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

[imeanforever]

I'll try to pick something suitable, but can you go into more detail on how and how strongly people as opposed to fruit trees are affected by their names?

[rockeye_stonetoe]

She has a long list of examples. Physical form is the most commonly affected thing, superficial habits and preferences can sometimes change (this is useful for removing chronic panic attacks and so on), but only rarely can someone's core personality be modified in any significant way.

[imeanforever]

I am perfectly happy with my physical form. How can I best avoid perturbing it, and if it does wind up perturbed can I put it back with sorcery without adverse effect?

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"You must change something or the new name will not take. I can direct the change towards your habits and preferences instead, but this is not certain to work. I do not know what sorcery is capable of, but if your form changes it will be your natural form. Any magic to change it back must be permanent."

[imeanforever]

Sorcery can do permanent. I'd rather have to cut my hair and turn my wings green again or something than adjust to new habits and preferences. I have a tree which is magically connected to me. Is there a risk that it will no longer be mine in the right way when I am renamed?

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"There is no precedent. We can create one if you can acquire a creature or object with a similar magical link."

[imeanforever]

Leaflets are, I think, unique in this respect.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"It is a property of your species? With proper preparations and some considerations to the structure of the name I can deliberately avoid modifying your race."

[imeanforever]

To the extent that a fairy kind is like a species, yes. I have a tree because of my kind.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"As long as you make sure the name in no way implies a change in your kind and I adjust the ritual slightly, I can keep that part of you completely stable."

[imeanforever]

All right. What advice do you have on name structure? Can I include variant "pronunciations" so that I may render different valid forms of it including, say, either explosions or dramatic temperature changes, as I please?

[rockeye_stonetoe]

"The most important thing is that your new name must not include the names of any other fairy kinds you are aware of, or any fairies' names that you know, even as part of a larger word. Pronunciation is flexible to an extent, but I think this is another factor to experiment with on some less intelligent target."

Other than that, it's time for another long list of examples.

[imeanforever]

And then it's time for Promise to compose long silly names for a dog and an object.

And then go study up on de-aging mortals.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

A month's experimentation determines that the dog and object will accept names that include sorcery and motion. The exact form of the sorcery has moderately flexible 'pronunciation.' 'Light' can include a single fairylight or a blinding flash filling the whole room, 'heat' can be ice or fire. However, the 'kinds' of sorcery must be in a specific order at specific times to properly count as a name. The motions play out similarly, but 'fly in any direction and/or hover during the entirety of the name' is valid.

Nick tries to learn sorcery. He gets very good with fairy lights and fire in under a week, and then asks for suggestions and advice once in a while. Always with a tentative "If you don't mind."

[imeanforever]

Promise (who still hasn't fixed her ears except while alone inside her tree, and still finds it weird to speak aloud while deaf and unable to moderate her volume) suggests learning to help plants along, or purify water, or make candied dewdrops.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

He writes in fairylights, I'll try plants and water later, but how does one make candied dewdrops? They sound delicious.

[imeanforever]

So she collects some dew and shows him how to separate it out in drops and turn them into candy.

And finishes up her name, which is a masterpiece of escape routes and offense and defense and the occasional syllable.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

The apellodyne prepares a ritual circle in a huge room in the middle of Nick's ship.

Nick tells Promise, I would appreciate if you swear that you will in fact de-age me after you get your new name. I know you can break the promise if you want, it's not an order, but I'd like you to promise anyway.

[imeanforever]

You might be guessing that I take promises to others very seriously because of my nickname, but that's actually not what it's about. Barring discovering something unexpectedly horrible about you between now and then, though, I promise.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

No, it's more like- a promise makes it a proper deal and not a trade of favors. But thank you.

The apellodyne's intricate ritual circle is finished. Promise has probably already memorized the things she needs to say. "We can begin whenever you're ready," the apellodyne invites.

[imeanforever]

Let's go.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

The apellodyne cannot predict exactly how long it will take. In the end, it takes hours and hours and hours of repeating the same few phrases when tapped once, restarting the cycle when tapped twice.

Then, finally, five taps. It's time to say her old name, then her new one.

[imeanforever]

She says "Alisyrrabel".

And then, having set up appropriate target dummies ahead of time, she "says" her new one, complete with the flying and the exploding and the hand gestures and the fairylights.

[rockeye_stonetoe]

The apellodyne says something, pauses, then nods. It worked. Promise will find herself slightly taller, a little paler, and significantly better at the kind of concentration that lends itself to sorcery.

[imeanforever]

Well, those are all acceptable side effects.

She doesn't fix her ears. But she thanks the apellodyne in fairy lights.