Magic without a magic

[sturdycoldsteel]

Steel wakes up. This is not where she went to sleep. She has a peek at the stream -

- And lets out a surprised yelp at the nonsensical cacophony.

"What in the blue hells is this place?" No answer is immediately apparent, so she climbs to the top of the ravine, carefully avoiding the various inexplicable things in the area. The snake-goat hybrid was particularly grotesque.

The top of the ravine has a road. She tries to fly, but can't. Again, very strange. This is a pretty nice road, physically, but magically it's completely undeveloped. She walks towards the city, peeking at the stream once in a while only to see fog, and seeking an explanation.

Comments

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Is Aelare a diety? My memories are largely void of religion."

[namesthesky]

"Aelare is a deity, yes. Generally credited with the magics. It's not necessary to believe in them, that's just how the law is worded."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"I might attract attention if I tried to do it right now. I imagine someone has already noticed me chatting to you for longer than usual. Are you likely to be here in a few hours, so I can go buy some paper and do some figuring and planning?"

[namesthesky]

"Probably, but I can't guarantee it. The proprietor might let you put a hold on me for a couple of hours."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"I had a backpack full of coins. They were the thing I remember carrying on my courier run. I converted them to seo." She glances at the sign.

"I have more than enough to get you out of here for now and have plenty of time to experiment with tattoo removal. I'll buy you and not actually order you to do anything, and you won't have to risk going somewhere else, if you consent to be my experimental subject for tattoo-removal once I think I can safely do it."

[namesthesky]

"I accept."

[sturdycoldsteel]

She goes over to the proprietor and offers to buy Ayabel at a slightly lower than listed price, but yields to the listed price if he won't stand for haggling. Once a price is agreed on, she produces gold coins.

[namesthesky]

The proprietor says she's a bargain to begin with and won't budge. He takes the golds, returns some silver, unlocks Ayabel, and hands the buyer some papers proclaiming her ownership.

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Where can we find a private room, possibly a separate workspace, paper and writing materials? And you're my external pricing module, at least for now - is a little over 1300 seo enough to be getting on with?"

[namesthesky]

"It'll do for a few months, longer if you're extremely frugal. There are boarding houses on Sunrise Row and some of them should have private rooms available, and I know where in the market to get paper and ink."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Shall we get paper and ink first first, or head to Sunrise Row? You know, my memories include a way to give other people magic. I wonder if it would work... I don't have the books I'd need to do it even if it acutally works like that, though."

[namesthesky]

"Which it might not, although you can hover, so maybe it would. Paper and ink is more or less on the way to the Row."

[sturdycoldsteel]

So Steel walks where directed, stops to buy paper and ink but ignores the writing utensils, and then they are at Sunrise Row.

[namesthesky]

Ayabel wants to know if she wants a pen maybe?

[sturdycoldsteel]

"I can write with the stream." She stops walking and pours a little ink onto one of the pages. Over a few seconds the ink arranges itself into, No pen required.

[namesthesky]

"...Okay, but I can't do that, so maybe it would be good to have one anyway."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Fair point." She buys a pen. And another pastry.

[namesthesky]

Ayabel looks at the pastry but doesn't comment. Sunrise Row ahead.

[sturdycoldsteel]

"You want one?"

[namesthesky]

"It would be nice. You are going to have to feed me if you're going to keep me."

[sturdycoldsteel]

"I intend to officially free you as soon as I'm sure I can give out Aelare's blessing. There's no reason you shouldn't eat like me in the meantime." She buys a pastry for Ayabel.

"Oh! Your name is on the papers, but I haven't told you mine yet. You can call me Steel."

[namesthesky]

"You can call me Aya if you like," says Ayabel, after disappearing the pastry very fast.

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Aya. Hm, I'll need to buy a pot and a bag of potatoes or something. Street stalls are probably more expensive, if nice. But let's look at these boarding houses first."

[namesthesky]

"I can cook," Aya mentions as they investigate the rooming options.

[sturdycoldsteel]

"That would be nice, but I can cook as well. I'd like to hear all about this world, though. What kind of things are expensive? I can transmute things, some things at least, and money can not but help."