Consumption
- Thread starter Alivaril
- Start date
- Original
Nixeu
Lord of Madness, Harbinger of Llamas
- Location
- Your nightmares.
Hm. That's a pretty good question. A jacket would be good. Waterproof stuff and good cold-weather gear are rare in non-modern settings. We wouldn't want anything too likely to run out of [insert limited supply item here] (lighter, fire-arms, electronics?).
Swiss-army knife could be amazingly useful. Good steel or other really refined metal equipment, since that's hard to get elsewhere. Hammer, needle-nosed pilers, or maybe a hand-saw?
Camping tent and a sleeping bag? Maybe a really nice backpack? Though anything too blatantly out-of-place might be dangerous to have, I guess.
Why? We'll need something like a portable solar charger for anything electronic, and we'll have a limited supply of film.
Not super fond of the firearms. Limited ammo's a b*tch, and it's kinda expensive. The medical kit's a good point. Agreed on the knife, though I'd say a good Swiss Army knife. Nice and versatile. Maybe a multi-tool, or something.
Edit: Crowbar, maybe?
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DB_Explorer
Purveyor of alternate realities.
- Location
- San Diego, California
- Pronouns
- He/Him
The abilty to take and keep a photo record of key things should not be underestimated in its value for if we ever have the chance to talk with anouther magic expert or something similar.
Nixeu
Lord of Madness, Harbinger of Llamas
- Location
- Your nightmares.
I mean, a phone might be able to do that. Depends on when we are, I suppose.
I feel a little bad for Morgan. He absolutely did his best for us but he's still a bit like "am I really throwing this girl back out into the abyss with no assistance but a bag of supplies?". Don't worry Morgan, you did all you could.
I would not be surprised if magical recording devices are available on magical worlds, so I wouldn't fuss too much over an analogue or digital one.
I would not be surprised if magical recording devices are available on magical worlds, so I wouldn't fuss too much over an analogue or digital one.
Just tell an earth elemental to work one of those mechanical crank ones. They can probably get significantly more out of them than a human can since they don't get tired and are stronger and stuff.
Honestly, I think the best thing we can get on a modern world (whether it's this one or one in the future) is trade goods and high-quality manufactured items specifically to sell or trade. If this is a modern world, it could be our best opportunity to parlay gold and silver and generosity (or magical curiosities) into goods that would make us genuinely wealthy elsewhere.
Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
- A modern sleeping bag. Much more compact, much lighter, and - most important - stays warm when wet.
- A bag of candy for the elementals?
Long-term, absolutely, and we should definitely pick some up on this round. I think that for now we probably want to focus on survival equipment and things we can trade for survival equipment in immediately upcoming planes, though - we want more stuff like the monster detector.
On that list...
- Solar-powered scientific calculator. Heck, even a stack of the tiny cheapo four-function calculators that people hand out like candy at conferences, people would be all over those.
- Optics. Magnifying glasses, small telescopes and microscopes, reading glasses. Probably can't swing prescription glasses, unfortunately.
- Beauty products: Perfumes, makeup, etc.
- Spices. Depending on how magic works, a one-dollar jar of salt could be worth more than gold per pound.
That is an adorable image.
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How about a bicycle? Yes, it's bulky, and yes, it will probably get stolen near immediately, but I quite like the idea of Melia learning to ride one and trying to spread the technology to every world she heads to. It's simple enough (at least, I assume it's simple enough? There were prototypes floating around for a long time, I know that without looking at wikipedia) that fantasy artisans should be capable of replicating it.
Well, honestly, we have a week's worth of survival supplies right now.
Our anchor doesn't last longer than a week, and we can probably break it after only some of that time. You see where I'm going? I don't think survival is a big a priority as it was before Morgan provisioned us. What we need are resources we can carry with us on our person. So that no matter what situation we end up in, we don't have to throw ourselves at the mercy of kind strangers.
Yes yes yes. Pokemon Trainer Melia is a go!
If there's a folding bike (I know they exist in the modern world), that would be even better.
e: And if it turns out to be inconvenient, it wouldn't be difficult to sell.
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Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
Folding bicycles are pretty common, yeah. They're not as good as the non-collapsible versions - they tend to have tiny wheels so they can fit into backpacks and under desks - but they're specifically designed to be light enough to carry, which is important for Melia, and they're still a ton better than walking. I like this idea.
edit: fack, now I have the bicycle music stuck in my head.
edit edit: Which means I'm going to share it with all of you. >:[
edit: fack, now I have the bicycle music stuck in my head.
edit edit: Which means I'm going to share it with all of you. >:[
Hm, true. I still think that we want to pick up a couple bits of survival equipment, things like the inclement-weather gear and the cell phone and the medkit, but you're right, get things that we can trade for food rather than actually getting food.
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Would be nice to find some mana rich dirt or stone to get our elementals some strength so they can carry things for us. I wonder if it can be done artificially as in feeding them our own mana or infusing their element with it?
Different subject: we're likely about to be questioned, is the lost excuse still good here until we get a handle on what kind of people we're dealing with? I feel it's probably still the best and most IC choice. If it's a modern world it's more likely we'd have to explain and demonstrate to the people who are helping us though, so faster disclosure rather than more cautious? Thoughts?
Of course, it may well not be a modern world.
Different subject: we're likely about to be questioned, is the lost excuse still good here until we get a handle on what kind of people we're dealing with? I feel it's probably still the best and most IC choice. If it's a modern world it's more likely we'd have to explain and demonstrate to the people who are helping us though, so faster disclosure rather than more cautious? Thoughts?
Of course, it may well not be a modern world.
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Trade it for gold, then come back here for more aluminum. Repeat until we have as much as we can carry.
We probably can't carry enough to crash the economy. We don't have Agneyastra, after all.
We should probably get both a swiss army knife or other multitool and a knife-knife. Probably other survival gear too.
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The lost excuse is both fine and completely true. Anchor knowledge goes to two people. People who are capable of helping us understand our situation (mages), and friends so they aren't confused when we suddenly disappear.
I don't think we're going to be able to find mages if this girl isn't a mage or if mages don't come to investigate us, though. Maybe we could MAKE this girl a mage if she becomes our friend and studies our magic learning notes together? Study buddy get~
One thing that would be nice is if this world had institutionalized magic and magical education. Having actual magical theory rather than just magical tradition would be such a ridiculous advantage that I'd want to spend as much time here as possible.
I'm not holding out much hope, but at least the girl isn't freaking out about our elementals so maybe?
e: SPeaking of, I'm surprised at how uncommon that kind of thing is in fantasy fiction. I suppose combining magic into modern is usually a masquerade rather than a fusion.
I'm not holding out much hope, but at least the girl isn't freaking out about our elementals so maybe?
e: SPeaking of, I'm surprised at how uncommon that kind of thing is in fantasy fiction. I suppose combining magic into modern is usually a masquerade rather than a fusion.
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Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
Morgan's magic is right on the cusp of a revolution or Renaissance, I'd say - they have a community that's willing to accept that it doesn't understand but is looking for ways to figure out and formalize their traditional functionality. Melia's home plane may be more or less scientific about its understanding, insufficient data.
Organization != formal theory. Agree that a place with a formal theory of magic would be super high priority.
Organization != formal theory. Agree that a place with a formal theory of magic would be super high priority.
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I don't think it's a super high priority, merely just very nice, so much as it would be really cool. I guess I'm mostly interested in how well-understood magic would slot into a technological society.
Even Melia's original world had institutionalized magic, what with the magical roles like "scout" and the state academy and such. But I'm talking by a modern definition, where most of what we have we already understand, and can find reliable, factual, and openly public information on. I know there are better words for this but I don't know what they are off the top of my head, sorry.
Even Melia's original world had institutionalized magic, what with the magical roles like "scout" and the state academy and such. But I'm talking by a modern definition, where most of what we have we already understand, and can find reliable, factual, and openly public information on. I know there are better words for this but I don't know what they are off the top of my head, sorry.
2.1: Welcoming
- Location
- A single human dimension
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[x] Sorry, you didn't catch any of that. What was she saying?
---[x] Follow her while asking all this.
You move to slightly behind and to the left of the girl. Once she's sure you're actually following her, she jogs away... and almost immediately stops when you begin speaking.
"Um, I didn't catch any of that. Could you please repeat whatever you were trying to say? Also, weren't we going somewhere?"
The girl doesn't budge and looks like she can't decide between glowering at you and accepting it. She eventually settles on resignation and points at your fire elemental.
"We're on Earth, dumbass. Dismiss your minis."
You tilt your head to one side, pressing your neck against a water elemental as you do so. The insult doesn't sting nearly as much as it normally would; she only just met you. Her values judgments are invalid at this time.
"I don't think I can. So, could we continue going wherever, please? And what's your name?"
The girl blinks twice and buries her face in both hands. She doesn't seem bothered by the muffling effect on her words or any discomfort from pushing her ponytail against her own face.
"At least hide or disguise them, would you? I don't want to get blamed because you screwed up."
You hesitate for a moment before mentally shrugging. If it makes her feel better, maybe she'll stop being a jerk.
"Everyone, hide."
Most of your elementals duck under your clothing. Your air elementals hide in your hair and your fire elemental floats straight up. Back in the days when your elementals didn't know that particular word, the adults of your village knew their open presence meant you would be hiding nearby. Your elementals got you caught more than once.
Angry-girl nods once, turns around, and continues down the dirt path.
"Which House do you belong to? Wouldn't want to cause a scandal by bringing a foe home."
-[x] And who's she supposed to be?
--[x] And what's that display? It's pretty.
"None?" you guess. "Who are you again? I think introductions might've gotten lost while I was lightheaded."
Angry-girl hesitates briefly, then sighs. "Vanessa, House of Hext. How 'bout you?"
"Melia Foster. What's with the loud, pretty light display?"
Vanessa winces and quietly groans. As if that wasn't sufficient, she follows it up with what you're pretty sure are curse words.
"Which Realm are you from?"
"I don't know. The lights?" you prompt.
Vanessa waves one hand dismissively. "Fireworks. Basically, uh..." she pauses and visibly struggles with how to describe them. "...They're basically a whole bunch of explosive substances packed into a nonmagical arrow. Norms launch them, the extra heat makes them explode, end of story. Or something like that. Seriously though, can you at least tell me which direction you had to go to get here? Down or up? Sooner we know where you belong, the sooner we can get you home."
Not likely. You shake your head again.
"I don't know."
Vanessa takes two rather conspicuously deep breaths.
"Okay. Fine. You don't know. Well then, does the word 'inquisitor' mean literally anything to you?"
You start to shake your head, then remember she can't actually see the gesture. Oops.
"No?"
Vanessa produces a disgusted noise in the back of her throat.
"It should be a crime to educate your kids this badly. Okay, look. You're on Earth, coreworld, yadda yadda yadda. Place your family probably got chased off even if they don't wanna teach you that part or claim otherwise. Inquisitors are big angry shitheads with antimagic, pointy knives, and a fondness for using both on any mage they can find. News travels, magic is known to be a dying art thanks to them, and letting a non-magical person, or norm, spot magic usage is fucking stupid. There's, like, an Inquisitor branch in every damn city at this point. Honestly, just the way you're dressed is a big hint. Any questions?"
You feel your face stretching in a not-at-all-evil smile. Lots. Even the grim subject matter can't distract you from such an open invitation.
"Why would people mention magic if they know people will die because they do?"
"Not dead," Vanessa corrects. "Just—yeah, I know, understatement—tortured until you 'repent' and agree to become an 'official' mage. You—actually, on second thought, let's go with 'they.' Official mages are tracked at all times, don't have any real freedom, are overworked, and generally die from magical exhaustion or suicide within a few years. Norms eat the whole 'greater good' and 'reformed public servant' bullshit hook, line, and sinker. Wait, I'm mixing metaphors, aren't I? Or is that right? ...Whatever."
You swallow and glance down at yourself. Changing clothes ASAP is sounding like a better and better idea all the time. Finding a better way to hide your elementals sounds important, too.
"If Inquisitors are such a threat, why are Houses still enemies with one another?"
Vanessa snorts.
"Stupidity." Her voice takes on a light, mocking tone. "'Oh, Vanessa, they were our sworn enemies thousands of years before these decades-old upstarts came along. They have one trick and I'm going to conveniently ignore the fact that they've killed over half of all mages, ever, with that trick. Don't worry, the moment someone comes up with a spell unaffected by their auras, they'll drop like flies.' Fucking idiots."
You find yourself oddly reassured by the mention of an 'aura.' If it affects your Anchor, maybe you'll just instantly escape whenever you encounter an Inquisitor?
"...Do you really need to swear so much?"
Vanessa is silent for quite a while, during which time the path transitions from packed dirt to red-brown bricks. A few two-floor buildings seem to be made out of the same.
Eventually, she bats at her hair with one hand and shrugs.
"No promises. It's not really a big deal to anyone younger than, like, thirty."
You choose not to point out the obvious flaw in her statement. Hello, standing right here?
Vanessa beats you to asking the next question.
"How did you get here, anyway? I heard and felt all the signs of a temporary portal except for the portal itself. Or is that a House secret?"
[] You just stepped through a gap in the air. You don't know how it works. (Evade)
-[] Tailor all of your answers to fit inside Vanessa's worldview. It sounds like this particular dimension might have separate worlds within it? Or something like that.
[] "Secret. Sorry."
[] Your talent tore a hole in the universe and you stepped through.
-[] Don't bother concealing that you're probably from an unconnected dimension.
[] Write-in
[] Ask more questions of your own.
-[] What's a Realm?
-[] Write-in
---[x] Follow her while asking all this.
You move to slightly behind and to the left of the girl. Once she's sure you're actually following her, she jogs away... and almost immediately stops when you begin speaking.
"Um, I didn't catch any of that. Could you please repeat whatever you were trying to say? Also, weren't we going somewhere?"
The girl doesn't budge and looks like she can't decide between glowering at you and accepting it. She eventually settles on resignation and points at your fire elemental.
"We're on Earth, dumbass. Dismiss your minis."
You tilt your head to one side, pressing your neck against a water elemental as you do so. The insult doesn't sting nearly as much as it normally would; she only just met you. Her values judgments are invalid at this time.
"I don't think I can. So, could we continue going wherever, please? And what's your name?"
The girl blinks twice and buries her face in both hands. She doesn't seem bothered by the muffling effect on her words or any discomfort from pushing her ponytail against her own face.
"At least hide or disguise them, would you? I don't want to get blamed because you screwed up."
You hesitate for a moment before mentally shrugging. If it makes her feel better, maybe she'll stop being a jerk.
"Everyone, hide."
Most of your elementals duck under your clothing. Your air elementals hide in your hair and your fire elemental floats straight up. Back in the days when your elementals didn't know that particular word, the adults of your village knew their open presence meant you would be hiding nearby. Your elementals got you caught more than once.
Angry-girl nods once, turns around, and continues down the dirt path.
"Which House do you belong to? Wouldn't want to cause a scandal by bringing a foe home."
-[x] And who's she supposed to be?
--[x] And what's that display? It's pretty.
"None?" you guess. "Who are you again? I think introductions might've gotten lost while I was lightheaded."
Angry-girl hesitates briefly, then sighs. "Vanessa, House of Hext. How 'bout you?"
"Melia Foster. What's with the loud, pretty light display?"
Vanessa winces and quietly groans. As if that wasn't sufficient, she follows it up with what you're pretty sure are curse words.
"Which Realm are you from?"
"I don't know. The lights?" you prompt.
Vanessa waves one hand dismissively. "Fireworks. Basically, uh..." she pauses and visibly struggles with how to describe them. "...They're basically a whole bunch of explosive substances packed into a nonmagical arrow. Norms launch them, the extra heat makes them explode, end of story. Or something like that. Seriously though, can you at least tell me which direction you had to go to get here? Down or up? Sooner we know where you belong, the sooner we can get you home."
Not likely. You shake your head again.
"I don't know."
Vanessa takes two rather conspicuously deep breaths.
"Okay. Fine. You don't know. Well then, does the word 'inquisitor' mean literally anything to you?"
You start to shake your head, then remember she can't actually see the gesture. Oops.
"No?"
Vanessa produces a disgusted noise in the back of her throat.
"It should be a crime to educate your kids this badly. Okay, look. You're on Earth, coreworld, yadda yadda yadda. Place your family probably got chased off even if they don't wanna teach you that part or claim otherwise. Inquisitors are big angry shitheads with antimagic, pointy knives, and a fondness for using both on any mage they can find. News travels, magic is known to be a dying art thanks to them, and letting a non-magical person, or norm, spot magic usage is fucking stupid. There's, like, an Inquisitor branch in every damn city at this point. Honestly, just the way you're dressed is a big hint. Any questions?"
You feel your face stretching in a not-at-all-evil smile. Lots. Even the grim subject matter can't distract you from such an open invitation.
"Why would people mention magic if they know people will die because they do?"
"Not dead," Vanessa corrects. "Just—yeah, I know, understatement—tortured until you 'repent' and agree to become an 'official' mage. You—actually, on second thought, let's go with 'they.' Official mages are tracked at all times, don't have any real freedom, are overworked, and generally die from magical exhaustion or suicide within a few years. Norms eat the whole 'greater good' and 'reformed public servant' bullshit hook, line, and sinker. Wait, I'm mixing metaphors, aren't I? Or is that right? ...Whatever."
You swallow and glance down at yourself. Changing clothes ASAP is sounding like a better and better idea all the time. Finding a better way to hide your elementals sounds important, too.
"If Inquisitors are such a threat, why are Houses still enemies with one another?"
Vanessa snorts.
"Stupidity." Her voice takes on a light, mocking tone. "'Oh, Vanessa, they were our sworn enemies thousands of years before these decades-old upstarts came along. They have one trick and I'm going to conveniently ignore the fact that they've killed over half of all mages, ever, with that trick. Don't worry, the moment someone comes up with a spell unaffected by their auras, they'll drop like flies.' Fucking idiots."
You find yourself oddly reassured by the mention of an 'aura.' If it affects your Anchor, maybe you'll just instantly escape whenever you encounter an Inquisitor?
"...Do you really need to swear so much?"
Vanessa is silent for quite a while, during which time the path transitions from packed dirt to red-brown bricks. A few two-floor buildings seem to be made out of the same.
Eventually, she bats at her hair with one hand and shrugs.
"No promises. It's not really a big deal to anyone younger than, like, thirty."
You choose not to point out the obvious flaw in her statement. Hello, standing right here?
Vanessa beats you to asking the next question.
"How did you get here, anyway? I heard and felt all the signs of a temporary portal except for the portal itself. Or is that a House secret?"
[] You just stepped through a gap in the air. You don't know how it works. (Evade)
-[] Tailor all of your answers to fit inside Vanessa's worldview. It sounds like this particular dimension might have separate worlds within it? Or something like that.
[] "Secret. Sorry."
[] Your talent tore a hole in the universe and you stepped through.
-[] Don't bother concealing that you're probably from an unconnected dimension.
[] Write-in
[] Ask more questions of your own.
-[] What's a Realm?
-[] Write-in
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- Location
- Somewhere!
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Do we gain anything from pretending to be from a House? We could saw it's one of our secret magics, and that we're small or isolated or something, and I don't think she'll question it.
Madou Sutegobana
Autocorrupt has been disabled.
- Location
- Twin Realms Mandala
I would guess that we'd have less risk of being treated poorly, but that benefit would go away with our claims that it is small and isolated.
I would also assume we'd lose any opportunity to join a house that actually has some protection for its members.
Vebyast
Nascent Transhuman
Scientific Literacy?
?
ALSO WHOOPS SUPER HOSTILE MASQUERADE.
That's going to be, uh. Fun.
Aaaand apparently our talent is neither unique nor particularly special, and we're probably just the first person from our particular corner of reality to get it. I smell a Stross novel coming on. Merchant Princes, I think it was?
- Location
- Somewhere!
- Pronouns
- She/Her
What makes you say that? She thought we had a portal, but all the worlds we've been to have had portals. That doesn't mean they've had inter-dimensional ones or however ours works.