random pointless swirls

[sturdycoldsteel]

The shaper known as Steel is flying down the right side of a road, shoring up the edges of the bluestream that lets her lift herself off the ground as she goes. Sure, she'll be a bit clumsy and weak when she gets to Opri, but she's not planning on doing much more stream-shaping today, so might as well.

She glances at the bluestream (the magical vision blinds her physical vision for a short moment, but not long enough to crash into anything) and determines that this next crossroads is where she needs to turn. She tilts to the right...

...And lands on a patch of orange grass in a forest clearing. This is not the town of Opri. She opens her eyes and ears to the bluestream, trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

The bluestream here isn't a nice, orderly, useful pattern like on the roads, or the formless fog that it usually decays to after a while. Instead it's a riot of random patterns swirling around, wispy and confused and obviously not designed to do anything useful.

Steel, deaf and blind for a few seconds thanks to her peek at the bluestream, stands very still and is very confused.

Comments

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Do fairies do sports? The different body types might throw a wrench in that, huh. I could really go for a good soccer match right now."

[imeanforever]

"I suppose larger courts might have some kind of sport activity, but not me. What's soccer?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

"It's a game where two teams of eleven mortals try to kick a small ball past each other and into a goal on either side of a flat grass field. You're not allowed to use your arms or magic, which makes footwork very important. There's flying or telekinetic versions of it, but they're not as popular since actively using magic kinda saps the fun out of doing things. Flying without feeling a little dead inside sounds really nice."

[imeanforever]

"I would be terrible at this game."

[sturdycoldsteel]

Steel starts flipping through the harmonic mapping book. "How so?"

[imeanforever]

"I'm not very good at footwork. I fly when I can and even when I walk I use my wings for balance a lot."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Nobody says you have to be good at sports to talk to me. Hey, this book has some pretty interesting stuff, it's almost as complicated as bluestream manipulation."

[imeanforever]

"Yeah, I read a little of it on the flight. The book is a compilation of some of the common ways sorcerers draw maps of the harmonics - there's no absolute standard, but these are the popular ones. I think I find the first one mentioned most intuitive."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Yeah, I can see how the different notations are good for different kinds of thinking. First one it is. I wonder if the stone circles would work on you?"

[imeanforever]

"Stone circles?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

"They're how you become a shaper. For some reason that we can't quite figure out, it has to be done inside a ring of large stones arranged just so. You sign a liability release, go in and sit there in a sensory-deprived fugue state for half a week, and then you're a shaper. Some people can't do it, and if they try it just hurts like hell for a few minutes, but I bet you can try if you manage to hide your wings somehow."

[imeanforever]

"The wings being a problem in terms of whether I'd be allowed and not whether it'd work?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

"The wings are a problem for being allowed. You not being a human is why it might not work. We have different biology, probably. Not to mention fairies are very magic, and humans not at all until they become shapers."

[imeanforever]

"Why wouldn't I be allowed with visible wings?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Because only people who already have it can safely withstand any significant body-mods. They'll ask lots of weird questions and it'll just be a massive pain. Much easier to hide them."

[imeanforever]

"Well, I could turn them invisible, but that'll leave its own harmonic marks if anyone happens to look."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Yeah, that's a problem. I wonder if I could build one. We don't have that many because they're a limited amount of useful, not because they're hard to build. Is there any bluestone around here?"

[imeanforever]

"I'm not exactly up on kinds of stone. There are stones that are blue..."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Sounds like a research project. I'd need books from home anyway. I'll go try to sorcer lights and let you ponder gate-making, for now."

[imeanforever]

"Sounds like a plan."

Ponder ponder.

[sturdycoldsteel]

Steel leaves. Promise won't hear from her for two days or until she goes looking.

[imeanforever]

Promise frets a little, but not enough to go looking, in that time.

[sturdycoldsteel]

And then she's back, reporting, "I managed to get the sorcerous light thing working. I tried fire next, and that was easy." A circle of fire appears above her head as a demonstration. "It feels weird how it doesn't cost emotions to do sorcery."

[imeanforever]

"I'm pretty disturbed at the idea of any magic costing emotions to do. I still want to try going in a stone circle if I can, but only so I can see and flatten and fog harmonics for my convenience."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"I still say it doesn't hurt you if you don't overdo it, it just calms you down very thoroughly. There's been studies of people who used magic all day, every day for decades and they don't have a higher risk for depression or anger issues or anything like that. The cost is actually really useful if you're anxious and scared."