worlds apart

[sturdycoldsteel]

The Fate who calls herself Mountain tried to convince some of her neighbors to allow the occasional mountain in their lands, for stability purposes.

"I meant no insult!" Dodge ball of lava. "I don't intend to interfere, you said no!" Dodge house-sized spear of ice. "I'm leaving peacefully, okay, so stop tearing up the tile!"

"You'll respawn at home. No permanent damage. You interrupted an important meeting, you need to learn a lesson about territory, mountain bitch." Dodge- no, fail to dodge a thrown tree, and then another ice ball. Survivable, but it put her in a perfect position to be hit by a sphere of magma and disintegrated by the sheer heat.




She wakes up, stripped of all her tools and enchantments and even clothes, and groans in pain.

Comments

[first_and_final]

Yes, and substantial: he's settled on an end product of 'single-person golem vehicle with optional mounted cannon', figured out the specifications of that end product in detail, and is just getting to the point of concretely planning out which pieces are going to go where in the building itself.

[sturdycoldsteel]

She provides advice on the golem-vehicle's design. Specifically, for something like this, brutal simplicity of manufacture is going to be important. He can make a more complex golem-making-golem when the proof of concept works right.

[first_and_final]

...well, yes, technically, if he were going to be reasonable about this, he would make it a really simple vehicle. But he's Ashras Kevarsin, so he's going to make it something he would actually be willing to fly around in, which means cutting fewer than the maximum available number of corners even if he might be better-advised to basically make it a flying bucket with a steering yoke.

[sturdycoldsteel]

"Best of both worlds, then. Bulk up this part here just a bit and have room for another position-tracking plate, which you'll need for the auto-stabilization because it doesn't play well with the cannon's aim controls..."

Minimal-compromise engineering advice from Mountain ensues for about an hour. Unless Ashras kicks her out, which frankly doesn't seem all that likely.

[first_and_final]

Of course he's not going to kick her out. She's helping.

[sturdycoldsteel]

She's also watching Ashras be Ashras.


But she does have exciting projects of her own, and other things to do. She reminds him to go eat something at some point on her way out.

[first_and_final]

"Oh, yeah. That."

He goes and eats something. And naps. And comes right back to work on his project some more.

[sturdycoldsteel]

This cycle of eat-sleep-golemcraft-repeat with Mountain occasionally helping presumably goes on for a while, until the inside of his building looks more like a stereotypical old wizard's tower what with the scribbled notes and only-mostly-complete golem bits everywhere. She does end up expanding the memory banks in the basement for him. Twice.

[first_and_final]

He is very grateful for all of her help! And also golem golem golem golem golem golem golem golem golem.

...golem!

The building is finally ready to test! Ooh he's so excited.

[sturdycoldsteel]

Mountain attends the test, of course. She even made an moving-image-capture crystal just for the occasion. It'll only take down something like thirty seconds, though.

[first_and_final]

Well, then, it can have the first thirty seconds of Ashras's golemcrafting building producing its very first functioning vehicle.

[sturdycoldsteel]

And then it makes a popping sound, and Mountain watches the rest of the process in fascination.

When the first vehicles rolls out the front and through the portal, she follows it, fully expecting Ashras to jump on and test it out.

[first_and_final]

He does that.

As soon as it lifts off the ground, a spear of light pierces the sky: Ashras finally gets his wings.

[sturdycoldsteel]

Much clapping! Very success! She flies up after him with Fate powers, not bothering to wait for the second speeder, and starts pulling acrobatics in front of it, daring him to follow.

[first_and_final]

He does. In his vehicle, which can totally keep up, because he designed it. Ha.

[sturdycoldsteel]

It can keep up with acrobatics, sure, but how about raw speed? She can go very very fast.

[sturdycoldsteel]

...Ashras might be noticing a strange sensation right about now.

[first_and_final]

Ashras is mainly noticing feelings of intense elation; strange sensations may find it hard to compete.

[sturdycoldsteel]

Compete they do, eventually. Over a couple of minutes all his normal senses become dull and cloudy by comparison as the crystal-sharp awareness of - something, two somethings, becomes more intense.

[first_and_final]

...okay, that's actually enough to distract him from both glee and flying. He slows down and drifts to a halt in midair.

[sturdycoldsteel]

One of the somethings is telling him there is a lot of complicated somethings just below him. And a whole lot more something a while below that. And the other thing says that there are a lot of different somethings above him, and a few below.

[sturdycoldsteel]

Mountain has stopped flying around and comes back, asking a question. He doesn't hear it clearly enough to understand.

[first_and_final]

"Something weird is happening," he says. "I can't quite hear you."

[sturdycoldsteel]

Mountain seems to realize something. She doesn't look alarmed anymore, more like slightly awed.

The differences in the kinds of things his new senses are pointing at steadily become clear. Soon there's a sort of tipping point. Stone. Metal. Plant life. At some point Ashras should suddenly realize he could make more stone and metal and maybe some plants, if he wanted. It's around this time that the overly intense awareness of everything starts to fade.

[first_and_final]

"...Did I just become a Fate?" he asks, as soon as he expects he'd be able to hear the answer.