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]

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."

[imeanforever]

"...Point. But I wouldn't want to get into the habit of relying on it."

[sturdycoldsteel]

Shrug. "Your choice, of course. Now, I've got lightshows and fire down, what's next in terms of sorcering?"

[imeanforever]

"Do you want to learn to candy dewdrops, or patch clothes, or purify water, or what?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

"I want to learn all the things. Maybe I should just read some more of your sorcery books? Oh, and I'll need paper and ink if you want those maps."

[imeanforever]

Promise hands her a book, and some paper and ink.

[sturdycoldsteel]

Steel goes back outside with her book, returning every few hours for a new one. Read, read, read. (draw, draw, draw)

[imeanforever]

Study, study, study. Quite the bookworms.

[sturdycoldsteel]

There occurs a very, very loud noise from the section of the forest containing Steel.

When Promise comes to investigate, she'll find a circle of earth scorched bare of all plantlife, and evidence of recently extinguished fires nearby. "I tried to combine sorcery and bluestream to make a flying machine. It blew up in my face. Sorry."

[imeanforever]

"...What happened? And is my book okay?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Your book's fine, I was holding it inside my force-shell. I wasn't careful enough with the floaty stuff you can turn water into with bluestream. It's flammable, but it shouldn't have been that flammable."

[imeanforever]

"Floaty stuff?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

"I haven't quite finished college yet, but high-level bluestream does a lot of, mm, matter manipulation. They can change materials around in creative ways, make stone act like a liquid for a few minutes and then put it back, that kind of thing. The thing is, you can turn water into two not-water gases, one that is flammable and likes to float, and one that is the same thing that humans need to breathe and fires need to burn. The flammable stuff exploded and ruined my desire to experiment, so this definitely won't happen again."

[imeanforever]

"Ah."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Incidentally, here's a harmonic map of that berry patch over that way."

[imeanforever]

"Thanks. This makes up for the tasty roots that used to grow here," Promise says dryly.

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Oops. I thought I'd picked a spot without anything useful."

[imeanforever]

"Maybe the roots will have partially escaped, being underground, and grow back."

[sturdycoldsteel]

She closes her eyes. "They're still alive, they're pouring a little disturbance into the bluestream. Maybe you should water and fast-grow them. Or I can try, I got fast-grow to work on a flower."

[imeanforever]

Promise goes and gets some water. "What do the harmonics look like where the roots are?"

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Orange Euler arcs interfacing green slow-flows... Wait, that's my notation, not yours." She waves a hand at the dirt. "Well, they're empty now."

[imeanforever]

Promise snorts and crouches near the plants.

Whoof! They sprout energetically.

"Sorcery likes blank harmonics."

[sturdycoldsteel]

Steel gives a short bark of a laugh. "Yeah, we established that yesterday. I can get almost the same results in anything except dense tangles or fog, though. Is it just because of that extra unknown factor to account for, you think?"