The endless waste

[aestrix]

Once, this planet teemed with life. It doesn't do that, anymore. The ground is dry and cracked and occasionally broken up by charred remains of trees. There are no birds, no bugs, no living plants - nothing but an empty, endless waste.

With one exception.

But the world is so very big, and the exception so very small. If someone showed up away from it, they could be quite forgiven for thinking this world is completely dead.




with Sable (Kappa)

with Aisilian (Link)

with Grendyne (Rockeye)

with Temple (Curiousdiscoverer)

Comments

[light_another_life]

"It sounds murderous and insane. I don't think I would like to visit."

[greatestgift]

"It's murderous and insane," she agrees, "but full of useful things."

[light_another_life]

"Such as the wings?"

[greatestgift]

"Such as the wings, and the Staff of Regrowth, and the Celestial Wrath - that's the bow that shoots dragons - and the Coat of Many Pockets," she pats one of the many pockets of her coat, "and weird dyes that turn things pretty colours, and candy that makes you permanently healthier."

[light_another_life]

"... Nevermind, I might want to visit. Provided I can reach the dream world from it just fine, and therefore come back if I get killed."

[greatestgift]

"I have no idea whether you can reach the dream world from it, and setting up transport back there will be... nontrivial, but if I can get back there at all, I can bring you to a safe place where nothing will try to kill you while you test your dream world status."

[light_another_life]

Nod. "What does transport back entail?"

[greatestgift]

"I try to build a magical sending/receiving station that matches up to the one I left behind. If it works, then going back and forth becomes very easy. If it doesn't, I probably disappear into yet another new universe never to be seen again."

[light_another_life]

"... I have a way to transport people in the material plane. It might not work with another world, though. I obviously haven't had the chance to try it. And before you try using the station, I feel that I should help you in some way, if you disappear into yet another universe with yet another new exciting wasteland."

[greatestgift]

"Well. Help me how?"

[light_another_life]

"Various ways? I can make protective charms and ways to cheat death and given enough time can make more of just about any material I have access to. I don't know, what do you need?"

[greatestgift]

"I could stay long enough to learn how your world's magic works," she suggests. "And find out if it combines with the magic I already have in any interesting ways. And whether you can use a Staff of Regrowth."

[light_another_life]

"That was my ulterior motive, yes," she agrees, grinning. "Interesting magic combinations. That and seeing if I can make more of whatever Terrarian stuff you have with you."

[greatestgift]

She pulls a miniature staff out of a pocket and expands it: long and green, decorated with leaves and topped with a flower-head.

"Here's a spare Staff of Regrowth for you to try," she says, passing it over. "How do you make more of things, exactly?"

[light_another_life]

She takes the staff.

"Somewhat ironically, with the essence magic. Because essence makes up everything - and if you get the right types in the right combination you can make more of the thing. If you do complicated magic things, you can have a plant grow just the right essences required to make something, and then combine them to get whatever material you're making more of."

[greatestgift]

"That... sounds like it might not quite work with Terraria," Sable says thoughtfully. "But it might. I can give you some things to try duplicating."

[light_another_life]

"Sure. I'll definitely try." She peers curiously at the staff. "Do all of your magic items come with the helpful - whatever the heck this is in my head?"

[greatestgift]

"Yes they do!"

[light_another_life]

"Huh. That's convenient and sort of creepy. Want to go wander outside and see how this works?"

[greatestgift]

"Sure. Why is it creepy, though?"

[light_another_life]

She puts her doll onto a shelf next to several similar dolls (all attached to her, and all doing different things) and starts heading outside.

"Well, mostly I'm wondering by what mechanism it transfers its information. And the effect is helpful, but implies some scary things can also be done by malevolent forces."

[greatestgift]

"Oh. It's... really just Terraria being Terraria," says Sable. "If I were going to have worries like that, they would be about things like the fact that all the many, many monsters that try to kill you are clearly capable of appearing out of nowhere at any time, but they don't appear within sight of a person or inside a sealed enclosure. And most of the especially nasty ones only appear under really specific circumstances. If the Moon Lord could show up in my house in the middle of the night without warning I would definitely be dead. Since he hasn't, it's probably safe to say he can't."

[light_another_life]

"... Huh. Okay. How strangely sporting of Terraria."

[greatestgift]

"Debatably. I was there for ten years and found evidence of other people having been there before in about twenty places and all of those people were dead."

[light_another_life]

"... Charming. That's. Ugh. And no dream world to catch them, they'd be gone for good, damn."