lacks a lot of plant life. It's only after the scry moves to give them a closer look that Adarin and Isabella can see a metallic sheen to the surface, buried under snow. Rocks, dirt, sand - they all the look of metal, even when dulled by erosion and buried under ice and snow.
After several more boring ones (one with rings, though that's its only distinguishing feature) they find something a bit more unique.
Most of the planet is in an ice age - there are some warmer parts near the equator, but for the most part, it's very obviously cold. It's not a barren tundra - it has hills, valleys, and frozen lakes, though it very obviously lacks a lot of plant life. It's only after the scry moves to give them a closer look that Adarin and Isabella can see a metallic sheen to the surface, buried under snow. Rocks, dirt, sand - they all the look of metal, even when dulled by erosion and buried under ice and snow.
dark_light
"Well, that looks like the mining industry's weird Nyquil dreams. Doesn't look very habitable, though."
prodigal_miser
"Around the equator I think it might be, but for the most part - no. Weird Nyquil dreams?"