glowfic | One Curious Kobold

It's winter, and all is well with the tribe. Their new magic, an ability to make portals from one place to another, which was found by one of their members during the early-summer trip to meet with the other tribes in the area, let them both build up a decadent food stockpile and move to a much deeper part of the cave system without the worry of being unable to find their way back out. No-one has had to go hungry, and even the fiercest ice storm doesn't reach them; they are as content as kobolds can be.

Well, aside from their new mage, that is. She's bored, and curious. Making portals to known places is straightforward enough, with the magic she found, but that's far from the limit of what it can do... so one day, she slips away, portals off to a different cave system - one can't be too careful, after all - and experiments.

Temperature roughly the same... gravity roughly the same... air the same, not into stone or underwater or in a volcano or on top of a mountain... but, instead of patterning it after a place she knows, what happens if she only specifies those things, and lets the innate patterns of the spot she's casting on do the rest? Particularly this one part, which seems to specify the world...

She finishes the spell, and hesitates for just a moment before activating it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Tenathayan seems to be getting slightly less awkward about the whole thing, but is still a bit nervous when he continues: "I... will bring out the tea things, and some chairs. And, er. I have extra clothes. If you would like something to wear." This while still not quite looking at the Endarkened.

The Endarkened snorts softly with amusement. "I would not mind, and it seems you would be more comfortable that way. I will wear something."

"Right. Tea, chairs, clothing," says Tenathayan, and he ducks back into the tent and then comes out hauling a succession of objects. There is a small table to hold tea things, and there are tea things, and there is a small plate of little cakes which he leaves beside Liselen, and a somewhat larger tray of little cakes which he sets on the table next to the tea things, and there are three very elegant and comfortable folding stools, although their sizes do not vary much and so the Endarkened perches on a stool somewhat too small for him and the kobold, if she chooses to sit on one, might find hers a bit big. There is also a sort of kilt for the Endarkened, which he puts on.

Tenathayan pours tea for everyone (including Liselen, who gets a cup sized to be drunk from by unicorns, and who seems tentatively pleased about this), and then sits down and sips his tea and seems very cheered by some combination of the tea and the Endarkened's newly clothed state.

The Endarkened sits on his stool and picks up his tea and sips it and smiles.

The kobold sits, and sniffs cautiously at the tea before tasting it. It's quite good; she nods approvingly.

"The tea is good," says the Endarkened agreeably.

Tenathayan brightens. "This is one of my favourites. I did not know what the weather would be on this island, so I brought several blends. I am glad you like it."

"The weather?"

Tenathayan winces very slightly, but recovers almost immediately and nods. "Yes. Many things affect when it is most appropriate to drink a particular tea. Some flavours suit the rain best, while others are best on a warm clear day."

"I do not drink very much tea," says the Endarkened, "so I am not very familiar with the subtleties."

Tenathayan takes this as a cue to start explaining the intricacies of tea. He finds this subject very relaxing, and the Endarkened is amused and reasonably interested.

The kobold sips her tea while she listens. After a little while, she considers the cakes, but decides against trying them; instead, she quietly enspells another piece of twine and retrieves a pear to munch on.

The Endarkened nibbles on some cakes eventually. He approves, but decides not to interrupt Tenathayan's fascinating discourse on tea in order to tell him so.

Tenathayan has many things to say about tea - its various plants, their flavours, the many combinations thereof, and the association of these things to assorted seasons and hours of the day and weather conditions - and seems to be well on his way to forgetting that he is saying them to the ancient enemy of all that is good in the world.

The kobold doesn't interrupt either, not when things are going so well. She finishes her pear, and puts the core on her tribe's compost heap with another portal, and quietly moves next to the Endarkened for more scritches.

Scritch scritch!

Tenathayan is very charmed by this sight, although he is too polite to comment on it, and shortly gets distracted by the conversation anyway. Tea tea tea tea.

The kobold has scritches, and nobody's threatening her friend; she's satisfied to let this situation continue as long as Tenathayan likes.

One Curious Kobold

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