Pity domains don't have doorbells

[the_fires_deep]

Tisvetaia thinks it's a good thing that she doesn't get tired from walking. Or tired at all, really. She has enough trouble getting her bodies everywhere that they need to be, without the trouble of sleep and exhaustion and hunger and thirst becoming an issue. Mortals manage just fine, but that's more because they have no choice in the matter. They get tired, they need food, they need water, they need sleep. They can't tirelessly walk to the edges of the world.

Pity. You meet such interesting people.

Flying or running would be faster. She does, in fact, have several bird manifestations, flying at top speed everywhere they can reach. If it were a perfect world, she could aim for perfect efficiency, throw all of her energy into being birds, send them out in every direction she could manage. Lengthen the lives of every mortal she could touch, tell death to sit down and shut up, never have that issue that gods have where all of their peers want to kill them and all of their charges die far too soon. But it is not a perfect world, and doing that would probably get her killed. Worse, she suspects she'd become like some of her neighbors - so self absorbed in her chosen mission that she'd forget the important factor. Mortals. So, she is somewhat inefficient.

If a god practices, they can sound like a mortal. If a god practices, they can feign all of the little problems that come with being mortal. If a god practices, they can fool others into thinking they too are mortals. Another god could sense her in an instant, but mortals have no such ability. So, if she's careful, she can walk among towns and see what they're actually like. What problems they actually face, what sorts of solutions solve them, what their honest opinions are, what they want when they're not cowering before her and shoving a mountain of offerings at her.

This is usually how she spends time with this body, but sometimes she sends it off to do odd jobs.

In this case, the odd job is: go introduce yourself to one of your divine neighbors. She knows barely anything more than his name - Zenikiel. She dislikes knowing barely anything about her divine neighbors. It's time to go fix that.

Comments

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"Er..." He looks suddenly nervous. "You're a preservation goddess. I apologize for my hesitation. We lost an elevator to an earthquake goddess a while ago, she didn't like how much mining we do here. I will gratefully accept your gift of preservation. Would you mind telling me where your domain is? If I ever visit there, I will be sure to leave an offering."

[the_fires_deep]

"No apology necessary, I understand why you would be hesitant. My domain is far to the south - past Cartalomir's domain, if you know of him. No offerings necessary, but thank you for the thought." She goes and pokes the various elevator bits to be preserved. Poke poke poke poke. "I can also preserve you, if you like. This effectively gives you an extra ten years of healthy life."

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"I would be grateful for that as well."

Zenikiel whispers in her ear, "Tisvetaia, you are possibly the most selfless diety I have ever heard of. I find the attitude strange."

[the_fires_deep]

"Certainly." Poke! "Have a lovely day."

She waves an informal goodbye, and walks off to where there are no mortals to reply to Zenikiel.

"I'm not actually selfless," she says. "I am comfortable. You're not one of my closer neighbors, so helping you and your followers out doesn't create more competition for myself. I am already busy dealing with a decay god near my borders, picking a fight with another god would likely get me killed. I have every reason to foster good relations with you and your followers, because from what I've seen you are reasonable and practical, and often those are traits our peers lack. I can possibly import some of the things your followers make to my domain, and improve the quality of life there, something I always work for. It's a good idea for me to be here in the first place, because I hate being blindsided and therefore would like to learn about you and what you're like. And since I'm already here, why shouldn't I help mortals? I am efficient."

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"I suppose you are. Would you mind if one of my manifestations visited your domain? I am rather insular, but I don't like the sound of a powerful decay god and I want to learn more about your conflict with him in case he might threaten me some day. My offer to create tools for you or build something useful in your domain or elsewhere still stands, these things are the focus of my powers."

[the_fires_deep]

"You may visit my domain, provided that you do not cause trouble or break things. I don't believe you would, but it needed to be said. I'll likely take you up on the tools or useful item, but I believe I need to get a better idea of what you're capable of before I decide on something to ask for.

"I don't think you need to worry about the decay god," because she is going to kill him, "he isn't the type to bother other gods. His strategy was to aim for mortals that had no divine protection, and frighten them into submission. It's clever, but nasty."

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"I have a particular creation I would invite you to see. I had hoped my followers would find it a useful example, but it seems to be too difficult for them to build and maintain without excessive assistance from me. Flight is an attractive opportunity for trade, but birds must exert great effort to stay aloft. Trying to solve this problem, I created a flying ship. Unfortunately, my powers cannot easily affect weather and the ship cannot safely leave my domain. If you want to see it, visit the temple in the crossroads town two days' walk to the north from here."

[the_fires_deep]

"A flying ship? ... Interesting. I would love to see it."

[rockeye_stonetoe]

He gives more detailed directions to the correct temple, then turns the bulk of his attention elsewhere.

[the_fires_deep]

And Tisvetaia follows the directions to the temple. On her way there, she preserves all interesting machinery and tools she comes across, and reveals herself as a goddess several times in the process. Somehow she mysteriously forgets to tell the mortals her name. But she does not forget to offer to preserve them, and in some cases, their close family as well. Then when she reaches the temple, she preserves that, too.

Now, where is this flying ship?

[rockeye_stonetoe]

The flying ship is floating in midair on the edge of town, tied by thick ropes to a stone pillar taller than four or five houses stacked on top of each other. There is a sort of crane on the front end of the ship, which two of Zenikiel's acolytes are using to load bundles of some sort of cargo up into the ship.

A manifestation of Zenikiel enters the temple and greets her when she is done preserving it. The manifestation is, perhaps, smaller than she would have expected. It doesn't quite look like a child, but it does look like a very short man wearing a leather apron, thick boots, and a toolbelt. "How would you like to take a trip in world's first (as far as I know) flying ship? The ship is on a schedule, though - I have an arrangement with a nearby mountain god to help our mortals trade crafts back and forth."

[the_fires_deep]

"I would love to," says Tisvetaia, smiling. "What's the schedule?"

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"It's on a nine day cycle. It spends six days visiting two mountain towns in his domain before returning here, and then it waits for three days while undergoing maintenance and repairs."

[the_fires_deep]

"That's not too bad. Will the mountain god be offended at a goddess showing up on a flying ship?"

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"...Possibly. I hadn't thought about that. My manifestation comes along with the ship as often as not, so he is not opposed to it on principle but that may just be because he knows me. But the ship can go somewhere that isn't his domain as a demonstration if it's only a few hours. I'll invest some extra power to get it resupplied and repaired on schedule if I must."

[the_fires_deep]

"Probably just because he knows you," she says, amused. "I for one would be concerned if a deity showed up out of nowhere on a flying ship from a trade partner of mine with no warning. I will also not be terribly put out if you decide that putting me on a flying ship isn't viable. I can already fly."

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"We can make a quick circuit around the town at least. I was looking forward to demonstrating it, you know. Nobody but my acolytes seem to be interested in it thanks to how much work goes into keeping the thing from falling apart."

[the_fires_deep]

Snicker. "Aha, ulterior motive, I see. Well, then a quick circuit around the town sounds fun. How does it work?"

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"With enough effort, you can separate water into two things. One of the things you get is 'hydrogen,' a gas that is lighter than air. A balloon filled with hydrogen floats on air a lot like a boat will float on water. The biggest danger here is that hydrogen is very flammable, and very good at leaking through small holes. If the force holding the ship up goes away, or if a careless spark starts a fire..." He shrugs. "Goodbye ship."

[the_fires_deep]

Tisvetaia blinks.

"... It is possibly relevant for me to mention that I am a volcano goddess," she says, after a pause. "And that if my body is injured I bleed lava."

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"Ah. I had not realized that. I hadn't even considered the possibility, since your power seems to be preservation and not, for example, fire. Sorry to have you come see it and then not be allowed to board it, but I'll thank you to keep far away from my flying ship."

After a moment's pause, "I wonder if I could design one that uses helium? Helium is even harder to collect and not as good at staying up, but it isn't flammable at all."

[the_fires_deep]

"I will keep far far away from your flying ship," she agrees wholeheartedly. "I would rather not blow up your ship. Fire would make a terrible thing to focus on, so I did not."

She smiles a bit. "What do you need to do to collect helium?"

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"There is a small amount in the air around us, but there's no way to collect it. There are some pockets of helium deep underground, but I cannot make more of them, and the gas escapes as soon as you break through unless you're ready for and expecting it. I don't think I would be able to gather enough to make a flying ship, which is a pity."

[the_fires_deep]

"Hm. Hot air rises in comparison to colder air. Possibly not enough for a flying ship, but it's an idea."

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"I tried that as well, and while it does allow light crafts to fly, they cannot carry enough weight to be useful and they lack endurance. There are a few of those here and there, mostly used for amusement."