space oddity

[rockeye_stonetoe]

One day in fairyland, there is an immensely bright flash of light a about a mile above the ground. Something like a metal house is suddenly flying through as if it came through a portal, faster than all but the fastest fairies.

It's flying, not directly down, but still very much towards the ground. It does not take long for it to stop flying and start carving through earth and trees. Eventually it runs out of momentum near a certain lake. The thing seems to still be in one piece, which is rather miraculous considering the two miles of destroyed trees behind it.

After a few minutes, a mortal covered in unusually bulky clothes emerges from the thing. All that is visible is his face. He starts inspecting the outside of his space oddity.

Comments

[rockeye_stonetoe]

Apellodynes are a group of hereditary magic users. Their magic cannot be learned, only inherited, though there is a skill component as well. The magic works by drawing on the connection between names and people, or names and animals and names and inanimate things. Knowing something or someone's name, they can do various magic to it.

They can find the owner(s) of the name, especially if the name is genuine and unique instead of a nickname or a small child's blanket named 'blanket'. Nicknames and non-unique names for objects and such are both referred to as 'weak names'. If a thing is near them, they can tell when its name is spoken, again to varying degrees based on distance and strength of name.

The most difficult thing for an apellodyne to do is magically renaming things. The renaming is for magic purposes only, and people will still remember your previous name, it will simply no longer feel like yours or affect you in any way.

Renaming things causes the thing renamed to magically change in various, usually subtle, ways. For example, one cannot rename a stick 'gold coin' and make it become so. A valid example would be renaming a tree 'spicy fruit' and its fruit would become moderately spicy.

The renaming ritual is more difficult when more people know the old name, if the old name is not a truename, or if the target of renaming is either not present or unwilling. The ritual also requires the apellodyne performing it to know your current name and your new name.

Any questions?

[imeanforever]

Have you already told your apellodyne my name?

[rockeye_stonetoe]

No. In fact, I've forgotten all but one syllable of your name. She can be trusted- at least by me. I can kill her with a thought, since I paid her a truly obscene amount of money to allow me to surgically implant an explosive device in her brain. She knows I will activate it if I must, so she will not betray me in any way I can detect.

[imeanforever]

I can't necessarily trust her that way. She's probably better than Thorn, but she's also much nearer by than Thorn.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

You do not need to be capable of hearing or sight during the ritual. You do need to say specific phrases at key points, but you can memorize them and I can tap you on the shoulder to get the timing right. The apellodyne is only vaguely aware of the nature of fairyland, and she claims she intends to leave and never return. Of course, if you do not want the ritual performed, I will not force it on you. I'm trying to help you so you will be inclined to help me. I'm starting to consider giving it up as a bad job and seeking another sorcerer to de-age me.

[imeanforever]

Wouldn't recommend it. The ones who've bothered to learn are generally going to be ones who like to snare mortals and then keep them for a very long time. If my questions about your foreign magic offer are more tedious than that is dangerous, then of course I apologize, but why are you in such a hurry? You don't look about to keel over.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

He grimaces. I am in more of a hurry than you might think. The medicine that has kept me going this long cannot sustain me forever. This armor has motors that help me move, I am no longer strong enough to carry its weight myself. Though I look healthy, I feel terrible and probably only have between four and ten years left.

After a pause, Even so, perhaps I'm being too eager. I apologize. I'm also excited to be in a place where what little sorcery I learned all those years ago actually works. It seems to be impossible in every dimension I visited since then.

[imeanforever]

It's not going to take me four to ten years to decide if I want my name changed. I also have not yet learned to de-age a mortal, which will take longer than making that decision.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

He nods. Shall I leave and allow you to think in peace? I can give you a second pad, if you would rather communicate in text than sound.

[imeanforever]

What I need is to meet the apellodyne and decide if she's trustworthy.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

His lips move, presumably he is holding a conversation with the apellodyne. After a minute or so, She is willing to talk to you but does not want to be outside of my ship in fairyland while I am not nearby. Should I escort her here?

[imeanforever]

I'm willing to go in your ship.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

Then please follow me. Do try not to use the noisemaker in there, I don't want to have to pay to rebuild my crew's ears if I don't have to.

[imeanforever]

I can fix deafness, if it comes up, and furthermore since I'm currently deaf it wouldn't help anything.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

He nods and doesn't attempt to keep up a conversation during the walk back to the ship. Nick uses some sort of lifting device to get in, but of course Promise can simply fly through when an opening appears.

Nick leads her through corridors towards the apellodyne. They meet one other human. She drops her toolbox and runs off when she notices Promise's wings.

Then they are in some sort of meeting room. There is a long table equipped with dozens of comfortable chairs that swivel and roll easily. Only one other person is in there. This is the apellodyne. Her public name is Hatice. She knows you're deaf and will be writing to communicate.

Nick steps out of the room. The apellodyne takes a piece of paper and writes Hello. You're the one whose name I might be changing?

[imeanforever]

Promise scopes out the room, and writes, Hello. Call me Promise. Can you tell me about your magic?

[rockeye_stonetoe]

She summarizes the magic in more or less the same way Nick did, adding a few tidbits Promise didn't know already here and there and a lot more detail on the renaming ritual, including the fact that it will take several hours of repetition of the same few actions to complete, and the exact phrases she'll need to say - things like "Let what is old be destroyed to make way for the new."

"I can't tell you much more without specific questions. I'd describe how it feels, but you lack the proper context to understand."

[imeanforever]

Do you anticipate any interactions with my name being magically mine to begin with, unlike a mortal's? Do you offer any assurances that you won't use knowing my new name against me?

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"I know the power of names, but I am being paid more money than Princess Onfrie will see in her entire life to be placed under an invisible knife wielded by the captain. He ordered me to be fair and merciful to you on pain of death, so I will. Alas, I will not be able to forget your name. Apellodynes do not forget names. However, once I am paid I honestly and truly intend to leave this abhorrent world where names can cause slavery and never return."

"As to unexpected interactions, I cannot rule them out, but I sincerely doubt they will harm you. I have interacted with another system of magic involving names before, a race of people who could swear promises upon their name and be literally unable to not follow through. I could change their names and release them from promises, and those they swore to only realized it when they began to act in ways the promises forbade. They could still swear promises under their new name, and as far as I could tell none of them suffered in unexpected ways."

[imeanforever]

Can my new name possibly be unpronounceable or include parts that are?

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"You must say your new name at the conclusion of the ritual. Therefore, no."

[imeanforever]

Could it have parts that are not, strictly, pronounced, but require elaborate movements or sorcery? The effect I'm after is for someone commanding me to speak my name either getting nothing or in so doing offering me more freedom than they expect.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

The apellodyne thinks for a while. "I believe that concept requires scientific testing. I can prepare a ritual to rename a small object, and another to rename a small creature known as a dog. You can attempt to give them such a name and I will be able to tell whether the magic accepts it."

[imeanforever]

Okay. Will the general principle hold if I give the object and the dog names which do not take twenty minutes to 'pronounce' or should I come up with long ones for them if I want one for me?

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"Extremely long purely spoken names act normally. My truename would take forty-five minutes to say. But to be safe I would suggest trying at least one long-form name before your renaming ritual. Do keep in mind that the name you choose will change you. I can direct the change to some extent, but what it means to you will also affect the result."