That wasn't supposed to happen

[whatamithinking]

The parameters are recalibrated, the dial is spun, and a new universe is selected.
It won't be home--they haven't collected anywhere near enough coordinate data to think they can find home yet--but it will be another step closer.
And who knows, it might be interesting.
Edie steps through the portal first.

Comments

[not_only]

"You're welcome."

[iamnotpolaris]

"So what do they do, besides be armor?"

[not_only]

"I—hmm. Here."

He hands her the dyed palladium armour.

It describes its properties somewhat abstractly and wordlessly (perhaps this is why Sivath didn't think he could explain) but very comprehensibly. It increases her ability to harm monsters using certain kinds of weapons by this much, and her luck in scoring a particularly good hit on a monster by that much, and it protects her against injury by external sources to this degree, and if she wears the whole set, whenever she successfully harms a monster she will be magically healed by approximately this much over that length of time, and so on.

[iamnotpolaris]

Ooh.
Emily is very practiced in taking in nonverbal conceptual information; the fact that this doesn't have a mind behind it is synaesthetically weird but doesn't significantly impede comprehension.
She looks at it speculatively. "I wonder if I can mold this into a different shape."

[not_only]

"I have a feeling, just from vague Terraria experience, that you'd have better luck if you un-miniaturized them first."

[iamnotpolaris]

"Point." Unmini!
She stares at the armor for a while. Eventually some of it goes soft, and starts running together, and the whole thing begins reshaping itself.
The final result is unrelated to any historical armor design--a relatively form-fitting outfit that would be fantastically impractical if its defensive properties were based on physical properties and not magic.
Emily looks at it, wonders briefly if she ought to be setting a better example for budding fantasy writers, and decides to be satisfied with the fact that it covers as much skin as the original.

[not_only]

Meanwhile, Sivath re-miniaturizes his work area and puts away his materials. He leaves the cobalt armour set on a table.

[iamnotpolaris]

Emily unminis the cobalt armor too, and spends a much longer time on it, noting any way its properties differ from that of the palladium set.

[pythbox]

The effects it declares itself to have are somewhat different. The design is a little different too. But it reshapes just as easily.

[iamnotpolaris]

Very slowly, the armor is transformed from solid metal to links of chain. At the end, she has a chain long sleeved tunic and leggings that will fit her sister perfectly.

[whatamithinking]

By this point, it's dark out. Edie, having come in when the sky started to tint, looks over the resulting garments with appreciation.

[not_only]

Sivath has been sitting quietly this whole time. Sivath is apparently very patient and also very quiet.

"You're very good at that," he says to Emily. "Was it tricky?"

[iamnotpolaris]

"In a sense. It's delicate work, but nothing comes undone if I make a mistake."

[not_only]

"Well, I hope you both like your armor."

[whatamithinking]

"I think that won't be a problem. Thank you for making it in the first place."

[not_only]

"You're welcome."

[iamnotpolaris]

"So what's involved in gathering the materials for wings? I'm curious. You said it was dangerous, is that just because it involves going back to your island?"

[not_only]

"All the kinds of wings that can be made - that I've seen, anyway - are made out of something called Souls of Flight that comes from a particular flying monster that can fly through solid objects. And then each of the specific kinds of wings also has some other ingredient that usually also comes from killing monsters."

[iamnotpolaris]

"If it can fly through solid objects I guess hitting it with titanium isn't going to do much good."

[not_only]

"They're tricky. Hitting it with things does work, though, sort of."

[iamnotpolaris]

"Well, I certainly can do that. A lot."

[not_only]

"Okay."

[whatamithinking]

"So what kinds of materials are there to make wings out of? Besides the Souls of Flight."

[not_only]

"Most of them come from flying monsters, but there's also Souls of Light and Souls of Night, which come from any monsters killed in certain areas. I asked the guide person-thing for the whole list of things you can make with Souls of Flight once, but I don't remember them all."

[whatamithinking]

"Hm.
We should probably eat something, I guarantee you Emily forgot while she was altering the armor."