Servantmaking is a form of magic that can be learned by spontaneous natives of the world Stork. This article is about servantmaking in general; for more detail, see Shines and shades, Golem (servant), Automaton (servant), Pet (servant), and Puppet (servant). For specific servant models of particular import see Charp, Stork (golem), and Shine Silmaril.

Servantmaking is learned, not instinctual, but requires mental actions that can only be performed by a spontaneous Stork native in order to "wake" the servants. Other people can do servant programming for those servants that take programs, and be designated as legitimate instruction providers for servants which accept verbal orders. No magic is required for that or for chassis design. The demand for servants throughout the mapped worlds has radically altered the Stork economy, which was pre-electrical at time of contact (though some servants were able to take the place of some industrial processes, and quality of life was generally higher than on nonmagical worlds of similar technological understanding.) In addition to the basic magic of causing the servants to obey instructions, servantmaking can also confer properties like the golem ability to move in otherwise fixed chassis, and pet ability to respond to instructions in any language. Attempts to wish on servantmaking have not so far led to satisfactory copies of the full power.

So Stork natives are practically a magical species, and wishing isn't all-powerful. Interesting. 

She finishes her sweet buns, and gently shoos the owl on her knee. 

She could google for local brothels probably not a good idea, even if it's useful ethnographically she would not want to be a customer under questionable conditions. Plus if you pay fairly it's expensive. She could go to a bar, but does she really want to put herself in a vulnerable position? 

Seriously, girl, your libido's going to get you in trouble one of these days. There's acting casual and - she shouldn't be thinking about that. 

She sighs and rubs her head in her palm. This is being one of those days. Terribly exciting, sure, but on the other hand she can't stop jumping at shadows. And she's not going to get any peace of mind anytime soon; even g 

She cuts off the line of thought again, stands, and walks out of the café and into the Lórien again. Is that fire-spinning group still running? Let's find out.

They're gone but there is a tumbling and gymnastics group meeting now, and a contra dance.

She can do tumbling and gymnastics! Something physical will keep her brain from working too hard, and she at least knows some of the basics.

Lórien is very soft and cushy and sproingy where called for, and there are convenient branches to swing from.

What she has from sparring won't let her do anything too absurd, but it's still nice to be moving. She doesn't tire easily, so she'll keep at the gymnastics for as long as they're offered or until it's stargazing time.

They call things off when the sun's getting low in the sky. The stargazers will assemble in about half an hour.

... She's going to look for someone to chat with and see what the Lórien provides her with. 

She will find herself hiking up to a rocky outcropping on which sits a girl.

"... Hi there, I'm Thorn! The Lórien thinks I should talk to you, apparently. Do you mind if I join you?"

"Oh! Go ahead. I like having somebody to watch the sunset with. Thorn, that's a neat name... I'm Doris."

She sits down next to Doris. "Nice to meet you, Doris. I'm waiting for a stargazing group - I love the stars, and I want to see if any of them here are different from the ones I have at home. I'm from a newly-contacted, it's my first day in Mîr. Where do you come from?"

"Albuquerque. What world're you from?"

That startles a laugh from Thorn. "- Ah, well, I grew up on a world that's called Lifewell now, but I've seen a lot of worlds since. I'm a scout for a multiversal corporation called the OTC, we operate a lot of places. My job is to go find new worlds to trade with - you can imagine my surprise when I stumbled across Mîr. I've handed off the real work to a proper envoy now, most of this is over my head at this point, but it's still exciting and a bit scary. I'm trying my best not to google all the new and exciting bad things you can do with the local magic systems."

"- gosh. I don't like, usually read the news, but that's exciting."

"It really is. Kind of stressful, but also fun. There's so many new places to see and new people to meet. Like you!"

Doris giggles. "I don't really think of myself as a tourist attraction!"

"Yeah, well, finding out what's ordinary for a new culture is part of what I love about my job. So please, tell me about your life! Whatever you'd like to."

"Huh. Well, I was born in 1937. Did the whole magical girl thing. Turned into a witch. And they, you know, fixed me up with the magic song and dumped me here, and most people've left by now, so there's day trippers coming in, like you, but I really like it here, you know? And nobody's after me to pay rent or hurry up and get out of the way, so - I've just stayed. It's so peaceful. And I don't get antsy without the internet like moderns do."

"Oh, so you're one of the original inhabitants. I went to a theme park earlier today that was based on magic rocks, actually. Went and saw some costumes and weapons, an exhibition fight. Met a Kyubey, which was an interesting experience. It's one thing to playfight and make something positive of it, but, well, when you know the history I can't help but feel it's a little gauche, you know? It's probably worth something to pull in people who'd otherwise never have learned the history, but... Sorry, you probably don't want to talk about this, I'm just rambling."

"Being a magical girl was kind of thrilling, really, I don't know how you'd make a whole Coney Island of it but as long as it's not about - witching, then it seems harmless."

"No, just rides and showfights and so on. Pet your own kyubey. I think the kyubeys are a good educational measure, spending even five minutes talking to one gives you a strong impression of how alien they are. I asked the one I met if the kyubeys were being treated well and it said that it's not logical to worry about quality of life for them because they have no emotions. Ask a stupid question, I guess." She shrugs. "Do you do activities or anything here, or do you just enjoy the gardens?"

"Oh, I do stuff. The garden sends me people sometimes to talk to, and sometimes I make it snow and I make igloos and stuff, or I go swimming... the trees are always climbable and you can eat any of the plants and they taste like whatever you want... sometimes somebody brings a book in, and then doesn't want it after they've read it, and they'll leave it here and I'll find it and read their book."

"You like a quiet life, then? I might bring you some library books if you want, I'm sure there's somewhere I can get something. What kinds of books do you like?"

"I like romances. Happy endings, you know."