Almost like flying

[what_greater_weapon]

Zinseyn sometimes wishes she could pass as Aluvai reliably, but then if she could pass Aluvai reliably, she would have some other problems besides just getting to the inside of the planet. Or, maybe, if she was too good at passing as Aluvai she'd be unable to get to the outside of the planet. Which would be just as annoying. Only being able to go to certain places because people will want to kill you is just annoying as a concept.

She does know how to play up her more Aluvai traits, though. This helps a bit. Usually she plays them down - long hair covering the hint of a point in her ears, the type of smile that doesn't show the hint of fang. Here, though, she'll play it up, though pulling her hair back in a ponytail's all she can do. It's not like she can drag out her Aluvai father and go, "No, wait, see, I am actually part Aluvai, just, the other part is Ceirene!" Not without causing some... problems.

She would like to avoid those problems. See; why she isn't taking the elevator. Awkward questions. Possible chance of rampant racism. And climbing is fun, and there's no place more interesting to climb than one of these chasms. There's no other place where she can get as close as one can get to flying without a pair of wings. If she were on an elevator, they would - make it professional, boring. She is not on an elevator. So when she climbs down far enough that she's stopped being insistently pulled downward and is instead weightless, she can just hang out here. And be weightless.

When she first did this, she was very careful to stay near the edges of the chasm. Very careful to not go careening off into the open air with no way to stop.

Well, she's now had more practice with this, and has learned that with careful application of rope and climbing materials and planning, and with a certain fearlessness towards scrapes and scratches, you can fly. Sort of. Kind of. Eh, it'll do until she figures out what she has to do to get a proper pair of wings and be able to fly anywhere. Better than nothing. And it's sort of like a reward, for a lot of hard work getting there.

So Zinseyn is enjoying herself a relaxing float before going into Aluvanna proper, carefully attached with multiple ropes to multiple places so she doesn't go floating off to someplace strange. The climb up is always the hardest part, and there is literally nowhere to go but up. Not being fully rested before it is a bad call. Besides, this is relaxing.

And then it stops being relaxing, when down suddenly reasserts itself so strongly that she thinks she must have fallen through a portal, because down does not hit you randomly like that. She opens her eyes to check her ropes, see what went wrong, and finds them all cut. She lands painlessly on soft grass before she can even think to scream. She stares at the blue sky above her, even though she left hers hours ago. Even though there's a lot of rock between her and it, now. Even though it is impossible.

She sits up. Must have found a secret portal to a Sphere, she thinks, brushing herself off. Strange that the ropes were broken, though, her mother's portal doesn't do that. Some aspect of the Sphere that's responsible...?

Standing, she looks around.

"Hello?" she calls.

Comments

[pythbox]

"Welcome to Terraria," says a... person. Let's go with person. He is standing nearby, smiling blankly, wearing strange clothes (a white shirt and blue trousers), and holding out a canvas bag toward her.

[what_greater_weapon]

Zinseyn peers at this person dubiously.

"Is this your Sphere?" she asks, stepping forward. The person looks Ceirene, but it'll just draw suspicion if she de-ponytails now. Most people don't notice the slightly pointed ears, anyway.

[pythbox]

"You can use your pickaxe to dig through dirt, and your axe to chop down trees," the person says helpfully, still holding out the bag.

[what_greater_weapon]

"I'm not going to judge you if you're doing some kind of drugs in here," says Zinseyn, "but I don't think I want any. Thanks though. Have fun." She glances at her climbing pick, attached to her belt and gear. "And that isn't for digging through dirt, it's for -" she realizes that explaining the specifics of rock climbing to this person's a waste of time, and instead goes with, "climbing. And. I don't have an axe."

She glances about.

"Where's the portal out, please? I think I fell in one, but it's not marked, so..."

[pythbox]

They are standing on a very flat grassy field amid very regular, perfectly straight trees. There's a blueberry bush over there, and a cute white bunny hopping past it. Apart from the bunny and the person with the bag, the only other living things around are the birds tweeting in the trees.

"If you want to survive, you will need to create weapons and shelter. Start by chopping down trees and gathering wood," the person advises.

[what_greater_weapon]

"Oh, one of those Spheres, eh? Well, alternatively to weapons and shelter, you could show me the portal out. Less work. I carry on with my life."

[pythbox]

"I am here to give you advice on what to do next. It is recommended that you talk with me anytime you get stuck," he says, still in that upbeat helpful tone.

[what_greater_weapon]

Okay then talking to this man is pointless.

"Thanks. I'll let you know," she sighs.

She turns, and goes back to where she fell, and looks up. It's overwhelmingly likely that the portal is up there, instead of at a reasonable floor spot. Ugh. Not everyone can be her mom, she supposes, and be fucking reasonable about portal placement. This would be easy to solve if she were Unfading. But she is not, and so she can neither fly up to find the portal in the air, or attempt to see if the person who owns this Sphere is dead and put her own portal here to see if she can go to hers. She can, instead, look up at the empty patch of air she fell from and sigh.

Feeling somewhat foolish, she tries jumping. Nnnnope.

Of course not. Another sigh. Then she marks where she fell. Important to know where the portal is, even if she can't get there just yet.

"I don't suppose you'll tell me where the owner of the Sphere is?" she grumbles, when this is done.

[pythbox]

"They say there is a person who will tell you how to survive in this land... oh wait. That's me," he says.

A weird translucent green blob hops past, sailing six feet into the air with every mighty hop.

[what_greater_weapon]

Zinseyn glances at the weird translucent blob. She raises an eyebrow. Okay. So. Aluvanna has giant snakes, this place has - whatever that is. She will keep an eye on it in case it's hostile.

"Who's 'they'? Can I talk to them?" Instead of you?

[pythbox]

"There are many different ways you can attract people to move in to our town. They will of course need a home to live in."

[what_greater_weapon]

"Yeah, and a fucking town, which by the way I don't have. Do I look like someone who's just keeping a town in my pocket? Do you think if I had wings I wouldn't have used them by fucking now?" She stops before she starts yelling, and takes a deep breath.

"What's in the bag. If it contains drugs I am confiscating them. Maybe we can have a sane conversation in a few hours."

[pythbox]

"You can use your pickaxe to dig through dirt, and your axe to chop down trees," he says, precisely the same way he said it the last time.

[what_greater_weapon]

She takes the bag from him.

[pythbox]

It contains: a copper pickaxe, a copper axe, and a small copper shortsword.

"When you have enough wood, create a workbench. This will allow you to create more complicated things, as long as you are standing close to it," says the person.

[what_greater_weapon]

How utterly bizarre. But useful, she supposes. And he doesn't seem to be using them, so she thinks she'll just keep them.

Zinseyn looks at him assessingly.

"... How do I get people to join my town?" she asks, as an experiment.

[pythbox]

"If you want a merchant to move in, you will need to gather plenty of money. 50 silver coins should do the trick!"

[what_greater_weapon]

"Ugh." She rolls her eyes.

"What do I use my pickaxe and axe for."

[pythbox]

"You can use your pickaxe to dig through dirt, and your axe to chop down trees."

[what_greater_weapon]

Right, not that she didn't think it before, but this man is Offically Not A Person.

She doesn't bother replying to him, just turns around and pinches the bridge of her nose. Then she looks up, and notes where the sun is. She'll keep an eye on it, see which direction it's moving, but she's just. Going to go exploring now, maybe try to find someone that is actually a person.

She picks a direction and she walks.

[pythbox]

Grass, trees. Trees, grass. Brightly coloured flowers. Bunnies. Hopping blobs. Another blueberry bush.

The not-a-person wanders vaguely after her. As she is getting out of conversational range, he says, "Greetings, Zinseyn. Is there something I can help you with?"

[what_greater_weapon]

Zinseyn stops.

She turns around, very slowly.

She looks at the not-a-person.

"I recommend that the person fucking with me," she says, in a surprisingly even tone, "stop. Immediately."

[pythbox]

"You should do some mining to find metal ore. You can craft very useful things with it," says the not-a-person.

[what_greater_weapon]

She is sorely tempted to try killing the not-a-person, but it would be pointless and a waste of energy.

Instead she growls, wordlessly, and turns back around and stalks off to maybe start to find a way out of this place.

[pythbox]

"You should stay indoors at night. It is very dangerous to be wandering around in the dark," the not-a-person says as it fails to keep up with her.